Session 4.2. Disease tools

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Discuss the disease tools.
• Use the disease tools and assessment questions.

Part 4.2.1. What are the disease tools?

The disease tools in your toolkit give basic information on diseases that cause epidemics.

Each disease has its own tool. These disease tools describe the different diseases that can cause an epidemic. Each disease tool contains the name of the disease, how it is transmitted, and some information on its prevention and control. When scrolling further, a list appears that contains some important questions to ask when you assess an epidemic caused by this disease.

Each disease card also has a sequence of numbers with volunteer actions on the front. These tell you what action tools to use when dealing with this disease. The action tools are also tools in your toolkit. When you select the numbers, you will be able to pick the action tools that are appropriate for the epidemic in question. The action tools also contain some community messages. By putting all the toolkit information together, you obtain a simple working guide for the specific epidemic you must deal with.

An example of a Disease tool: Cholera

Part 4.2.2. List of disease tools

	Fecal-oral infections 1. Acute diarrhoeal disease 2. Cholera 3. Hepatitis A 4. Hepatitis E 5. Typhoid fever 6. Acute bloody diarrhoea
	Diseases preventable by vaccination 7. Acute respiratory infections preventable by vaccine 8. Measles 9. Meningococcal meningitis 10. Polio 11. Yellow fever
	Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes 12. Chikungunya 13. Dengue fever 14. Malaria 15. Zika virus infection
	Acute respiratory infections 16. Acute respiratory infections
	Haemorrhagic (bleeding) fevers 17. Ebola virus disease 18. Lassa fever 19. Marburg haemorrhagic fever
	Zoonotic diseases (diseases spread by animals) 20. Plague 21. Anthrax 22. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome 23. Leptospirosis 24. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus 25. Monkeypox 26. Rift Valley fever
	Other diseases 27. Hand, foot and mouth disease 28. Unexplained clusters of deaths 29. Acute malnutrition