1. In a 3-4 page paper, please answer the following questions. In addition to the researched facts you present as your answer, you may provide opinions and real-world experiences where appropriate.

Scenario: A severe earthquake just occurred in your area. Homes, public services (such as power, water, and trash removal), and many lives have been lost. Full evacuation is not likely. Living conditions in local shelters have become crowded and unhygienic. The hospital generators have failed and the morgue is full. At this rate, communicable disease begins to threaten the health of the residents. Luckily, you are a healthcare professional specializing in epidemiology and can help the community make plans to survive until they can rebuild.

Please review any applicable pages in the WHO guide listed below. The tables on pages 11 and 170 will be particularly helpful in this scenario.

1. Imagine and describe the living conditions or other characteristics of the disaster situation in your locale. What kind of damage occurred as a result of the earthquake? If you are near an ocean, was there a tsunami? Fire, flooding, or even nuclear fallout could be at play depending on the characteristics of your locale. Take inventory of the public services in your community that are still available and those that have been lost. 
2. After conducting research into the threat of disease in a disaster situation, describe which specific communicable diseases pose the greatest threat to your area. In what ways could those diseases arise from the damaged infrastructure, living conditions, and disruption in facilities or services? 
3. Prepare a brief report to be delivered to local authorities including specific actions that should be taken to prevent disease. What are the priorities, equipment, personnel, or other factors needed to prevent the loss of more lives?

The Written Assignment should be 3-4 double spaced pages in length, not including title or reference pages. (No abstract is needed.) Make sure your assignment is APA format with double-spacing, Times New Roman, 12-point font, and 1” margins. Include citations and a list of references in APA format. Edit for spelling and grammar errors. You can get assistance with APA formatting at: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html 

Resources to get you started:

Environmental health in emergencies and disasters: A practical guide, Pages 9-22, 168-174http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42561/1/9241545410_eng.pdf

Cholera Confirmed in Haiti, October 21, 2010https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5943a4.htm

Assessment Criteria

Papers will be assessed on how well the 3 points above are addressed.  In addition, papers will be graded on organization, grammar, and APA formatting.

2. Who are your playmates?

In a 400-600 word answer, properly cited with an APA-formatted reference list and in-text citations, please answer the following questions. In addition to the researched facts you present as your answer, you may provide opinions and real-world experiences where appropriate.

1. Read the study and supporting information published by Simon Cauchemez, et al. provided in the resources section below. What criteria did the authors set as the clinical definition of a case? What were the specific symptoms included in that definition? The study was affected by a limitation in relation to the method of defining a case. What was the limitation and how might it affect the data or usefulness of the study results?
2. The structure of the school into grade levels, including more than one class per grade level, had an impact on child-to-child transmission rates. According to the data provided, contrast the probabilities of between-class (same grade, different classroom) transmission and within-class (same grade, same classroom) transmission. How does the transmission rate among students in the same grade level compare to that among students in different grade levels? Please provide specific transmission rates and an explanation of these results.
3. During the outbreak, a pattern in the onset of infection in boys versus girls emerged. Figure 1C of the full report reveals a group of boys became infected a few days before a group of girls. What characteristic of the social network is thought to account for this pattern? Please provide specific data from the report to support your answer.
4. What appears to account for the increase in cases after May 7 as shown in Figure 1? Which activities that the 4th graders attended on May 6 or May 7 may have contributed to an increase in transmission (superspread)?
5. Based on the results provided in the example, what measures could have been put in place to disrupt the transmission of the virus, if any?

Resources to get you started:

Role of social networks in shaping disease transmission during a community outbreak of 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenzahttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3041067/pdf/pnas.201008895.pdf

Role of social networks in shaping disease transmission during a community outbreak of 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza, Supporting Informationhttp://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2011/01/29/1008895108.DCSupplemental/pnas.201008895SI.pdf#nameddest=STXT