At New Britain High school, nine students; Sue, Jill, Anthony, Wanda, Maggie, Maria, Arnie, Marco, and Alvin, showed up at the infirmary with different symptoms and it may be a sign of an outbreak at the school. Sue has been having a headache that doesn’t seem to go away, feeling extremely lethargy, having a fever of 100. 6°F, and having a stiff neck. She hasn’t been having much sleep with her soccer games and studying for her tests. It is suspected that she has a cold so a genetic test with BLAST was performed to find the name and presence of the bacteria and later she took the ELISA assay.
Jill has been feeling run down, experiencing muscle tightness, and having a temperature of 99. 7°F but reported always having a slightly high temperature. She and Sue are roommates as well as teammates and because of this, it is assumed that Jill and Sue have the same cold so the ELISA assay was performed. Anthony has a dry cough, been feeling tired, been experiencing muscle aches, been feeling irritation in his sinuses, and has a fever of 100°F. He is a reporter for the school paper so he runs from one side of the campus to the other though the woods to cover multiple games.
Because he goes through the woods, he might have caught Lyme disease from a tick so a genetic test with BLAST was performed followed by the ELISA assay. Wanda has had a fever for a few days, has noticed the glands in her neck are swollen and has a sore throat. Her boyfriend has the same symptoms as her so she may have mono because is it passed though kissing so a genetic test with BLAST was performed followed by the ELISA assay. Maggie’s throat feels like it is on fire, her head feels very heavy and she can’t regulate her body temperature.
Maggie lives on the same floor as Sue and Jill but has her own circle of friends and because her symptoms are different from the duo, she may have the flu so a genetic test with BLAST was performed followed by the ELISA assay. Maria has been feeling run down and has a fever of 103°F. She lives down the hall from Sue and Jill and she spends a lot of time in their room eating their food but she also drinks from the same glasses and Sue and Jill so she may have gotten the same cold at the two so the ELISA assay was performed.
Arnie has been coughing and had a runny nose all week and ran a fever of 100. 5°F. He takes photos of athletic competitions. Anthony, who lives on his floor, helps him pick out photos to submit. Because Lyme disease isn’t contagious, his symptoms match that of the flu so a genetic test with BLAST was performed followed by the ELISA assay. Marco complains of fatigue and a bad headache. He and Sue are lab partners and take turn bringing food to class, mostly sharing. This means that they most likely have the same cold so only the ELISA assay was performed.
Alvin complains of a headache and sore throat. He has been going to a lot of parties and his neighbor is Marco. He most likely has the same cold as Marco and Sue so only the ELISA assay was performed. After the genetic test with BLAST was performed, it was found that Sue had bacterial Neisseria meningitides. The ELISA assay was then performed on all the patients and it showed that Sue, Jill, Marco, and Maria were all positive for the Neisseria meningitides bacteria. Sue had a concentration of 500 ng/ml, Jill had a concentration of 250 ng/ml, Marco had a concentration of 62.
5 ng/ml, and Maria had a concentration of 125 ng/ml. This meant that Sue first had the bacteria and spread it to Jill and together they spread it to Maria who drank from Sue and Jill’s drinks and lastly, Sue spread it to Marco when they shared food as lab parters. The symptoms of meningitis are fever and chills, nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light, severe headache, and stiff neck. This can be treated by a penicillin antibiotic but if not treated in time, it can lead to complications or death. Treatment for this disease can last from a week to a month.
Anthony and Arnie were both confirmed to having Influenza B after the genetic test with BLAST. The ELISA assay later performed showed that the two were negative to having meningitis. They must have gotten one another sick when Anthony was helping Alvin pick photos. The symptoms of the flu are a temperature higher than 100°F, headache and muscle aches, fatigue, and a cough and sore throat. The fever may only last for two to five days but the illness may last for a week or more. Influenza can be treated by drinking lots of water, taking Tylenol, and taking cough medicine.
Both Wanda and Alvin have mono. After Wanda had the genetic test with BLAST, it was concluded that she had mono. However, Alvin and Wanda were negative for meningitis after the ELISA assay. Because the two have been going to the same parties, Wanda must have cheated on her boyfriend with Alvin who got mono from someone else and then she gave it to her boyfriend. The symptoms of mono are fever, sore throat, swollen glands in the neck, headache, fatigue, and muscle weakness. Mono is treated though self-care by avoiding lifting, gargling with salt water, taking Tylenol, and resting.
With care, mono should last from two to four weeks. Maggie was confirmed to have strep throat after the genetic test with BLAST as well as being negative for meningitis after the ELISA assay. The symptoms of strep throat are sudden fever, sore throat, headache, chills, swollen lymph nodes and trouble swallowing. Without taking antibiotics, people with strep throat are contagious for 2 to 3 weeks after infection. It can be treated by penicillin and gargling salt water to help stop the sore throat.
Overall, Sue, Jill, Marco, and Maria had meningitis, Maggie had strep throat, Alvin and Wanda had mono, and Anthony and Arnie have influenza B. To prevent the meningitis from spreading, the school should be required to take the meningitis vaccine and those with the disease are to be quarantined until they are better. All the students who are sick should take their antibiotics/ treatments whenever they should to prevent these diseases from spreading as well.