Transcript The Case of the Potluck Poisoning a Food

Mission Possible:
The Case of the
Potluck Poisoning
a Food-Borne Illness Scenario
CTE Business
Health Care Integrated Activity
Your Mission…
 Your mission is to solve the Case of the
Potluck Poisoning a Food-borne Illness
scenario:
– Use information presented in this presentation
– Decide from the facts what caused the Potluck
Poisoning
 This is a Health Care activity designed to give
you an opportunity to experience what it is like
to work in Health Informatics Occupations.
GOOD LUCK!
Health Informatics
Occupations
 These occupations collect, manage,
organize, and analyze information
in the Health Care Field.
 These occupations require
computer skills and knowledge of
health care & office software.
Background Information
 What does potluck mean?
– A meal (usually lunch or dinner) to which
many people bring food to share with others
 What is food-borne illness?
– An illness that more than one person gets as a
result of eating contaminated food
 What is contaminated?
– Something that is unclean or impure as a result
of contact or mixture with a bacteria, viruses, or
minerals that are harmful to the body
Background Information
 What are viruses and bacteria?
– Bugs or germs that can make a person sick
 What is feces?
– Human or animal solid waste (poop)
 What is an epidemiologist?
– Someone who figures out why many people are
getting the same type of sickness at the same time.
 What is an environmental health specialist?
– Someone who tries to identify and eliminate health
hazards in our environment
You will be exploring these
occupations…
 The admitting clerk that records
the patient’s personal and
insurance information.
 The epidemiologist that collects
all the facts and solves the case.
The Community Potluck was
organized by 4 individuals:
 Maria runs a day care
center in her home
 Stephen runs the
town’s meat packing
plant
 Abram is the manager
of a fertilizer outlet.
 John is a hard-working
local dairy farmer.
Activity #1: Identify the Contributors
 Gather information about key people as you
watch the presentation
 Match the people to the pictures that represent
their part in this scenario by writing the
LETTER of the person in the square to the left
of the picture
 Use Activity #1 Worksheet and the next 4
slides to gather the first pieces of information
you will need to solve the case
A - Maria
 Runs a day care center for 9
children, ranging from 1 to 8years-old
 She was asked to cook 15 hams
 The day of the potluck, she spent
most of the day preparing the
hams in her kitchen with the help
of 3 of her older day care
children
 She also has a soft spot for birds
and cats; you are told she has 4
birds and 12 cats
B - Stephen
 He runs the town’s meat
packing plant
 He donated 150 pounds
of beef and pork
 He cooked over several
open pit barbeques
 Several flies were on the
beef, despite a no-pest
strip hanging close by
C - Abram
 He is the manager of a
fertilizer outlet
 Only helped mix the salad
after nobody else would
volunteer to do it
 He has been ill recently, but
he feels fine now
 Symptoms of his recent illness
include diarrhea, high fever,
double vision, and skin
lesions
D - John
 He is a hard-working local
dairy farmer
 He was asked to bring 100
gallons of red fruit punch
 Lacking anything else to bring
the punch in, he uses several of
his old metal milk cans
 The milk cans have recently
been welded and soldered to
repair cracks, holes, and loose
handles
The Community Potluck
Dinner
From what you can gather at the
emergency room, there was a
community potluck dinner, which
was attended by about 350 people.
The dinner began at 8:00 p.m.
The first sick patients began arriving
at the hospital around 8:25 p.m.
Gather Information
 As the Admitting Clerk of the
Hospital you are responsible
to get personal and medical
insurance information from all
patients
 Family members begin to
arrive and you get information
from them.
Activity #2: Patient Record
 Interview a classmate and record their information.
 Accuracy is required!!! No mistakes.
 Work with a partner and fill out their information
on YOUR paper.
 You should make up your information about your
age, your occupation (or career), if you are
married, phone number, etc.
Finish this activity before going on to the next slide.
To continue…
 At the hospital, the ambulance driver begins to
explain that the patients were at a community
potluck dinner with several hundred people.
 He says that more people will probably be
arriving from the potluck soon.
 As you enter, you see 6 patients who are
experiencing similar symptoms.
 Environmental Health Services tell you that
this seems to be a larger than normal outbreak
and they have called an epidemiologist.
The Epidemiologist Arrives:
 20 minutes later, the epidemiologist arrives at the
hospital.
 In that time, an additional 20 individuals have arrived
- all with similar symptoms.
 The epidemiologist sets up his laptop computer and
begins to collect information.
 In the meantime, 3 Environmental Health Specialists
are sent to the potluck to collect samples of the food
to be tested for bacteria and viruses.
Reasons People Get Sick
 Viruses and bacteria may cause infections
likes strep throat and influenza (flu).
 Some viruses and bacteria can live in food:
causing food-borne illnesses such as
salmonella, E. coli, and Hepatitis A.
 Exposure to excessive amounts of minerals
or heavy metals, like lead, can also cause
illness.
Activity # 3: Classify Illnesses
 Use the Activity # 3 chart in your Student Booklet
as you learn more about 5 illnesses.
– Record the cause of each illness
– Record the time it takes to get sick
– Record what happens to the patient, also called
symptoms
 The information on the next 5 slides will help you
solve the case!
Influenza (Flu)
 Type of infection: virus in the nose, throat and lungs
 Time for symptoms to occur: quickly and suddenly
 Symptoms: fever, headache, fatigue, dry cough, sore
throat, congested nose, and body aches.
 Cause of the illness: This is an air-borne illness that is
passed from person to person when an infected person
sneezes or coughs.
 Other Information: Most people will recover in 1 to 2
weeks, but a few people will progress to pneumonia and
other complications including death. An average of
35,000 Americans die annually from influenza.
Hepatitis A
 Type of infection: viral infection that causes liver
damage.
 Time for symptoms to occur: is within 2 to 4 weeks.
 Symptoms: jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes),
fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, and
vomiting.
 Cause of the illness: This particular virus is transmitted
by food or water that has been contaminated with
feces from an infected person.
This means you should ALWAYS wash your hands after
going to the bathroom AND before handling food.
 Other Information: There is no cure for Hepatitis A.
Salmonella
 Type of illness: bacterial infection of the stomach
and intestines
 Time for symptoms to occur: 1 to 3 days after the
infection
 Symptoms: diarrhea, fever, and stomach pain
 Cause of the illness: eating contaminated food, such
as raw chicken or raw eggs
 Other Information: Some animals, such as reptiles,
baby chicks, and baby ducks, may carry salmonella
and pass it in their feces. Household animals, like
birds, cats, and dogs, can carry salmonella in their
feces, as well.
Lead (Pb) Poisoning
 Type of illness: mineral or heavy metal poisoning
 Time for symptoms to occur: within 30 minutes to 1
hour.
 Symptoms: stomach pain, diarrhea, and vomiting.
– Prolonged exposure can damage the kidneys, cause mental
retardation, coma, seizures, and even death.
 Cause of the illness: Lead is a metal that is toxic if
ingested or eaten
 Other Information: Lead used to be common in
paints, and is still found in batteries, metal solder
used for repairing metal containers, bullets, and
roofing materials.
E. Coli
 Type of infection: bacteria in the intestines
 Time for symptoms to occur: about 7 days
 Symptoms: severe cramps and bloody diarrhea,
low fever, nausea and vomiting, dehydration, and
possible death
 Causes of the illness: eating undercooked meat,
drinking contaminated liquids, and/or eating
produce that has not been properly washed
 Other Information: E. Coli is very contagious and
can be deadly, especially for the very young and
very old.
To Be Continued…
 The epidemiologist begins to piece together a story
from the patients, which involves:
 People at a community potluck dinner become sick-displaying nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe
headache, but no fever.
 The environmental specialists collect the containers
the food and drink were served in.
 By early the next morning, several patients are well
enough to be interviewed.
 The epidemiologist also interviews the people who
brought the food and drink.
Activity #4 Epidemiologist
Chart
 Use the Microsoft® Excel® worksheet and
complete the chart.
 As you enter “1” for what the 5 people
ate, the totals at the bottom of the chart
are filled in.
 Use the percentages at the bottom of the
Epidemiologist Chart to help you decide
what made people sick.
Activity #4 Epidemiologist
Chart
 Enter the information below for 5 people at the community
dinner.
– TANNER - Did not get sick. He ate the ham & salad. He drank
water only. He is on a diet and is limiting his sugar intake.
– ANA - Did get sick. She ate the ham, salad and drank the fruit
punch.
– MEGAN - Did get sick. She ate salad and had the fruit punch.
– JIM - Did get sick. He ate the ham, salad, and drank the fruit
punch.
– BRIANN - Did not get sick. She ate the salad and drank water.
Your spreadsheet should look like the one below.
To be Continued…
 Within 24 hours, the first test results on the food
came back negative.
– None of the food items were contaminated with bacteria
or viruses.
 The symptoms presented by the patients mimicked
those of heavy metal poisoning.
 Investigation shifted to mineral or heavy metal
poisoning.
 The question was: “Where did the mineral or heavy
metal poisoning come from?”
Activity #5: Fact Review Questions
 To complete Activity #5, analyze the information found
in the following activities in your packet
– Activity #1- The Potluck Contributors
– Activity #3 - Types of Illnesses
– Activity #4 -The Epidemiologist Chart.
 As the epidemiologist, answer the questions to help
identify the food-borne illness:
– What food item made everyone sick?
– How did the food become contaminated?
– How did it make the people sick?
Finish this activity before going on to the next slide.
The food-borne illness was
caused by:
 Did you solve the case correctly?
 John took the milk cans to be repaired.
 The repair shop used metal solder that
contained lead.
 Everyone who drank the fruit punch became
sick within 30 minutes.
Congratulations!
 Some things to remember:
– Always use containers that will not
contaminate the food or drink they
contain.
– When you use containers for food,
make sure that they are made of plastic
or stainless steel and have been cleaned
adequately.