June 18th's Journal Entry

[Samantha Kantrowitz]

This is the first day I’ve been able to really dedicate my whole day to my project. I read and took notes on several papers and spent a lot of time on Google Scholar. Many articles have been written on Noro on cruise ships and in the hospital setting, but very few papers are out there specifically on shelter outbreaks, so it’s been interesting to figure out what is applicable and what is not. One paper was particularly interesting (although gross)—they purposely contaminated peoples’ hands with the virus, then had them touch many objects consecutively to see how much the disease would transfer. They consistently found virus on the first six items touched. This showed how rapidly and easily the disease could spread. Another paper compared the use of water, soap, disinfectant, and a combination of these. I definitely will be referencing that one in my papers.
It kind of hit me today that I’m really a graduated professional; really, the only instructions I have are “tell janitors and management of temporary shelters what to do about Norovirus.” This was kind of overwhelming for a while—partly because of the oh-wow-this-is-for-real factor, and partly because I didn’t really know where to start. I had a lot of good ideas but not really a cohesive plan for how to put everything together. That fact made it difficult to focus. Eventually I came up with an outline, and I think it should come together nicely. I am still trying to figure out the best presentation method for it—I think I will end up with one detailed, written version, but hopefully a pamphlet as well so that people who need the material have a quick reference available, and possibly a PowerPoint presentation in case multiple people ever need to learn the information at once.
In other news, we finally have the schedule for the SUPEH interns mostly finalized! All of us are very excited to be part of the Vessel Sanitation Program in Miami at the end of July. We will shadow health inspectors in Gwinnett County for a week in July. The National Environmental Health Association conference is in town next week, so that should be interesting. Hopefully, we will also be attending part or all of the International Water Forum, sponsored by CIFAL Atlanta, in the beginning of July. We will also be inspecting National Parks for safety and other environmental health issues with a USPHS officer in the beginning of August. Plans for shadowing inspectors with the USDA and the state health department are also in the works. Should be a busy summer!