Goals

After completing this case study and reviewing the accompanying background materials, the student should be able to:

• Understand the basic principles and methods of epidemiology in relation to the process of scientific inquiry; Use epidemiologic approaches for practical real-life problem solving; and
• Describe the roles of health care providers, epidemiologists (i.e., "disease detectives"), and other public health professionals in disease detection, control, and prevention activities.

• After completing this case study and reviewing the accompanying background materials, the student should be able to:
• Identify and interpret the meaning of risk factors for health conditions (e.g., infectious and chronic diseases, injury, and disability); Use comparative reasoning to evaluate risks for health conditions;
• Apply the epidemiologic/scientific method of investigating a disease outbreak to real-life situations affecting health in human populations;
• Understand and use basic concepts of mathematics and statistics in assessing risks for disease;Develop an epidemiologic case definition;
• Design a basic case-control study including the selection of controls as part of the investigation of a disease outbreak;
• Define and use selected medical and epidemiologic terms; and
• Describe the epidemiology and some clinical features of Legionnaires' disease.