What to know
One of the goals of OutbreakNet Enhanced (OBNE) is to support sites as they improve timeliness and completeness of enteric disease investigations. Several OBNE sites use student teams to achieve this. Students assist with routine interviews for Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Listeria, and other enteric diseases. The following are examples of how student interview teams have contributed to expanded capacity and success in OBNE sites.
Student Teams Increase Capacity for Enteric Disease Interviews
Indiana
The Indiana Department of Health's Indiana University Student Epidemiology Response Team (IU-SERT) was created in 2015 to improve Indiana's ability to investigate clusters and outbreaks of salmonellosis. Now, the team consists of five student interviewers and a fellow who interview all case-patients with salmonellosis, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and listeriosis in two-thirds of the counties in Indiana. Since its formation, IU-SERT has decreased the proportion of case-patients not interviewed to less than 1% compared with approximately 10% at the local health departments that don't use the student team. Additionally, IU-SERT has also been able to complete interviews an average of one day sooner. The student team also provides support as requested during outbreak investigations for counties that don't routinely use IU-SERT.
Louisiana
The Louisiana Office of Public Health's student interview team was created to provide assistance and support for investigations within the Foodborne Disease Program. The student interviewers attempt interviews for all reported cases of salmonellosis, which resulted in a 60% increase in interview attempts. The student interviewers complete the case investigations and provide educational materials to the people they interview, as needed. Since the student interview team performs so many interviews, other staff members in the Office of Public Health have more time to complete interviews for all case-patients with Listeria infection as well.
Illinois
In 2018, when Illinois experienced an unprecedented year with more than 1,200 Cyclospora infections, its newly established Student Epidemiology Team (SET) was ready to help. Using the Cyclosporiasis National Hypothesis Generating Questionnaire, the student team interviewed case-patients with domestically-acquired illnesses and assisted with efforts to obtain more detailed exposure information. Illinois was able to determine that one of several Cyclospora outbreaks was linked to salad green mix. Since the SET's primary focus is interviewing case-patients with Salmonella and STEC infections, they were trained and ready to quickly assist with interviewing for the Cyclospora response.
Kentucky
The Kentucky Department for Public Health's (KDPH) Centralized Student Interview Team serves more than half of the state's counties. The team of six student interviewers initially focused solely on interviewing Salmonella, STEC, and Listeria case-patients, but have expanded to include other reportable enteric diseases such as Campylobacter. The extra capacity provided by the student team has also allowed KDPH to conduct more interviews and conduct them faster. Additionally, the Centralized Student Interview Team was able to interview more case-patients and cut the number of days until the first interview attempt in half.