Intermittent common source spread: Difference between revisions

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In some common-source outbreaks, case-patients may have been exposed over a period of days, weeks, or longer. The epidemic curve of an intermittent common-source outbreak often has a pattern reflecting the intermittent nature of the exposure.

common-source outbreak

A common-source outbreak is one in which a group of persons are all exposed to an infectious agent or a toxin from the same source.

continuous common-source outbreak

In a continuous common-source outbreak, the range of exposures and range of incubation periods tend to flatten and widen the peaks of the epidemic curve.

point-source outbreak

If the group is exposed over a relatively brief period, so that everyone who becomes ill does so within one incubation period, then the common-source outbreak is further classified as a point-source outbreak.

Examples

The epidemic of leukemia cases in Hiroshima following the atomic bomb blast and the epidemic of hepatitis A among patrons of the Pennsylvania restaurant who ate green onions each had a point source of exposure.
If the number of cases during an epidemic were plotted over time, the resulting graph, called an epidemic curve, would typically have a steep upslope and a more gradual downslope (a so-called “log-normal distribution”).

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