Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Task 2

Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Task 2) B. Description of a chosen international outbreak The respiratory syndrome coronavirus (COVID 19) has affected many people and countries throughout the globe but it all began in Wuhan, China in December of 2019 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that spreads easily from human to human via respiratory droplets. It is thought that COVID-19 emerged from a large seafood and animal market and traveled worldwide quickly (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). The first lab confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States was January 20th, 2020 which spread to the entire country very quickly, including small towns in Iowa such as Johnson County (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). B1. Epidemiological Determinants and Risk Factors Most illnesses caused by COVID-19 are mild and those infected will recover on their own with little to no intervention. Research per the CDC (2020) states “Data from several countries suggest that 14%-19% are hospitalized and 3%-5% will need intensive care unit admission.” “It has been reported that SARS-CoV-2 is sensitive to ultraviolet rays and heat at 56 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes; ether, 75% ethanol, chlorine-containing disinfectant, peracetic acid, chloroform, and other fatty solvents can effectively inactivate the virus,” (Yi et al., 2020). Most of the population has not come in contact with the novel coronavirus therefore has no immune response and is susceptible to infection. “Age was the most important factor of…COVID-19. COVID-19 mainly happened at the age of 30-65 with 47.7% of those patients being over 50 in a study of 8,866 cases…” (Yi et al., 2020). Although age is the most important factor in COVID-19 transmission, people with the following medical conditions are considered at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19: “cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS disease, heart conditions such as: heart failure, coronary artery disease, and/or cardiomyopathy, immunocompromised state such as from an organ transplant, obesity, sickle cell disease, smoking, and type two diabetes mellitus,” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). B2. Route of Transmission COVID-19 is a global pandemic that spreads very easily from person-to-person by respiratory droplets when someone coughs, sneezes, or talks. These respiratory droplets then infect the next host through the mouth, nose, and eyes. People may also be infected with the virus if they touch infected surfaces so it is recommended to wash hands frequently, wear a mask, and keep at least 6ft distance from others, especially when indoors. It is thought that COVID-19 spread rapidly from Wuhan, China throughout the globe through international travel first, hitÝng larger cities with dense population and international airports, and then quickly spread to smaller towns and cities with local travel next. B3. Impact in My Community at a Systems Level COVID-19 is reaching record breaking case numbers every day. One of the only level-one trauma centers in the state of Iowa is reaching max capacity and struggling to make room for new patients because of increasing COVID cases. Intensive care unit beds are filling rapidly and requiring critically ill patients to stay on intermediate units with less necessary monitoring because of the lack of space in intensive care. Public schools in Iowa had been entirely online but are currently 50% online, 50% in-person with smaller class sizes to make it possible to social distance. Government ofÏces are open by appointment only, and incredibly hard to get into so renewal for license plates and drivers licenses has been given a longer grace period. If a person RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS is diagnosed with COVID-19, it is mandatory to report to the state department of health for further investigation. The state department of health will then report cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA. B4. Reporting Protocol for an Outbreak in My Community Reporting new cases of COVID-19 in Iowa City involves a number of different agencies. It all starts with receiving a lab confirmed positive test result. When the nurse receives this result, they will call the patient and notify them, and then report it to the Johnson County Health Department. Once the county health department has been notified, they pass that information along to the Iowa Department of Health which then reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Washington, DC. Reporting new cases takes collaboration from several different public health employees. B5. Two Strategies to Prevent an Outbreak in My Community There are many ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in my community but a couple of them are education, and vaccine administration. Residents of Johnson County should be educated on the route of transmission, signs and symptoms of the virus, ways to slow the spread of the virus including social distancing and mask wearing in public. When a vaccine for COVID-19 becomes readily available to the public, it will only be as good as the percentage of those that receive it, so it’s imperative that the general public considers the recommendations of the CDC and receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer announced this week that they have developed a vaccine with over 90% efÏcacy in participants without prior evidence of COVID-19 infection, (Pfizer, 2020).