Scenario

Infectious Disease Outbreak in Brisbane

There has been a recent infectious disease outbreak in the greater Brisbane area, and pathology laboratories are increasingly receiving specimens from patients suspected of being infected. There is rumour of a microbiological test that can accurately identify the infectious agent. However, QLD Health wishes you to produce a written fact sheet to educate clinical microbiology laboratory workers in QLD on the correct information needed for the diagnostic protocol, aetiological agent, transmission risks to laboratory workers, and laboratory control measures.

Task Description

You will be assigned an infectious disease with a particular microbiological test (provided) that is clinically relevant to today's society. You will apply the basic principles of microbiology, including microbial classification, diagnostics, and infection prevention and control to this topic, and will need to critically report the information you gather to inform other clinical microbiology laboratory workers of the relevant information required for microbial diagnosis.

Your flyer needs to include:

- Description of the aetiological organism, as well as the associated diseases.
- Protocol for specimen processing and testing, including precautions for the worker based on the agent's mode transmission.
- Detailed description of the assigned diagnostic test - including:
- Purpose and suitability
- Biochemical/biological reactions involved
- Results interpretation and conclusions
- Other suitable tests for identification
- References (List submitted on separate sheet, see next page for details).

The Fine Print
- Your fact sheet must fit/print on two pieces of A4 paper (one sided)
- You must use 12 pt font
- Must address the task description and include the requested content
- The use of figures and dot points are encouraged. No ‘slabs' of text.
- All information must be referenced. References submitted on a separate single sided page
- You need to register your topic by week 6 or you will be randomly allocated one.

Referencing

Formatting QUT Numbered in-text citations
In-text citations are numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear. When you add a citation into your text you need to:
- Use either the superscript format 1 or round brackets (1). These numbers correspond to a numbered reference in the reference list.
- Use square brackets in the corresponding reference list e.g. [1] Harris R....
Follow the rule of placing numbers outside full stops & commas, & inside colons & semicolons. Once a source has been cited, use the same number when citing that source again. When multiple references are cited:
- Use a hyphen to join inclusive numbers (e.g. 2-5).
- Use commas (without spaces) to separate non-inclusive numbers (e.g.1,3,7,9).

Formatting QUT Numbered references lists

All items cited in your work should be included in your reference list. Reference lists are arranged according to your referencing style.

A QUT Numbered references list:
- Is located at the end of your document;
- Lists only one reference per number;
- Has correct punctuation. Full stops, colons and semicolons are used to differentiate the components in a reference;
- Includes the details of the reference in the correct order;
- Uses the title abbreviation for all journal titles (except single word titles), as it was at the date of publication.

Specific examples of reference entries are available on QUT Cite.