A child came to school coughing almost constantly. The next day, six other children in the same school room were coughing. Which of the following types of outbreak would the nurse suspect?A. Common sourceB. MixedC. PropagatedD. Intermittent
Based on the given information, the nurse would likely suspect a propagated outbreak
Based on the given information, the nurse would likely suspect a propagated outbreak.
A propagated outbreak is characterized by the continuous person-to-person transmission of an infectious disease. In this scenario, the fact that the first child came to school coughing almost constantly suggests that they may be the index case, meaning the initial source of the infection. The next day, six other children in the same school room were coughing, indicating the spread of the infection from person to person.
Common source outbreaks are typically characterized by a group of people becoming sick after exposure to a common source, such as contaminated food or water. In this scenario, there is no mention of a common exposure to a shared source for the initial child and the subsequent cases, so a common source outbreak is less likely.
Mixed outbreaks involve both common source and person-to-person transmission. However, since there is no indication of a common source in this scenario, a mixed outbreak is less likely.
Intermittent outbreaks involve sporadic cases with no clear pattern of transmission. In this scenario, since there is a clear pattern of transmission from the initial child to the other six children, an intermittent outbreak is less likely.
Therefore, based on the given information, the nurse would suspect a propagated outbreak.
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