Case of the Month
“Kids, Iguanas and Tummy Aches” – Reptile Salmonella
Exploration of GIDEON’s Diagnosis Module and Outbreak feature
One day, Raymond brings Pedro – his pet iguana – to show-and-Tell. Two days later, five of Raymond’s classmates complain of fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea. What happened? Is Pedro involved?
Raymond’s doctor asked GIDEON. First, the signs and symptoms are entered into the Diagnosis module.
The differential diagnosis in this case is generated by pressing the “Diagnosis” button
Usually, the differential diagnosis for a diarrhea outbreak contains a long list of diseases – but Raymond’s doctor specified that this particular outbreak was related to contact with Pedro. Just to be sure, the doctor selects both diseases by clicking on the check boxes on the left hand side, and then selects “Compare.” The resulting list offers him several additional clues which might be helpful in ruling out one of the two disease possibilities
How unique is this outbreak? Let’s access a list of all Salmonellosis outbreaks reported, worldwide. In the Epidemiology module scroll to Salmonellosis, click on the Distribution tab, and click on the Outbreaks icon. A chronology of over 470 such outbreaks appears in the lower right hand box.
Clicking the country of interest in this cases, United States, access an exhaustively researched and referenced discussion of the epidemiology of Salmonellosis in America – including outbreaks associated with iguanas and other reptiles:
