The purpose of this Infectious Disease paper is for you to utilize the knowledge you gained throughout this course and apply it as you research a specific microbial organism and the disease(s) it can cause.   You will organize your research in a written, comprehensive report.  Try not to exceed 2-3 pages (not including title, images and reference pages).

Choose a microbial disease that interests you from the list provided. If there is an infectious disease not listed that you would like to research, you may request that disease.

Please organize your report according to the guidelines below:

Title Page (1 points)

  • Cover page with name of Infectious Disease, Name of organism using scientific notation, Your name and the Date.

Include the following academic integrity promise on the cover page (your paper will also be checked for plagiarism using TurnItIn) :

Introduction of the disease (15 points)

  • Description of the disease
  • Causative agent/reservoir/vector
  • Mode of transmission
  • History of the disease

Symptoms (10 points)

  • Describe symptoms and signs of the disease
  • Describe any diagnostic tests that are used
  • Describe any differential diagnoses (with what other diseases is it commonly confused with, how can you tell the difference between this disease and others? etc)

Treatments (10 points)

  • Describe at least two most common treatments doctors are using to fight this disease
  • Describe length of time it takes for the treatment and recovery and any side-effects of treatments

New development/future medical research direction (5 points)

  • Explore in depth at least one new discovery involving your disease (last five years).
  • Discuss future research direction/areas, which should be done to help fight this disease.

Overall Writing and Organizational Skills (5 points)

References (4 points)

  • Reference Page using APA guidelines (APA guidelines used for REFERENCES only)

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_basic_rules.html (Links to an external site.)

  • When you cite your reference, be sure to include your citation in text, and list the reference in your reference list. See following last page for examples.

Where to get your information:

Your textbook should provide you with some basic information, however, you will need to consult other legitimate sources (NOT Wikipedia) for additional information.  Please cite these sources.

Use internet sources, such as PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ (Links to an external site.)) to find the latest on your disease. For example, recently discovered complications, a new set of treatments, new diagnostics, a new population that has become more susceptible.

You are encouraged to include images in your paper. You must include links for any pictures you download from the web.

For notifiable infectious diseases, refer to the CDC website https://wonder.cdc.gov/nndss/static/2016/annual/2016-table1.html  (Links to an external site.)for information regarding the number of cases in the US from 2016 and include this number as the US incidence. For worldwide incidence and non-notifiable diseases provide an estimate based on legitimate sources.

If you have trouble uploading your paper before the deadline, you may email it to me directly to ensure it gets submitted. (mcomiso@msmu.edu)

Refer to the rubric for details for how you will be graded. YOUR PAPER WILL BE CHECKED FOR PLAGIARISM!  Plagiarized papers will automatically receive a zero!

 Disease Topics to Choose From:

AIDS

Anthrax

Arboviral encephalitis (West Nile)

Bacterial meningitis

Botulism

Candidiasis

Chagas disease

Chickenpox

Chlamydial urethritis

Cholera

Coccidioidomycosis

Common Cold

Conjunctivitis

Cryptococcosis

Cryptosporidiosis

Dengue

Diphtheria

Ebola virus disease

Escherichia coligastroenteritis

Genital herpes

Giardiasis

Gonorrhea

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis C

Histoplasmosis

Influenza

Legionellosis

Leprosy (Hansen’s disease)

Listeriosis

Lyme disease

Malaria

Measles

Mononucleosis

Mumps

Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

Plague

Pneumococcal pneumonia

Poliomyelitis

Psittacosis

Q fever

Rabies

Rotavirus or Norovirus gastroenteritis

Rubella

Salmonellosis

Shigellosis

Shingles

Smallpox

Staphylococcal food poisoning

Streptococcal Pharyngitis (Strep Throat)

Syphilis

Tetanus

Tuberculosis

Tularemia

Typhoid Fever

Typhus

Zika virus disease