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Shelter in Place Modules 

Diseases & Procedures

Throughout this module, you will watch videos, participate in activities, and respond to discussion questions and a case study as if you were actually at The Spot for a 1-1.5 hour Peer Leaders session. By the end of the module, please email discussion questions responses and your case study response (all inside the purple rounded squares) with the subject line "PL DP" to Danielle at youthprogramahs@gmail.com.

EPIDEMIOLOGY & CURRENT TRENDS

What's Epidemiology and Everything Behind It? 

Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of diseases in population. It entails research, the spread of disease, who it impacts, how the diseases originate and transmit, as well as other specific aspects of diseases. 

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Who practices epidemiology?

Epidemiologists, the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), researchers, medical providers and more! 

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Important Epidemiology Concepts

Morbidity: the rate/existence of disease in a population

Mortality: the number of deaths related to a given period, area, and cause

Incidence: a rate; it is an occurrence new cases of a disease

Prevalence: it is the number of disease cases present during a specific time

Noncommunicable Diseases: diseases that are not transferred from person to person (Examples include diabetes, cancer, etc.)

Communicable Diseases: diseases that can be spread from person to person (Examples include whooping cough, HIV, etc.)

Epidemic: widespread occurrence of a disease is in a population during a specified time period

Pandemic: diseases that are prevalent throughout a nation or across the world

Endemic: diseases commonly found in particular communities

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History of Disease

Diseases have always existed, and new ones continue to emerge. While diseases are not seen by the common eye, they have the power to impact populations by the millions. 

Dangerous Epidemics in US History Timeline

  • Smallpox (1633-1634)

  • Yellow Fever (1793)

  • Cholera, 3 waves (1832-1866)

  • Scarlet Fever, 3 waves (1858)

  • Typhoid Fever (1906-1907)

  • Spanish Flu (1918)

  • Diphtheria (1921-1925)

  • Polio (1916-1955)

  • Measles (1981-1991)

  • Whooping Cough (2010, 2014)

  • HIV & AIDS (1980s-present)

  • COVID-19 (Present)

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Below is a visualization of the most dangerous pandemics in history and the amount of deaths that resulted from the listed diseases. Diseases can strike anyone at anytime, and when it impacts populations at increasing rates, it is important to consider a variety of factors to help contain the spread. Recently, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and this visualization includes COVID-19 information from April 2, 2020. While it is still at its early stages, it still ranks among the lowest of pandemics on the list, but can change as the days pass, especially since it can potentially continue to spread at increasing rates.

Pandemics.jpeg

ACTIVITY

Pick one of the recent  trends in Epidemiology. Compare the disease you chose to the current COVID-19 pandemic by creating a chart discussing:

  • Origins

  • Morbidity

  • Mortality

  • Time Period (Is it ongoing?)

  • Symptoms

  • Prevention & Control

  • Who has been affected (people, countries, etc)

  • Portrayal in the Media

Recent Trends of Epidemiology

  • Corona viruses

    • SARS (2003)

    • MERS (2012)

  • H1N1 Swine Flu  (2009)

  • Ebola (2014)

  • Zika (2016)

PREVENTION

How to Prevent Contracting/Spreading a Disease

Preventing the transmission of diseases can go anywhere from practicing basic sanitary activities to understanding the elements needed to eradicate germs, viruses, and bacteria. Anyone and everyone has a role and responsibility in public health, which also means they have the power to help contain diseases! Here are a couple basic ways to prevent spreading a disease:

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  • Eat Healthy →keeps your body loaded with proper nutrients to keep you energetic

  • Sleep → keeps your immune system up, retains your memory, affects mood and ability to function

  • Drink Water → staying hydrated flushes out toxins from the body, supports how your energy is processed, and prevents various issues caused by dehydration

  • Be Sanitary →  being sanitary keeps germs/bacteria/viruses/etc from spreading and getting people it (this includes cleaning, wearing necessary masks, etc.)

  • Everything in Moderation → too much of anything can be bad for the body, so remember that keeping your body balanced is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle

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Current Ways of Containing Highly Infectious Diseases​

With the current situation of COVID-19 spreading across the globe, leadership within various levels of institutions, health centers, businesses, states, and federal governments have started to put forth large scale efforts to prevent spread. Some of the prevention methods being used are:

  • Social Distancing → keeping a safe distance away from people (6 ft. in California/US) and limiting all physical contact/closeness with others to avoid transmission via person to person contact as well as air droplets

  • Shelter-in-Place → staying home and making trips out only to buy essential goods and services (food, cleaning supplies, etc.) or exercise to limit contact between people helps slow the rate of infection in large populations

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All of these prevention methods are important to FLATTEN THE CURVE.

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What is Flattening the Curve?

Flattening the curve is a goal to limit the spread disease through reducing interactions between people (closing unessential establishments, stopping concerts and sports, promoting social distancing, etc.). The curve is representative of the cases of infection that exist while being compared to the capacity of the health care system. With that, while flattening the curve, health care systems aim to "raise the line" (increase their capacities and resources to serve patients). Learn more in the video below:

ACTIVITY

Create a meme/artpiece/picture/video PSA  that reminds people different ways to prevent contracting diseases. Some examples are:

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PROCEDURES

While those in public health are busy managing population health through studying diseases and working on vaccines and other cures, providers like doctors  in hospitals are trained in handling individual health. Some of the more intense responsibilities of a doctor’s job includes treating patients through both minor and major procedures. Surgeries and the skills that complement them are often necessary to accessing an individual’s body to help make the alterations needed to maintain health on a micro-level.

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Watch one video from each category (minor and surgical), and think about the skills needed in these situations.

Common/Minor Procedures

Suture

Surgical Procedures

Appendectomy

Incision & Drainage

C-Section

Tooth Extraction

Cataract Removal

ACTIVITY

Play the Virtual Hip Resurfacing game on EdHeads.org and see what it is like to be in the operation room! 

CASE STUDY

COVID-19: South Korea's Patient #31

Summary:

  • At the start of February, South Korea had less than 30 cases of COVID-19, but within days exponentially developed into one of the biggest outbreaks outside of China during that month

  • All cases were under control until someone who travelled to busy parts of Daegu and Seoul, went to a health center twice, went to church twice, and linked up with friends at a buffet found out they were positive for COVID-19. 
  • This person was the 31st case in the nation and had the most contacts with people (1,160 contacts), spreading the virus and causing a spike in cases within the country and ruining the consistency of control against COVID-19.  
  • Korea responded by offering drive thru testing, partnering with private sector for resources, and calling for national response instead of local levels, which helped control outburst
Pt31.jpeg

Right: The first 31 cases of COVID-19 in Korea and their contacts.

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Bottom: A timeline/map of Patient 31's COVID-19 contact journey.

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LINK: Korean Clusters

Pt31Map.jpeg

Pretend you are in leadership for another country's Center for Disease Control and recently receive news of Korea's situation. Your country has had zero reports of COVID-19, but as you monitor the news, you see that the virus has made its way across the globe and has damaged the populations, economies, and health care systems of even the most powerful of nations. It's already April, and you've analyzed the mistakes and flaws of other systems and have to plan to protect your own. 

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  • How would you implement prevention? Would it be at a local, state/province, or national level?

  • You find out through the news that in the US and Italy, hospitals are at capacity and lacking protective gear, leading to medical providers being infected and lost. How would you prevent that from happening in your country?

  • Tests are rolling out slow in the US because there aren't enough of them and in order to obtain one, it would cost around $3000. How would you ensure that your country doesn't have that obstacle?

YOU'RE DONE! 

Now please email discussion questions responses and your case study response (all inside the purple rounded squares) with the subject line "PL DP" to Danielle at youthprogramahs@gmail.com.

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