Reference no: EM132582191

Assignment -

Background Disease control programs, particularly those featuring effective primary prevention have been very successful at reducing or eliminating infectious disease threats. Vaccination in particularly has been highly successful, with immunisation programs responsible for preventing millions of deaths worldwide. The eradication of smallpox and elimination of diseases such poliomyelitis and measles from many parts of the world are examples of this success. However, there is always room for improvement when it comes to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. These might include the use of genuinely new tools such as new vaccines or drugs or adaptation and improvement of existing strategies. In this assessment task you are asked to focus on one of the following infectious disease scenarios. Each scenario represents a real-life infectious disease event that happened over the last 12 months. (I chose the scenario)

The aim of this assessment task is to critically explore the factors that may have contributed to the infectious disease event occurring, explore the current strategies being used to prevent or control the infectious disease and then to suggest additional or revised strategies that may be considered. While your focus is on the country listed with the infectious disease, you may use examples from other countries.

Cholera outbreak, Zimbabwe. The cholera outbreak in Harare was declared by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) of Zimbabwe on 6 September 2018 and notified to WHO on the same day. As of 3 October 2018, 8535 cumulative cases, including 163 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 50 deaths have been reported (case fatality rate: 0.6%). Of these 8535 cases, 98% (8341 cases) were reported from the densely populated capital Harare. The most affected suburbs in Harare are Glen View and Budiriro. Of the 8340 cases for which age is known, the majority (56%) are aged between 5 and 35 years old. Males and females have been equally affected by the outbreak. From 4 September through 3 October, most deaths were reported from health care institutions.

Detailed Instructions - In Assessment task 2, you were asked to research the epidemiology of an infectious disease. This assessment task aims to build on from the work you undertook in assessment task 1 and apply your knowledge around the epidemiology of the infectious disease into the issue of control/prevention. In Assessment task 3, the aim is to focus on disease control, firstly by exploring existing strategies used in country context before canvassing alternatives, focusing in detail on one of these and then coming a recommendation as to whether the strategy should be adopted. As with Assessment 2, there are series of sequential tasks you need to address through this report. You should assume that the examiner is now familiar with the relevant epidemiological information (after reading your assessment task 2). As such, while we are happy for you to include a very brief introductory summary of the disease and country context, you should keep this text to a minimum to reserve space for the assessed tasks.

Task 1 - In this task, we want you to critically consider the factors that may be impacting on our ability to prevent/control the spread of the infection: host factors, environmental factors, political, lifestyle or societal factors etc. What does the research identify as the key factors and are these factors modifiable? Lastly, what challenges will health departments/organisations face when trying to address the factors that are modifiable?

Task 2 - Next you should describe the control strategies currently being employed for your disease of choice in the country context you have chosen. Here you should summarise the strategies, discuss evidence of their effect and more specifically if and how effective they have been in your country context. Use of a table may be helpful regarding this task. Aspects of time, person and place should also be considered here - have these strategies changed with time, are they uniformly applied within the country, are they adapted to risk groups? Implementation issues are also important to cover here - these might include features effecting population coverage, or compliance with treatment or other interventions.

Task 3 - We now ask you to briefly discuss any new or modified strategies or public health interventions that might improve the prevention or control of your chosen disease in the identified setting. This should include brief consideration of evidence of efficacy/effect, target populations and the timeframe over which the strategy should be implemented. For one of these new or modified strategies, you should go into more detail and provide at least one measurable and feasible goal of the strategy (e.g. reducing infections in children<5 by x% ). You should also consider the factors identified in task 1 and discuss how they may impact on this new strategy. Finally, you should discuss how the effectiveness of the strategy could be evaluated and potential challenges in relation to implementation.

Guidance Literature review -

In conducting this task, you will need to review a substantial number of articles and reports. Our preference is for peer-reviewed scientific publications but some use of reports from governmental or international agencies (e.g. WHO) is also acceptable.

You should include at least 10 such sources in your reference list, with correct in-text referencing (Vancouver style is acceptable). Distinction-level assessments will typically have 20 or more references. It is important that you locate the primary source of the cited information and do not rely on published reviews in your report.

We also stress that you need to go beyond simply summarising findings from your sources but show strong evidence of being able to synthesise and evaluate the findings from multiple sources and apply them in the practical context of your chosen setting.

Word count: The total word count for the report is 2500 words excluding references, tables and figures. You can include up to 2 tables and 2 figures as needed. Your word count must be provided on the front page.

Exceeding the word limit will be subject to penalty. Moderate use of headings and subheadings is encouraged. It is important that you answer all sections, and, in our experience, you will not be able to do this effectively unless your total word count is near the recommended limit.