Zika Virus Disease
Course #98712 - $18 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
The potential for a localized or regional outbreak of Zika virus disease in the United States is significant given the level of travel exposure, opportunities for Zika virus migration, and the prevalence of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes along the southern and southeastern rim of the country. This course will review the history of Zika virus migration and the important clinical and public health aspects of Zika virus disease, including the epidemiology, modes of transmission, clinical manifestations, approach to diagnosis, and strategies for prevention and control of Zika virus infection.
This course is designed for physicians, physician assistants, and nurses in all settings who may identify and act to prevent Zika virus disease.
The purpose of this course is to provide health professionals with a review of the important clinical and public health aspects of Zika virus disease, including the epidemiology of Zika virus migration, modes of transmission, clinical manifestations, approach to diagnosis, and strategies for risk reduction and prevention of infection.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the historical background and dynamics of the Zika virus epidemic in the Americas and its potential impact on public health.
- Discuss and advise patients as to the risks of Zika virus infection in relation to the various routes of transmission.
- Recognize and manage a patient presenting with characteristic clinical and epidemiologic features of acute Zika virus disease.
- Discuss the salient features of microcephaly, including the incidence, causative factors, and clinical and pathologic findings unique to congenital Zika virus infection.
- Select the appropriate laboratory diagnostic tests for Zika virus in relation to a patient's clinical profile and the time elapsed since exposure or onset of symptoms.
- Devise a management plan for persons with known or suspected infection, including care of the pregnant patient or intimate partner.
- Using knowledge of Zika virus shedding by infected men and the risk of sexual transmission, counsel patients and couples on the importance and recommended duration of safe sex practice.
- Using knowledge of vector transmission and the behavior of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, devise an effective strategy for avoiding bites, limiting exposure, and eliminating mosquito-breeding habitat.
John M. Leonard, MD, Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, completed his post-graduate clinical training at the Yale and Vanderbilt University Medical Centers before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 1974. He is a clinician-educator and for many years served as director of residency training and student educational programs for the Vanderbilt University Department of Medicine. Over a career span of 40 years, Dr. Leonard conducted an active practice of general internal medicine and an inpatient consulting practice of infectious diseases.
Carol Shenold, RN, ICP, graduated from St. Paul’s Nursing School, Dallas, Texas, achieving her diploma in nursing. Over the past thirty years she has worked in hospital nursing in various states in the areas of obstetrics, orthopedics, intensive care, surgery and general medicine.
Mrs. Shenold served as the Continuum of Care Manager for Vencor Oklahoma City, coordinating quality review, utilization review, Case Management, Infection Control, and Quality Management. During that time, the hospital achieved Accreditation with Commendation with the Joint Commission, with a score of 100.
Mrs. Shenold was previously the Infection Control Nurse for Deaconess Hospital, a 300-bed acute care facility in Oklahoma City. She is an active member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). She worked for the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality for six years.
Contributing faculty, John M. Leonard, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Contributing faculty, Carol Shenold, RN, ICP, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Ronald Runciman, MD
Jane C. Norman, RN, MSN, CNE, PhD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.