Thanks for your recommendations about moving the investigation forward. I decided to conduct a cohort study, and used the plant workers as the defined population. I received the environmental testing information, which stated that cocci spores were found in the loading dock area and its immediate environs only. Based on this, we did two things:
Defined exposure status: Used the workers’ files to determine their primary work location.
Defined disease status: Got blood samples from all the workers and used the TP antibody test to analyze the results.
A summary of the results are attached. Can you take a look at these numbers and help me determine what this means about the workers’ risk at the plant? Use the attached template to do so. I also need to know what this means for the workers as compared to the background rate of cocci infection from living in Arizona, the local endemic region.
Lastly, I need to give Mr. Mayer some recommendations going forward. What protective equipment or actions can Mr. Mayer implement at the plant to resolve the cause of this outbreak and to reduce the likelihood of an outbreak happening again?
I look forward to hearing from you on these issues.
