Epi Teams Training: Epi Curve Activity
Instructions
- This activity allows you to practice creating a epi curve as part of a disease outbreak investigation.
- Each page provides information about an outbreak scenario. Click “Next Page” to move on to the next page or “Previous Page” to go back. You can monitor your progress at the bottom of the page (e.g. Page 4 of 17).
- Many pages contain green links to additional information. Links will open in a new window; be sure to disable your pop-up blocker (or hold the shift key while clicking on the link) to allow these windows to open. Click “Close window” to return to the main activity page.
Time to complete
- This activity should take approximately 30 minutes to complete, and we recommend that you complete it in one sitting. However, if you need to stop the activity, be sure to bookmark the current Web page so you can return to it later.
Objectives
- Create an epi curve for an outbreak.
Competency
- Create standard epidemiology reports and necessary components, including tables, graphs and charts.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials are recommended for Epi Team members without experience with working in Microsoft Excel or creating an epi curve. They can be viewed before beginning the activity.
- Steps to Creating a Basic Epidemic Curve Using Microsoft Excel
You can create an epi curve by hand or with computer software. In this exercise, we recommend that you practice creating an epi curve in Microsoft Excel. If you are unfamiliar with Excel, you can view an online tutorial from the Microsoft Web site.
- CDC Quick Learn: Create an Epi Curve
This tutorial from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides an overview of each step in the process of creating an epi curve. If you have never created an epi curve , or need a refresher on the basic steps, please view this tutorial before proceeding.
References
This exercise was adapted from the following sources.
- “Constructing an Epidemic Curve” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global Public Health Capacity Development
- “An Outbreak of Gastrointestinal Illness Among Students” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Excellence in Curriculum Integration through Teaching Epidemiology (EXCITE)
- “Creating a Basic Epidemic Curve in MS Excel” from the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, Outbreak Prevention and Response Epi Tools
