L4 Homework Scenario Loosely based on a true story- applied epi
1. Describe the situation in terms of person, place, and time. Please be specific and thorough. Use graphics/charts/tables as warranted. An epi curve and spot map must be included, as well as a table/graphic related to person factors. (Note: you do not have to do a per-floor spot map)
2. Based on your findings, state at least one hypothesis for what is causing the respiratory symptoms.
3. What would you do next, and why?
L4 Homework Scenario
Loosely based on a true story
You are an epidemiologist in a local health department. On July 21st, you received a call from a rather distraught woman calling from out-of-state. She stated that yesterday, when staying at a local hotel in your town, she woke to discover a light fog in her room, and that shed suffered respiratory syptoms (tightness in chest, coughing), nausea, and a headache. She did not seek medical care, but was concerned that she had been exposed to something toxic that could potentially cause long-term effects; the hotel was not giving her satisfactory answers. She stated she had alerted the front desk staff of the fog, and they assured her it was probably condensation from the air conditioning, but they would send someone up to check the room. It took two hours for someone to get to her room, and by then the fog was gone. She stated that when she complained to the front-desk manager, he offered to take 20% off the room charge for the inconvenience of waiting, but that there was no evidence that she had been exposed to anything in the hotel, and perhaps she was just experiencing allergies. The woman stated to you that she does not have a history of allergies or respiratory conditions.
After hanging up and organizing your notes, you phoned the hotel and spoke to the general manager, who denied knowing anthing about the incident. You called the next morning and spoke to one of the front desk staff, who stated she remembered the woman, and, per company policy, had logged the womans complaint in to an incident log, just as she had for the other similar-type complaints shed received during the few months that she had worked there. She also stated that she alerted her supervisor (the front-desk manager) to the situation, who had stated these were people trying to get their room charge dismissed or discounted, so she should ignore them. She was also told that only true injuries needed to be reported in the incident log. You asked her to fax you a copy of the incident log, which she did. (She was later fired for doing so).
The incident log showed several recent reports of respiratory symptoms. You decided to create a line listing based on what was recorded in the incident log. Heres what you found:
ID
DATE
SEX
AGE
ROOM
FOG
CHEST
COUGH
H.ACHE
NAUS
OTHER
1
7/20
F
48
474
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
2
7/13
F
66
667
No
Yes
yes
yes
no
3
7/13
M
69
667
No
no
yes
yes
no
Spouse of case 2
4
6/29
M
27
565
No
yes
yes
no
no
Odor
5
6/29
M
57
374
Yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Odor
6
6/22
F
31
571
No
yes
no
yes
yes
Window open
7
6/15
F
55
374
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
8
6/15
F
51
374
Yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Roommate of case 7
9
6/15
M
37
466
no
no
yes
yes
yes
10
6/1
F
64
467
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
11
6/1
F
36
467
yes
no
yes
yes
no
Daughter of case 10
12
6/1
M
7
467
?
no
yes
yes
no
Grandson of case 10
13
6/1
M
58
366
no
yes
yes
yes
no
14
5/25
F
37
368
no
no
yes
yes
no
You also obtained a floor plan of the hotel (see attached) .
Your Tasks:
1. Describe the situation in terms of person, place, and time. Please be specific and thorough. Use graphics/charts/tables as warranted. An epi curve and spot map must be included, as well as a table/graphic related to person factors. (Note: you do not have to do a per-floor spot map)
2. Based on your findings, state at least one hypothesis for what is causing the respiratory symptoms.
3. What would you do next, and why?
Parking Structure
Main Entrance
Street
Courtyard
Courtyard
The first two floors house the lobby, gift shop, restaurant, bar, fitness facility, and meeting rooms. The diagonal wing has a basement level where the kitchen and laundry facilities are located, as well as the incinerator and main HVAC units.
This is the layout for floors 3 12. Each floor has the same numbering system, with the first digit(s) reflecting the floor number.
Pool
