WGU D401 Task 1|Latest Update with Complete
Solution
Misty Rains
D401
Task 1
A. Two risk factors contributing to the spread of conjunctivitis at both
schools are the shared living dormitories with ten people per room and
common restroom facilities.
B. Explain, in detail, how each identified risk factor may have contributed to
the transmission of conjunctivitis from person to person.
Shared living dormitories with ten people per room are a risk factor
contributing to the transmission of conjunctivitis in the school.
Conjunctivitis is transmitted through direct contact. Touching the infected
eye and touching a surface, another person touching that surface and then
touching their eye. The shared dorms with so many people in the same
room would increase the spread; as an infected person could touch the door
handle, nine others would touch that same door handle to enter the room.
However, if there were only two people per room, only one other person
would touch that door handle.
Shared common restroom facilities are another risk factor contributing to
the transmission of conjunctivitis at the school—much like the shared
dorms. When one infected person touches a sink knob now, dozens of
people will feel that same knob. However, if it were only one other person, it
would only put one more person at risk. However, restrooms often have
high humidity and many viruses and bacteria that cause conjunctivitis to
resist disinfectants. The moisture will extend the survival time of the
bacteria on surfaces even with regular cleanings.
C. Two actions that the schools, families, or communities could have taken
to mitigate the effects of the identified risk factors would have been regular
cleaning of shared surfaces and frequent hand washing and sanitizing.
In schools or any living facilities with such close living quarters and so
, many shared surfaces, the staff should implement a routine cleaning
schedule to help prevent the spread of infection. Cleaning all shared
surfaces, door handles, light switches, countertops, sinks, toilets, fridges,
faucets, etc., should be done hourly with a check sheet, ensuring they are
done every hour.
Hand washing multiple times a day by all staff and students with soap and
water for 20 seconds will help prevent the transmission of conjunctivitis.
Staff and families should have encouraged the students to wash their hands
often, especially after touching shared surfaces. The school should also
have provided hand sanitizer in each classroom, dorm room, and restroom.
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are an effective method to help reduce the
spread of conjunctivitis when hand washing is not an option.
Another essential thing for families and staff to remind students not to do
during an outbreak is not to share personal items, such as toiletries,
brushes, combs that you would touch, pencils, pens, and even bedding.
D. Based on the given scenario, identify two additional pieces of evidence or
data sources that epidemiologists should have collected and used to
understand better the outbreak's origin, transmission, or characteristics.
Epidemiologists should have collected data sources on the students and
staff's social integrational patterns to identify where transmissions were
likely occurring. Data from students’ class schedules, seating assignments,
lunch times, and extracurricular activity schedules were used. They could
have used this information to map out where those infected have been and
use that data to pinpoint cross-contamination points.
Another data source the epidemiologist should have collected was cleaning
and sanitizing schedules. (WGU,2020).
E. Explain how each evidence or data source would improve
epidemiologists’ understanding of this outbreak.
The data that epidemiologists collected, such as the number of staff and
students in each of the two schools and the number infected, helped them
discover that 30.6% of the population in School A had conjunctivitis. Of
those cases, 52% were male, and 48% were female. This is a split. However,
in School B, although only 20.4% of School B was infected, when looking at
gender, 73.1% of School B’s cases were male, and only 26.9% were female.
(WGU,2024). This is where the other two pieces of data, such as the social
integration patterns and cleaning and sanitizing schedules, would have
Solution
Misty Rains
D401
Task 1
A. Two risk factors contributing to the spread of conjunctivitis at both
schools are the shared living dormitories with ten people per room and
common restroom facilities.
B. Explain, in detail, how each identified risk factor may have contributed to
the transmission of conjunctivitis from person to person.
Shared living dormitories with ten people per room are a risk factor
contributing to the transmission of conjunctivitis in the school.
Conjunctivitis is transmitted through direct contact. Touching the infected
eye and touching a surface, another person touching that surface and then
touching their eye. The shared dorms with so many people in the same
room would increase the spread; as an infected person could touch the door
handle, nine others would touch that same door handle to enter the room.
However, if there were only two people per room, only one other person
would touch that door handle.
Shared common restroom facilities are another risk factor contributing to
the transmission of conjunctivitis at the school—much like the shared
dorms. When one infected person touches a sink knob now, dozens of
people will feel that same knob. However, if it were only one other person, it
would only put one more person at risk. However, restrooms often have
high humidity and many viruses and bacteria that cause conjunctivitis to
resist disinfectants. The moisture will extend the survival time of the
bacteria on surfaces even with regular cleanings.
C. Two actions that the schools, families, or communities could have taken
to mitigate the effects of the identified risk factors would have been regular
cleaning of shared surfaces and frequent hand washing and sanitizing.
In schools or any living facilities with such close living quarters and so
, many shared surfaces, the staff should implement a routine cleaning
schedule to help prevent the spread of infection. Cleaning all shared
surfaces, door handles, light switches, countertops, sinks, toilets, fridges,
faucets, etc., should be done hourly with a check sheet, ensuring they are
done every hour.
Hand washing multiple times a day by all staff and students with soap and
water for 20 seconds will help prevent the transmission of conjunctivitis.
Staff and families should have encouraged the students to wash their hands
often, especially after touching shared surfaces. The school should also
have provided hand sanitizer in each classroom, dorm room, and restroom.
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are an effective method to help reduce the
spread of conjunctivitis when hand washing is not an option.
Another essential thing for families and staff to remind students not to do
during an outbreak is not to share personal items, such as toiletries,
brushes, combs that you would touch, pencils, pens, and even bedding.
D. Based on the given scenario, identify two additional pieces of evidence or
data sources that epidemiologists should have collected and used to
understand better the outbreak's origin, transmission, or characteristics.
Epidemiologists should have collected data sources on the students and
staff's social integrational patterns to identify where transmissions were
likely occurring. Data from students’ class schedules, seating assignments,
lunch times, and extracurricular activity schedules were used. They could
have used this information to map out where those infected have been and
use that data to pinpoint cross-contamination points.
Another data source the epidemiologist should have collected was cleaning
and sanitizing schedules. (WGU,2020).
E. Explain how each evidence or data source would improve
epidemiologists’ understanding of this outbreak.
The data that epidemiologists collected, such as the number of staff and
students in each of the two schools and the number infected, helped them
discover that 30.6% of the population in School A had conjunctivitis. Of
those cases, 52% were male, and 48% were female. This is a split. However,
in School B, although only 20.4% of School B was infected, when looking at
gender, 73.1% of School B’s cases were male, and only 26.9% were female.
(WGU,2024). This is where the other two pieces of data, such as the social
integration patterns and cleaning and sanitizing schedules, would have
