Scioly.org

i guess it's because the rules say it may be exam-based or station- based.

in a lot of tests, questions ask of reasons why you should investigate the outbreak. besides the obvious ones,such as more people can be affected, can any of you think of other reasons?

deezee wrote:in a lot of tests, questions ask of reasons why you should investigate the outbreak. besides the obvious ones,such as more people can be affected, can any of you think of other reasons?

If they ask 'Why should you investigate the outbreak?' I would answer using these criteria.

-To identify the existence of an outbreak (is there actually anything worth investigating)
-To stop the spread of the disease to other geographic areas, (containment)
-To develop a correlation between the sick people and the disease (ie. how they contracted it, what they have in common, etc)
-How to prevent similar occurences in the future

That's all that's jumping to my head now, if I think of more i'll post them

deezee wrote:in a lot of tests, questions ask of reasons why you should investigate the outbreak. besides the obvious ones,such as more people can be affected, can any of you think of other reasons?

If a large number of people attending the same event became ill with similar symptoms at the same time, that is a reason to investigate. Some of the other reasons, like starapollo mentioned, are to find out if a common infectious organism or toxic agent caused the illness, to prevent additional cases of illness from the samesource, and to recommend ways of preventing the recurrence of this problem in another place or time. (I basically got this from the answer key of a practice test)

ok thanks!!

Hi, I am new to Disease Detectives. I really have been trying hard in the event to hopefully win a medal. I was wondering if anyone with experience/someone who's won a medal in this event could give me more detail on the actual competition, and maybe some tips on how to do well in this event. I am competing in the state of IL.

The competition will almost always be a written test that gives you scenarios of outbreaks or endemic diseases, and then asks you questions about the investigation that follows. Have you tried the national test on the test exchange? That one was pretty good. It should give you an idea of what kinds of things to expect at a competition.

ichaelm is absolutely right about last years national test, and about the event itself. The best way to prep for this event is to take tests. Just constantly test yourself so you are used to it and it's not a suprise at the competition. Good luck

should we know the symptoms of food-born illnesses and know how to prevent them too?

sciencenerd13 wrote:should we know the symptoms of food-born illnesses and know how to prevent them too?

Perhaps for some of the more common food-born diseases, salmonella comes to mind, it would be helpful to know some information about them. But honestly when it comes to prevention, the more general the better, i'd suggest having a list of about 5 things you can do to prevent any sort of food-born illness spread on your cheat sheet (or in your head). A few that just came to my head are:
1. Make sure all food is cooked at the correct temperatures
2. Make sure all food is stored at the correct temperatures
3. Avoid cross-contamination
4. Always use clean, sanitized equipment
5. WASH HANDS! (seems kind of obvious but you would be suprised... lol)

EDIT: Also, I could be mistaken, but they should provide you with symptons that the diseases cause. It might be helpful though to again know some of the symptons for common illnesses like salmonella, or some more general symptons like, diarrhea, vommiting, etc which are symptons of MOST food born illnesses.