Acute Gastrointestinal Illnesses

Question 1: What questions (or types of questions) would you ask the student?
The student should be asked the what, who, when, where, and why (or how) of the problem as denoted below:
 What is the problem? (e.g., clinical description of the illness, whether a physician was consulted, whether any tests were performed or any treatments were provided)
 Who was affected and their characteristics? (e.g., age, sex, occupation), and the nature of their illnesses (e.g., symptoms, whether any persons were hospitalized or died)?
 When did the affected person or persons become ill? (Date, time and the onset of illness)
 Where are the affected persons located? (Names and telephone numbers)
 Why (or how) do they think they became ill? (e.g., risk
This, compared to the hand full of students that would normally go to both facilities for such symptoms in two weeks, makes the probability of a brewing epidemic high at the university.
Question 5: List the broad categories of diseases that must be considered in the differential diagnosis of an outbreak of acute gastrointestinal illnesses.
The broad categories of diseases that must be considered in the differential diagnosis of an outbreak of acute gastrointestinal illness are Infections, preformed toxin, and psychogenic illness. However, only two of the broad categories (infection and preformed toxin) are most relevant to an outbreak of acute gastrointestinal illness differential diagnosis.
Infection
Acute gastrointestinal illness of infectious origin results from the growth of a microorganism in the body. These microorganisms cause gastrointestinal illness using different mechanisms of action to disrupt the homeostasis of the body. For example, viruses, bacteria, or parasites are known for invading the intestinal mucosa and/or other tissues, multiply, and directly damaging surrounding tissues. In addition, bacteria and certain viruses invade and multiply in the intestinal tract and then release toxins that damage surrounding tissues or interfere with normal organ or tissue
The following information might help narrow the range of agents suspected of causing the gastrointestinal illness: predominant signs and symptoms, incubation period, duration of symptoms and suspect food. In addition, the proficient interpretation of laboratory testing of stools, blood, or vomitus is always helpful in narrowing causative agents of gastrointestinal illness. Epidemiological studies using appropriate investigation studies as well as environmental health assessment are both prudent to narrowing the range and in identifying causative agents of gastrointestinal illness.
Overall, narrowing or determining the range of agents suspected of causing the gastrointestinal illness is an enormous undertaken for health officials. Hence, it was not surprising that the Texas Department of Health (TDH) enlisted the help of health care providers from the University Student Health Center, Hospitals and all other emergency rooms in the vicinity of the outbreak, in obtaining information about cases since March 5th as well, information and specimens from newly diagnosed