Identifying Data Sources
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Identifying Data Sources
Public health officials use myriad data sources to collect information for disease surveillance. Because of the ease of access, the majority of this information comes from electronic data sources such as daily physician visits, frequency of ambulance use, and filling of pharmacy prescriptions. Because every piece of information a public health official receives is not an indicator of disease, it is critical to find the right data sources to detect events and trends.
Often, creative thinking is required to identify potentially useful data sources and the combination of variables that may be revealing. Of course, identifying the data sources is only half the battle. It is also critical to determine how reliable the data are and how they will be obtained.
By Day 4, post a brief description of the disease/condition you selected and the data sources you would use. Justify your selection of each of the data sources you identified. Briefly address the case protocol (if appropriate) for the data sources and describe how the accuracy of that data might influence the disease surveillance. Respond to a colleague from the other group (infectious or chronic).
SAMPLE ANSWER
Identifying Data Sources for a Disease: Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease found in the lungs and spreads to all lymph nodes in the body (Möller & Hoal, 2010). People that suffer from the condition known as TB suffer silently because it has no symptoms (Möller & Hoal, 2010). The tuberculosis-causing bacteria can stay inactive for a prolonged period (Möller & Hoal, 2010). As a result, it goes unnoticed but it continues to weaken the immune systems just like in elderly people or in people that are suffering from HIV (Möller & Hoal, 2010). When present in the body, the bacterium causes death to organ tissues (Möller & Hoal, 2010). As a result, its effects are vast if they are left untreated.
Being one of the infectious diseases, TB has a surveillance system in place. As a result, there are many sources of data that are used to collect data for analysis and evaluation. Among the data sources that are trustable and that contain sufficient information is the Center for Disease Control website. The center has a collection of information from the greatest and most trusted physicians in the health sector. As a result, the information that it contains is rich and contains data that can help in coming up with relevant findings. In addition, it has offices worldwide and thus, more detailed and wide-range of information.
Another data source that I will apply to collect information concerning TB is the World Health Organization website. The organization is responsible for monitoring disease outbreaks, assessing the performance of health systems and maintaining world health. As a result, it contains information about TB in all aspects that one can think of and of all topics. Having offices and branches in most parts of the world, the information contained comes from various inputs to make a rich collection. Hence, the organization is good for my research.
References
Möller, M., & Hoal, E. G. (2010). Current findings, challenges and novel approaches in human genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis. Tuberculosis, 90(2), 71-83.
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