CASE STUDY 2
2
Case study
Devonte Hayes
Southern New Hampshire University
11/27/2022
Question 1
a) Between 1995 and 1997, the research was carried out in the Caribbean nations. Trinidad and Tobago was the nation that reported the most Salmonella infections, with a total of 257 Salmonella Enteritidis patients during the period or a mean of nearly 86 individuals per year. This information reflected a 6.8 yearly occurrence per 100,000 people. Four persons die from the virus on average each year. The most incidences were found in the populated counties of Victoria and St. George. 52% of the instances noted were female, whereas 48% were male. Although there was some variation in the age distribution of the cases, the data indicates that kids aged 4 and under were the most severely impacted. Due to the significant Caribbean population, both islands were affected by the Salmonella epidemic. The most populous areas, St. George and Victoria, were the most severely impacted by the pandemic. Sadly, this outbreak was associated with fatalities. Four persons each year, on average, passed away from the Salmonella illness.
b) The circumstances in which an individual is born, grows up, lives, works, and ages are social determinants (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). The residents and visitors of the Caribbean needed to feel comfortable in their surroundings, which would include being able to eat uncontaminated food, feeling secure in their community, and having access to the local healthcare system. For instance, six egg-producing facilities typically had a cloudy appearance; most of the time, the litter surfaces were moist. Rodents and flies were present, and there were filthy egg belts, poultry buildings, and nesting boxes. Due to the egg farms’ negligent farm maintenance and knowing distribution of their egg products to the community, the demands of the Caribbean populace and tourists still needed to be addressed. These conditions thus impeded the social demand to be able to eat uncontaminated food.
c) By delaying awareness, processing disease report cards, and failing to record disease instances, the upper authorities gained control over the native and tourist populations in the Caribbean. These are the three known disparities associated with the health of this specific population. When the Caribbean Salmonella outbreak began, general health was in danger. The first problem caused the local and international populations to be slower to become aware, take appropriate action, and plan. The reporting procedure required the clinician to fill out patient data on a disease report card and mail it to the regional health department, which was lengthy and time-consuming. After reviewing the report cards, the regional health department would gather more data and send batches of progress reports to the national ministry of health.
d) The Salmonella outbreak, illnesses, and fatalities were caused by the social and behavioral inequities discussed in this research. The population’s health inequities resulted from the sluggish spread of outbreak awareness. These impacted the patient since they were different from one another and engaged different groups. Health disparities associated with the discovery of the outbreak to launch an inquiry and identify the cause, as well as social and behavioral inequalities related to the sanitary problems at the egg-producing farms that led to the widespread outbreak (Indar-Harrinauth et al., 2001). In this instance, the egg-producing facilities could keep contaminating the populace. At the same time, the higher authorities took too long to identify an outbreak and carry out an examination to determine the source.
Question 2
With 1,097 diagnoses and 40 fatalities over ten years, the community was at risk of catching salmonella. As time passed, additional instances were identified without conclusive evidence of the outbreak’s cause. Over ten years, this outbreak developed into a public health problem, but the egg-producing facilities have continued to operate without restrictions.
References
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: it’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public health reports, 129(1_suppl2), 19-31.
Indar-Harrinauth, L., Daniels, N., Prabhakar, P., Brown, C., Baccus-Taylor, G., Comissiong, E., & Hospedales, J. (2001). Emergence of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 in the Caribbean: case-control study in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 32(6), 890-896.