How EMS Can Be Prepared for Enterovirus D68 and Other Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases
Learning Objectives
>>Learn about the possible causes of emergences and re-emergences of infectious diseases and how diseases spread.
>>Understand when to have a high index of suspicion for enterovirus D68, which can present with many different signs and symptoms.
>>Identify ways EMS systems can adapt during an outbreak to ensure provider safety while also still protecting and treating the community.
Key Terms
>>Emerging disease: A disease not previously recognized.
>>Fomites: Any objects, including an EMS worker’s uniform, that can be contaminated by infectious pathogens and can play a role in transmission of the pathogen.
>>Herd immunity: Also known as social immunity or herd effect, it occurs when the bulk of the people in a population are immune, thereby disrupting the spread of a disease to non-immune people. Essentially, the immune people act as a buffer to prevent the disease from spreading through the community.
>>Re-emerging or resurging disease: A disease that’s been around, sometimes known for centuries, and has come back in a new form or in locations where it hasn’t been previously seen.10
>>Zoonoses: Animal diseases that are spread to humans. More than 70% of emerging diseases are zoonotic.4
Since Ebola, measles, West Nile virus and enterovirus D68 hit the headlines in 2014, there’s been a renewed focus on emerging disease as well as re-emerging or resurging disease. Even rubella, also known as "German ...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: James F. Goss, MHA, MICP Tags: Infectious Diseases Patient Care Source Type: news
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