Knowledge-Based Patient Screening for Rare and Emerging Infectious/Parasitic Diseases: A Case Study of Brucellosis and Murine Typhus
Many infectious and parasitic diseases, especially those newly emerging or reemerging, present a difficult diagnostic challenge because of their obscurity and low incidence. Important clues that could lead to an initial diagnosis are often overlooked, misinterpreted, not linked to a disease, or disr...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1997-03-01
|
Series: | Emerging Infectious Diseases |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/3/1/97-0111_article |
Summary: | Many infectious and parasitic diseases, especially those newly emerging or reemerging, present a difficult diagnostic challenge because of their obscurity and low incidence. Important clues that could lead to an initial diagnosis are often overlooked, misinterpreted, not linked to a disease, or disregarded. We constructed a computer-based decision support system containing 223 infectious and parasitic diseases and used it to conduct a historical intervention study based on field investigation records of 200 cases of human brucellosis and 96 cases of murine typhus that occurred in Texas from 1980 through 1989. Knowledge-based screening showed that the average number of days from the initial patient visit to the time of correct diagnosis was significantly reduced (brucellosis--from 17.9 to 4.5 days, p = 0.0001, murine typhus--from 11.5 to 8.6 days, p = 0.001). This study demonstrates the potential value of knowledge-based patient screening for rare infectious and parasitic diseases. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1080-6040 1080-6059 |