Introduction to Epidemiology 6th Edition by Ray M Merrill

Exercise 6

In this instance, a secondary case was defined as diarrhea beginning between November 10th and December 4th.Why are these dates chosen for this purpose and how do they help determine what a secondary case is in this investigation?

Step 1 of 2

Shigellosis disease infected the children and staff in the beginning of November 1972. This was happened in a school which is located in Stockport, Iowa. The primary infection was through the water supplies that school had. The children and their family members developed the symptoms of shigellosis. Also, the staff of the school and their family members developed the signs and symptoms.

The signs and symptoms of shigellosis are fever, drowsiness, vomiting or nausea, irritability, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. After three to four days of shigellosis infection, pus, mucus, and blood come in the stools. There is increase in the number of stools in a day which is about 20 as an average. This is the case of severe diarrhea.