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Medical Case Study

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When a disease that has a regular prevalence in a geographic region begins to present a higher incidence rate than the standard, an investigation is can be necessary to verify a possibility of an outbreak (WHO, 2017). When an epidemic occurs in a community or region several people are infected by the same disease that originates from the same source of spread (Gordis, 2014). An outbreak can also be identified when a disease that has already been eradicated or has never been detected in a region infects one or more victims (WHO, 2017). When an epidemic spread, reaching global levels of infection, it is categorized as a pandemic (Gordis, 2014). An endemic is characterized by the number of occurrences frequent within a pattern stabilized in a …show more content…

The symptoms presented are compatible with the initial acute phase of the Chagas disease (WHO, 2017). Data show that Chagas disease presents occurrences in both rural and urban areas (de Noya et al., 2015). During this phase, the diagnosis can be made through a blood test that is able to observe the parasite in a blood smear through the microscope (CDC, 2014). If the disease is proven to be Chagas disease, two serological tests are recommended for people who do not have the symptoms but have been exposed to the same location where the patients have already been diagnosed (CDC, 2014). In most cases of the Chagas disease, symptoms may not manifest in the acute phase of the disease, which lasts about two months after infection (WHO, 2017). The causes (Gordis, 2014) for this outbreak may be related to the consumption of food contaminated by feces or urine of animals, such as triatomine bugs or marsupials contaminated by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi or by the sting of infected triatomine bugs (WHO, 2017). Other causes do not appear to be tied to this case, such as receiving blood transfusions or organ transplants from contaminated donors; congenital contamination or laboratory accidents, due to the high volume of symptomatic patients (WHO, 2017). The risk population, that is, the denominator (Gordis, 2014) of this case can be calculated as soon as the results of blood tests are qualified and quantified. The second step in the investigation of this

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