Best Practices in Order to Prevent the Spread of Infections
As discussed in class, the spread of a disease can be represented mathematically by values k*p where k is equal to the number of people within reach of the infected and p is equal to the probability the disease actually transfers. To prevent the mass spreading of disease, may efforts work towards reducing these p and k values. By doing so, the disease will not spread as vastly and quickly.
Once a person is infected, they often don’t have the energy to do their normal routine tasks that involve direct human contact. Staying home from school and calling out sick can help lower the person’s k value after they have been infected. However, it seems difficult to lower k initially so the person would have never been sick to begin with. When people have full energy, changing their routine will less likely and more difficult. Therefore, it may be more effective to focus on p. In other words, the k value will naturally lower as a person becomes more sick and has less energy to interact, but lowering the initial probability of getting the disease can help prevent the situation all together.
This article focuses on how to specifically lower this p value. It discusses how frequent hand washing, not sharing dishes, not sharing drinks/foods, covering coughs, and extra personal hygiene can help reduce your risk of catching the disease as well as others. More specifically, it discusses how you should rinse and separate all raw meat, cook everything thoroughly, defrost meats in refrigerators and microwaves, get vaccinated, drink bottled water when traveling, and several other tips. By following the guidelines specified in this article, the overall p value will decrease and lead to less people getting sick. In addition, is precautions are taken early the disease won’t be able to gain the momentum it could otherwise.
source:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-prevent-infections