Analysis of a Zombie Apocalypse: Public Health Project

This project analyzes a hypothetical zombie apocalypse, drawing on epidemiological principles to understand and model the spread of a contagious disease. The assignment requires students to analyze patient characteristics, ecological factors, and disease transmission mechanisms. Students will be ta...Read More

Zombie Apocalypse
Name of the student

Patient characteristics
Characteristics
Percentage of patients
with the given
characteristic
Percentage of
the patient
sample
Occupation
10th grade teacher 2 13.3
Administrative assistance 1 6.7
Airline pilot 1 6.7
Construction 1 6.7
Health Care 1 6.7
Home Maker 1 6.7
n/a 1 6.7
Plumber 1 6.7
Retail 1 6.7
Student 4 26.7
Waste Management 1 6.7
Hospital
location
Atlanta, GA 1 6.7
Geneva, Switzerland 1 6.7
Hong Kong, China 1 6.7
LA, USA 3 20.0
London, England 4 26.7
Mumbai, India 1 6.7
NY, USA 2 13.3
Sao Paulo, Brazil 1 6.7
Sydney, Australia 1 6.7
Pre-
existing
conditions
Asthma 2 13.3
Breast Cancer 1 6.7
Diabetes 1 6.7
IBS 1 6.7
Lung Cancer 2 13.3
None 4 26.7
Prostate Cancer, COPD 1 6.7
Rheumatoid Arthritis 1 6.7
Skin Cancer 1 6.7
Unknown 1 6.7
Animals Infected Members Abiotic Sources
5.4
5.6
5.8
6
6.2
6.4
6.6
6.8
7
7.2
7
6 6
Number of patients

Location
Number of
patients
affected
Total
population
Percentage
of the
sample
LA, USA
15,277,05
6 15,277,056 100.00
NY, USA
25,176,44
8 25,176,448 100.00
London,
England 3,790,192 8,360,000 45.34
Ecological
Information
Each location has a
critical community size.
The total population of
LA, USA and NY, USA
are affected. Near about
45 percent of the
population in London is
affected.

Symptoms
Number
of
patients
Total
number of
patients
Percentag
e of
sample
Weak pulse 6 15 40.00
CA53 brain
activity 10 15 66.67
Explosive
aggression 8 15 53.33
Bite Wounds 1 15 6.67
Violent
outbursts 2 15 13.33
Fever 2 15 13.33
Nausea 2 15 13.33
Diarrhoea 3 15 20.00
Absent pulse 4 15 26.67
Albinism 1 15 6.67
Coughing 1 15 6.67
Sneezing 1 15 6.67
Swelling at
injection site 1 15 6.67
Case definition
Symptoms
Hospital
Location
Cases of
vaccinatio
n
weak pulse, CA53
brain activity,
explosive
aggression
Sao Paulo,
Brazil;
London,
England; LA,
USA 3
bite wounds to
the face, neck
and torso
London,
England NA
weak pulse, CA53
brain activity,
violent outbursts
London,
England NA
fever, nausea,
diarrhea LA, USA NA
absent pulse,
CA53 brain
activity, explosive
aggression
Atlanta, GA;
Mumbai, India;
NY, USA 1
fever, diarrhea NY, USA NA
absent pulse,
CA53 brain
activity, albinism,
violent outbursts
Sydney,
Australia NA
coughing,
wheezing,
diarrhea
Geneva,
Switzerland NA
fever, nausea,
diarrhea, swelling
at injection site
Hong Kong,
China NA
Patient
location Hospital Name Reanimate Death Discussion
Sao Paulo,
Brazil
Amanda
Hugnkiss NA Died
Within 24 hours of vaccine
injection, serious flu
symptoms developed and
within next 6 hours the
patient died
London,
England
Amanda
Hugnkiss NA Died
The patient had flu symptoms
with swelling at site of
vaccination and died within
12 hours
London,
England Shania Twain YES Died
Patient had heart attack and
attacked wife
London,
England Shania Twain NA NA None conducted
London,
England Shania Twain NA Died None conducted
LA, USA
Amanda
Hugnkiss NA NA None conducted
Atlanta, GA Bea O'Problem NA Died
Patient had fever, severe pain
in hip and heart attack.
Mumbai, India Bea O'Problem YES Died
Patient was sick from work,
had fever, became violent
and had heart attack and
attacked wife.
NY, USA
Heywood
Yapinchme NA NA None conducted
Sydney,
Australia
Amanda
Hugnkiss NA Died Patient was barely breathing
Geneva,
Switzerland
Heywood
Yapinchme NA NA
Patient exposed to rats and
poor air quality from work.
Had flu symptoms.
LA, USA
Amanda
Hugnkiss NA Died
Patient detected with flu
symptoms and within 12
hours experienced heart
attack.
LA, USA Seymore Butz YES Died
Patient was attacked. Body
was worn down from vaccine
Heywood
Inflammation occurred at site
of vaccine injection. Had

Disease
transmission
Transmission type Transmission Source
Number of
patients
Percentage of
sample
Location of vaccinated
people
Horizontal
pet dog,
unprotected sex 1 6.66 Sao Paulo, Brazil
Horizontal pet guinea pig 1 6.66 London, England
Horizontal family member 3 20 Not vaccinated
Horizontal
Contact with family
bird, bird feces,
formaldehyde 1 6.66 Not vaccinated
Horizontal
mowed grass,
contact with bird
droppings 1 6.66 Not vaccinated
Horizontal
needles, mosquito
bite 1 6.66 Not vaccinated
Horizontal Fish, cams, rodents 1 6.66 NY, USA
Horizontal
formaldehyde, ferral
cats near home 1 6.66 Not vaccinated
Stage Symptoms
1st Weak or missing pulse
2nd Fever, nausea, diarrhea
3rd Inflammation of injection site
4th CA53 brain activity
5th Explosive aggression

Timeline Epidemic Curve
10/7/2014
10/12/2014
10/17/2014
10/22/2014
10/27/2014
11/1/2014
11/6/2014
11/11/2014
11/16/2014
11/21/2014
11/26/2014
12/1/2014
12/6/2014
12/11/2014
12/16/2014
12/21/2014
12/26/2014
12/31/2014
1/5/2015
1/10/2015
1/15/2015
1/20/2015
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,000,000
Epidemic Curve for London, England
Number of people died Number of people infected
06/10/14
Sao Paulo, Brazil
(140 cases)
14/11/14
Washington, DC, USA
(32,226)
03/12/14
Kolkata, India
(573,784)
23/01/15
LA, USA
(15,277,056)

References
Bauchau, V., Van Holle, L., & Cohen, C. (2015). Modelling Hospitalisation Ratios for Febrile Convulsions and
Severe Varicella Under Combined Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella (MMRV—Priorix-Tetra™)
Compared to Separate MMR+ V Vaccination. Drug safety, 38(11), 1095-1102.
Gvozdenovic, E., Vetter, V., Willame, C., & Rosillon, D. (2018). Impact of history of febrile convulsions on the
risk difference of febrile convulsions with the tetravalent measles–mumps–rubella–varicella vaccine:
Post-hoc exploratory analysis of results from a matched-cohort study. Vaccine, 36(39), 5803-5806.
Kamali Aghdam, M., Sadeghzadeh, M., Fakhimi, S., & Eftekhari, K. (2018). Evaluation of Aseptic Meningitis
Following Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine in Children Admitted due to Febrile
Convulsion. International Journal of Pediatrics, 6(8), 8147-8152.
Verran, J., Crossley, M., Carolan, K., Jacobs, N., & Amos, M. (2014). Monsters, microbiology and mathematics:
the epidemiology of a zombie apocalypse. Journal of Biological Education, 48(2), 98-104.
Watanabe, S., Shirogane, Y., Sato, Y., Hashiguchi, T., & Yanagi, Y. (2018). New insights into measles virus brain
infections. Trends in microbiology.