Infectious Agent

Name__________________________________  Disease _________________________________ 100points

Choose an infectious agent that is listed in your book. Give instructor the name (each student will research a different infectious agent). Perform a literature search to identify infections caused by this agent. Be sure to address the following questions:

1. What is the name of your infectious agent? (List the Genus species name using proper protocol.) What type of organism is the agent (bacteria, helminth, virus, fungus, etc)?
2. What does the infectious agent look like? What are distinguishing characteristics of the agent? Describe the life cycle of your agent.
3. What disease(s) does your agent cause?
4. For one of the diseases caused by this agent discuss the following:

Portal of entry

Incubation period

Signs and symptoms

Diagnostic criteria

Standard treatments

Experimental treatments (if applicable)

Preventative measures (if applicable)

5. Which is the host range of the agent? Are there other reservoirs of your agent? How is your agent transmitted?
6. Report incidence/prevalence of the disease (USA).
7. Any there any new, special challenges with regard to this agent (ie increasing incidence, drug resistance, etc).

General APA Guidelines

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5″ x 11″) with 1″ margins on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly readable. APA recommends using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Proper formatting, grammar and spelling is expected.

Do not write in 1^st person. The first-person point of view is considered informal, and is not encouraged in academic writing. First person can appear to weaken the credibility of the writer in research and argument, as it reads as the writer’s personal opinion. Do not add opinion.

Include a page header (also known as the “running head“) at the top of every page. To create a page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Then type “TITLE OF YOUR PAPER” in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper’s title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

Major Paper Sections

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page (one page), Abstract Page (one page), Main Body (minimum three pages), and References (one page).

Everyone’s written portion is due on same date (electronic submission only), see Blackboard Calendar for exact date. No exceptions (one grade level deduction for each day late). All written reports must be uploaded to Blackboard and will be checked for plagiarism. Match score must be below 25%. Cite all references including where the figures/images/pictures came from in both paper and presentation. Must include one relevant table, chart or image that is discussed in the paper.

One week before students will submit an outline or draft of the paper. I will make general comments only to help you improve the quality of your paper. This required submission is worth 5 points out of the 100 possible points.

References must be listed using professional APA.  At least five references required. No credit will be given for incompleteness in your reference list or URL. Quoting large sections of papers is discouraged. Please paraphrase and cite the information.

See grading rubric posted on Blackboard.

Make sure to include throughout the body of your paper which reference the information came from that you are citing/paraphrasing, “Cite As You Write”. See me in you are not sure how to do this.