Question

You have just finished investigating a disease outbreak at a summer picnic party. Out of 100 total attendees, a total of 50 individuals became ill. Of these, 48 individuals developed vomiting and nausea 4 to 6 hours after the picnic. No one developed a fever. Two elderly individuals, however, had complications leading to a more severe form of the illness and had to be hospitalized. After the lab tests were conducted, the infectious agent was identified. The lab tests also revealed that 75% of all the individuals attending the party had been infected.

Required:
What is the pathogencity of the infectious agent?

Answer 1

The pathogenicity of the infectious agent in the described outbreak is approximately 0.67, meaning that around 67% of individuals infected by the agent became ill.

Step-by-step explanation:

Pathogenicity refers to the capacity of a microorganism to cause disease. In the context of the problem presented, calculating the pathogenicity involves determining the proportion of infected individuals who became sick. Out of the 100 party attendees, 75% ( or 75 individuals) were infected, with 50 of these showing symptoms of illness. Hence, the pathogenicity of the infectious agent is 50/75 or approximately 0.67 (when rounded to two decimal places). This indicates that approximately 67% of infected individuals became sick.

Note: It's crucial to grasp that being infected isn't the same as being ill. Some infected individuals might carry the infectious agent without showing symptoms of the disease, as was the case for 25 of the party attendees in the present problem.

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