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Maria Gilson Sistrom, RN MSN, School of Nursing, Oregon Health Sciences University, 7764 SE 21st Av, Portland, OR 97202, 503 494-3869, sistromm@ohsu.edu
In the summer of 2003 a large Norwalk outbreak occurred at a church camp. Serendipitously, camp attendees included several public health staff and the involved church held a doctrine-based commitment to civic action and community collaboration. As the outbreak manifested itself, campers rallied their community and professional resources and initiated case-finding efforts using self and proxy sign-up sheets and a gross case definition of vomiting and/or diarrhea. Real-time case investigation led to rapid characterization of the outbreak, an epidemiologic assumption of the causative agent, and total camp participation in control measures. The majority of cases were identified prior to the arrival of the health department, with the outbreak showing a clear point source pattern apparently associated with food consumption. Upon arrival, the health department, however, failed to assess community actions already taken in regard to the outbreak, re-initiated the investigation and data collection and refused to support disease control efforts requested by campers. The failure to assess the community, to enlist the community’s collaboration, or support early informal control efforts in this outbreak resulted in several easily avoidable adverse outcomes.
Outbreak investigations must proceed rapidly in order to achieve control. This combined with the specialized epidemiologic principles involved make genuine community collaboration in outbreak control difficult to achieve. This brief case study will examine (1) an unusual opportunity for community collaboration in controlling a disease outbreak, (2) the public health consequences of failing to enlist such collaboration, and (3) the utility of community assessment and collaboration in public health practice
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Collaboration, Outbreaks
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.