Disease Detectives
Students will use their investigative skills
in the scientific study of disease, injury,
health, and disability in populations or
groups of people with a focus on the
effects of population growth on public
health outcomes.
Competition Info
Team of 2
Approximate time of about 50
minutes
Event Parameters- non-programmable
calculators, one 8.5” x 11” two-sided
page of notes per team that contain
information from any source.
The Competition
This event combines a basic
understanding of biological and
physical agents with an ability to
analyze, interpret, evaluate, and draw
conclusions from simple data and
communicate results to peers. You
should be able to distinguish between
infectious and non-infectious health
burdens.
The Competition cont.
A broad definition of health will be
used for this event. Potential topics
include health as well as illness.
The event will have questions based on:
-Data Collection
-Creating graphic displays of data
-Interpreting trends and patterns
of epidemiologic data
-Communicating results
Main Points
Collect
Create
Interpret
Communicate
Recognize
Generate
Evaluate
Identify
Propose
Translate
Ten Steps of Investigating
an Outbreak
1-Prepare for field work
2-Establish existence of an outbreak
3-Verify the diagnoses
4-Define and identify cases
5-Describe and orient the data in terms of time,
place and person.
6-Develop hypothesis
7-Evaluate hypothesis
8-Refine hypothesis and carry out additional studies
9-Implement control and prevention measures
10- Communicate findings
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is an important part of Disease
Detectives, not because it is commonly a
question but because you need to know
what the questions or problems are asking.
Either team could possibly be asked a
vocabulary question but it is more likely for
the C team. A good way to study vocab is to
go to
the website http://quizlet.com/browse/ and
look up
Disease Detectives. Here are some of the
-Demics
-Demic- Suffix meaning relating to a people
or a district
Epidemic- the occurrence of more cases than
expected in a given area.
Endemic- ongoing presence of an agent within
a given area or population.
Pandemic- epidemic occurring over a very wide
area and usually affecting a large portion of
the population.
Outbreak- the occurrence of more cases than
expected in a given area but more localized.
Carriers
Carrier- person or animal who harbors the
infectious agent for a disease and can
transmit it to others.
Agent- a factor that is essential for a
disease, chronic conditions or illness to occur.
Zoonosis- infectious disease that is
transmissible from animals to humans.
Fomite- inanimate object that can be the
vehicle of transmission an for an infectious
agent.
Vector- living intermediary that carries an
agent from a reservoir to a susceptible host.
Miscellaneous
Prevalence-number or proportion of
cases or events in a given population
Risk-probability that an individual will
be affected by, or die from, an
illness or injury within a stated time
or age span
Miscellaneous continuted
Incidence-measure of frequency with
which new cases of illness occurs
among a population during a specific
period
Surveillance- systematic, on-going
collection, analysis, interpretation,
dissemination of health data
Miscellaneous continued
Antibody- proteins in the blood that are
generated to produce immunity against
microorganisms or their toxins
Attack rate- form of incidence that
measures frequency of disease, chronic
conditions, or injury in a particular
population for a limited time
Bias-systematic deviation from the
truth
Miscellaneous continued
Determinant-Any factor that brings
about change in a health condition or
in other defined characteristics
Vehicle-An inanimate intermediary in
the indirect transmission of an agent
that carries the agent from the
reservoir to a susceptible host.
Host- A person that is susceptible to
an infectious agent under natural
conditions
Equations
Attack rate=amount sick/total in that group
Exposed=a/(a+b)
Unexposed=c/(c+d)
*Look for high rates in exposed!
Graphs!
Graphs are a huge part of Disease
Detectives! You need to know how to
read and make a graph. You should
also know what type of graph is being
used or you should use to display
information, so you know how to read
it.
Bar Graphs
Bar graphs usually display when and/or
where an outbreak happens.
More Bar Graphs
Line Graphs
Line graphs are great because they
show very easily when there is spike
in data and can show how data
increases or decreases.
Line Graphs
100
80
Ogden
Salt lake
Logan
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January
February
March
April