Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper

Introduction 

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States due to its increasing incidence and prevalence rates (Skar & Simonsen, 2024). The disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, named after Dr. Willy Burgdofer, who identified it in 1982 (Mead et al., 2024). The bacteria is spread through a tick bite from the species Ixodes scapularis, and it has an incubation period of one to two weeks (Mead et al., 2024; Skar & Simonsen, 2024). The disease begins with the development of an expanding rash with a central clearing, termed erythema migrans rash, which occurs at the site of tick bite in 70% to 80% of the cases and is often accompanied by fever and fatigue (Skar & Simonsen, 2024)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper. These symptoms constitute early Lyme disease.

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If early Lyme disease is not treated, it leads to disseminated disease with non-specific symptoms such as facial nerve palsy, radiculopathy, or lymphocytic meningitis in neurologic Lyme disease (Skar & Simonsen, 2024). It can cause my pericarditis resembling a heart block in Lyme cardiac disease or mono- or pauciarticular arthritis, affecting the large joints in Lyme arthritis (Skar & Simonsen, 2024). The disease is diagnosed based on clinical and laboratory findings with no specific path gnomic test for Lyme disease except the observation of spirochete bacteria under microscopy (Skar & Simonsen, 2024). The treatment for the disease is based on the patient’s age and stage of the disease. As a bacterial infection, it is typically treated adequately using antibiotics, specifically doxycycline, for ten days in children above eight years (Skar & Simonsen, 2024). In children below 8 years, treatment involves amoxicillin or cefuroxime for 14 days and ceftriaxone in pregnant women (Skar & Simonsen, 2024). The treatment of the disease in its early stages is curative. However, antimicrobial resistance, immunosuppression, and late diagnosis lead to complications such as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, which presents with persistent fatigue, pain, arthralgia, or myalgia for more than six months in 5% of the cases (Skar & Simonsen, 2024)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper. Additionally, a persistent or chronic infection stage could occur with treatment failure.

Annually, the disease affects approximately half a million people. The incidence of the disease is higher among males, accounting for 55% of cases in all age groups (Mead et al., 2024). It is also more common among Caucasians but can affect all races, with the rationale for higher cases reported in Caucasians being as a result of an inability to easily identify the skin lesions caused by the disease in other races (Mead et al., 2024). The disease has a bimodal age distribution, showing peak incidence rates among children and adolescents aged 5 to 15 years and older adults above 50 (Mead et al., 2024)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper.

The disease was first described in a 1977 publication by Dr. Allen Steere and colleagues following the eruption of two disease foci in the Northeastern and upper Midwestern parts of the United States (Mead et al., 2024). It is common during summer seasons when temperatures are high, thus demonstrating high incidence rates, 50% of the cases between June and early July (Mead et al., 2024). Therefore, the geographical distribution of the cases coincides with areas of higher temperatures.

The disease is common in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in the Northeast, as well as Minnesota and Wisconsin in the Midwest, among other ten counties (Bloch et al., 2022). The incidence rate of the disease in these endemic areas is up to 40 cases per 100000 population (Bloch et al., 2022). Annually, Lyme disease accounts for 6.93 cases per 100000 population of hospitalizations, but has a relatively low mortality rate of less than 1% (Bloch et al., 2022)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper. The disease has increased incidence rates and demonstrated a widening geographical distribution patterns that be explained by various factors under the epidemiological triad.

Determinants of Health

The determinants of health refer to the various that increase an individual’s risk of developing a disease. Typically, the determinants of health are described within a social context, highlighting the conditions in which an individual was born, lives, schools, works, and worships and their effects on the individual’s health (Logan et al., 2024). The social determinants of health specific for Lyme disease include working in wooden areas, having a house with a yard, knowing an individual previously affected by Lyme disease, living in disease endemic areas, origin from marginalized racial groups, and having a low knowledge index regarding the tick bite prevention measures (Logan et al., 2024)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper. These social determinants of health place individuals living in the fifteen identified counties in the North-eastern and Midwestern areas of the United States at the highest risk of disease transmission. These social determinants of health contribute to developing Lyme disease by increasing the risk of exposure to tick bites, which results in Lyme disease. Specifically, working in wooden areas or living in a house with a yard coupled with little knowledge of the prevention of the disease results in a high risk of developing Lyme disease. Therefore, there is a need to adequately address population knowledge on disease prevention measures to ensure protection from tick bites and Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

Epidemiological Triad

The most susceptible hosts for the disease are populations living in endemic areas, especially those with yards or working in wooden areas. The lack of knowledge on disease prevention measures, more so the use of tick repellants, increases the host’s or an individual’s risk of contracting the disease. Secondly, the presence of immunosuppressed hosts, such as patients with malignancy or Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), increases the morbidity and mortality rates from Lyme disease. The agent factors are associated with changes in weather, such as global warming, resulting in higher temperatures that allow for tick proliferation. The summer heat in June and early July coincides with the peak occurrence of the tick’s nymphal life stages, which are the stages that transmit Lyme disease (Mead et al., 2024)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper. Therefore, the presence of these stages in summer results in higher disease transmission and the occurrence of Lyme disease peaking in June and early July. Lastly, environmental factors contributing to Lyme disease development and progression are summarized above, such as providing adequate breeding grounds and conditions in the summer and wooden areas.

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Role of the Nurse Practitioner

Finally, the nurse practitioner, among other healthcare providers, assumes crucial roles in disease identification, management, and prevention. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), a nurse practitioner must help their clinical setting and patients with infection prevention and control (AANP News, 2024). Specifically, the nurse practitioner should be active in educating her patients about disease prevention as part of primary disease prevention. An example is provided through a health talk by one of the nurse practitioners registered with the entity using practical, real-life examples on national television (AANP News, 2024)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper. The nurse practitioner must help in disease surveillance and secondary interventions through active screening and reporting patient cases with Lyme disease to relevant authorities. The nurse forms a crucial part of the multi-disciplinary team managing patients with Lyme disease in outpatient settings and those admitted in medico-surgical units as part of tertiary interventions for the disease. Lastly, community health nurse practitioners could help with patient follow-up to ensure treatment adherence, adherence to prevention strategies for the disease, and prevention of chronic disease states. The patient-centered care paradigm of health should guide the nurse practitioner in every intervention stage to ensure that their nursing interventions are tailored to meet individual patient needs and respect patients’ preferences for high-quality care, enhanced patient safety, and outstanding patient clinical outcomes.

References

American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) News (2024, August 9). How to avoid getting “ticked off” with nurse practitioner expert Vanessa Pomarico-Denino. AANP News. https://www.aanp.org/news-feed/how-to-avoid-getting-ticked-off-with-nurse-practitioner-expert-vanessa-pomarico-denino

Bloch, M. E., Zhu, X., Kruse, J. P., Patel, U. E., Grabowski, K. M., Goel, R., Auwaerter, G. P., & Tobian, A. R. A. (2022). Comparing the epidemiology and health burden of Lyme disease and babesiosis hospitalizations in the United States. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 9(11), ofac597. https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fofid%2Fofac597

Logan, J. J., Sawada, M., Knudby, A., Ramsay, T., Blanford, I. J., Ogden, H. N., & Kulkarni, A. M. (2024). Knowledge, protective behaviour’s, and perception of Lyme disease in an area of emerging risk: results from a cross-sectional survey of adults in Ottawa, Ontario. BMC Public Health, 24(867). https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-024-18348-6 Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper

Mead, P., Hinckley, A., & Kugeler, K. (2024). Lyme disease surveillance and epidemiology in the United States: A historical perspective. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 230(Suppl_1), S11-S17. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae230

Skar, L. G., & Simonsen, A. K. (2024). Lyme Disease. Treasure Island (FL): StatPealrs Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK431066/

Choose a topic from the list provided to you by your course faculty. Apply the concepts of population health and epidemiology to the topic.
Synthesize Course content from Weeks 1-5 according to the following sections:
Introduction: Analysis of the communicable disease (causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment) to include demographic break down that includes age, gender, race, or other at-risk indicators (da ta per demographics should include mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper.
Determinants of Health: Define, identify and synthesize the determinants of health as related to the development of the infection. Utilize HP2020.
Epidemiological Triad: Identify and describe all elements of the epidemiological triad: Host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors. Utilize the demographic break down to further describe the triad.
Role of the NP: Succinctly define the role of the nurse practitioner according to a national nurse practitioner organization ( National Board of Nursing or AANP, for example) and synthesize the role to the  management of infectious diseases (surveillance, primary/secondary/tertiary interventions, reporting, data collecting, data analysis, and follow-up). This includes the integration of a model of practice which supports the implementation of an evidence-based practice.   Refer to your course textbook for models of practice examples.
Preparing the paper
Submission Requirements

Application: Use Microsoft Wordâ„¢ to create the written assessment.
Length: The paper (excluding the title page and reference page) should be limited to a maximum of four (4) pages. Papers not adhering to the page length may be returned to you for editing to meet the length guidelines.
A minimum of three (3) scholarly research/literature references must be used. CDC or other web sources may be utilized but are not counted towards the three minimum references required. Your course text may be used as an additional resource but is not included in the three minimum scholarly references. Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper
APA format current edition.
Include scholarly in-text references and a reference list.
Adhere to the Chamberlain College of Nursing academic policy on integrity as it pertains to the submission of student created original work for assignments.
Do not write in the first person (such as “me” “I”)
Best Practices in Preparing the Project

The following are best practices in preparing this project:

Review directions and rubric thoroughly.
Follow submission requirements.
Make sure all elements on the grading rubric are included. Organize the paper using the rubric sections and appropriate headings to match the sections.
Rules of grammar, spelling, word usage, and punctuation are followed and consistent with formal, scientific writing.
Title page, running head, body of paper, and reference page must follow APA guidelines as found in the current edition of the manual. This includes the use of headings for each section of the paper except for the introduction where no heading is used.
Ideas and information that come from scholarly literature must be cited and referenced correctly.
A minimum of three (3) scholarly literature references must be used. **See above section on “Preparing the Paper”.
Abide by Chamberlain College of Nursing academic integrity policy.
This assignment will be run through Turn It In. You may submit your assignment one time and you must be sure you are submitting your final submission for grading.

ASSIGNMENT CONTENT
Category Points % Description
Introduction 15 12%
Comprehensive description of the infectious disease (causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment) and the demographic of interest (mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence). Integrate at risk aggregate populations with related descriptive epidemiology. Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper

Determinants of Health 40 32% Robust identification and description of the determinants of health with explanation of how those factors contribute to the development of this disease. Evidence supports background.
Epidemiological Triad 30 24% Comprehensive review of the epidemiological triad (host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors). Uses example/s, resources, to fully describe the triad.
Role of the NP 25 20% Succinctly defines the role of the nurse practitioner according to a national nurse practitioner organization (Board of Nursing, AANP, for example) and synthesize the role to the management of infectious diseases (surveillance, primary/secondary/tertiary interventions, reporting, data collecting, data analysis, and follow-up). This includes the integration of a model of practice which supports the implementation of an evidence-based practice.
110 88% Total CONTENT Points = 110 pts
ASSIGNMENT FORMAT
Category Points % Description
APA 10 8% All elements of the paper utilize APA Format current ed.
Spelling/grammar/ voice 5 4% All elements of the paper correctly utilize spelling, grammar and a scholarly voice.
15 12% Total FORMAT Points= 15 pts
125 100% DISCUSSION TOTAL= 125 points
Rubric
NR503_Week 5 Infectious Diseases Paper_Sept19
NR503_Week 5 Infectious Diseases Paper_Sept19
Criteria Ratings Pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Assignment Content Possible Points =110 Points
Introduction of Infectious Disease
15 pts
Excellent
Comprehensive description of the communicable disease (causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment) and the demographic of interest (mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence)Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper. Integrate at risk aggregate populations.
14 pts
V. Good
Adequately identifies the communicable disease (causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment) and the demographic of interest (mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence). Integration of at-risk aggregate populations.
12 pts
Satisfactory
Limited description of the communicable disease (causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment) and the demographic of interest (mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence). Integration of at-risk aggregate populations scantly present.
8 pts
Needs Improvement
Unclear description of the communicable disease (causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment) and the demographic of interest (mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence). Integration of at-risk aggregate populations inaccurately discussed/not related.
0 pts
Unsatisfactory
Data is minimal or absent.
15 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Determinants of Health
40 pts
Excellent
Robust identification and description of the determinants of health with explanation of how those factors contribute to the development of this disease. Evidence supports background.
36 pts
V. Good
Identification of determinants is complete but lack depth in an area or overall, presents risk factors, disease impact and at least one set of incidence and prevalence statistics which are presented and supported by evidence.
33 pts
Satisfactory
Description of determinants is missing one or more key points. Limited presentation of the contributing factors. Lack of evidence to support writing may be present or evidence may be inconsistent throughout. Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper
20 pts
Needs Improvement
Determinants missing depth in general and more than one key point and lack of contributing factors. There is may be no evidence or evidence may be present inconsistently or without relationship to writing.
0 pts
Unsatisfactory
Content is minimal if present or not included in writing at all.
40 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEpidemiological Triad
30 pts
Excellent
Comprehensive review of the epidemiological triad (host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors). Writing includes examples that expand content beyond a definition into application. Full integration of evidence, sources.
27 pts
V. Good
Adequate review of the epidemiological triad (host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors.) Examples may be omitted. There is integration of evidence in the majority of the writing.
25 pts
Satisfactory
Limited review of the epidemiological triad (host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors.) Examples may be omitted. There is integration of evidence in the writing, which may be inconsistent.
15 pts
Needs Improvement
Minimal or unclear review of the epidemiological triad (the host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors.) There are no examples. Evidence is present but may not be consistent throughout.
0 pts
Unsatisfactory
Review of the epidemiological triad (host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors) scant, unclear, or not provided.
30 pts

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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeRole of the NP
25 pts
Excellent
Succinctly defines the role of the nurse practitioner according to a national nurse practitioner organization (Board of Nursing, AANP, for example) and synthesizes the role to the management of infectious diseases (surveillance, primary/secondary/tertiary interventions, reporting, data collecting, data analysis, and follow-up). Writing includes integration of a model of practice which supports the implementation of an evidence-based practice. References support all writing. Infectious Disease Essay Assignment Paper
23 pts
V. Good
An adequate, but not fully comprehensive review
21 pts
Satisfactory
A limited review
13 pts
Needs Improvement
Minimal or unclear
0 pts
Unsatisfactory
Not provided
25