Table 3.
Comparison of outbreak investigation approaches. ‘x’ represents a weak ability to measure the outcome of interest, ‘xx’ represents a medium ability to measure the outcome of interest and ‘xxx’ a robust ability to measure the outcome of interest.
| Outcome of each approach | Approaches |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formal healthcare cases | Community cases | Community cases plus controls from same household | Community cases plus controls from other community households | |
| Case counts | x | xxx | xxx | xxx |
| Incidence | x | xx | xxx | xxx |
| Case characteristics | x | xxx | xxx | xxx |
| Case fatality proportion | xx | xxx | xxx | xxx |
| Risk factors for being a case (age/sex) | x | x | xx | xxx |
| Risk factors for being a case (other) | - | - | xx | xxx |
| Household transmission estimates | - | - | xxx | xxx |
| Spatial variability in risk | - | - | - | xxx |