Problem
A person goes to work, sneezing. It could be allergies. It is the season. It's not the flu or covid. They got their shot last month.
Yesterday, the person was with friends watching sports, movies, eating food, and drinking. It went on all day and night. We know it was a late night, though the person does not remember how late.
Absent-mindedly strolling into the restaurant kitchen at work, they do not realize how late they are. Someone yells the work is backed up. Immediately rushing to the station, the late employee quickly picks garden veggies from the cooler and starts lining vegetables on a cutting board to cut for a big salad. This person has to work fast.
When done, the person takes the mixing bowl to another station and quickly rinses the bowl to start on fruit salad prep.
Their ring is tight on a finger. Twisting it, the person goes back to cutting fruit for the fruit salad. It's a messy job, juice and seeds across the cutting board. Melon seeds are picked out of the bowl using fingers.
The person can't stop sneezing, as their nose and throat itch. They blow their nose on a paper towel, and pull a latte out from below the counter, maybe from yesterday, and start drinking it. A bakery rack of muffins roll by, and this person, out of habit, grabs one. They alternate eating the muffin, drinking the latte, and dicing fruit into the big bowl. When done, the fruit is transferred to little dessert cups. A few chunks fall, and the person quickly picks them up and drops the pieces into the big bowl to continue dishing into desert bowls.
After a long day at work, the person goes home with a very upset stomach. In the evening the person starts vomiting with diarrhea. They feel run down for a couple days, but then return to work. They still don't feel so good, but they need to work.
Towards the end of the shift, the person feels aches and pains set in. At the end of work they go home and crawl into bed. The person feels awful. Really awful.
This is a critical thinking exercise. Please answer the questions in numerical order. Provide examples to justify your statements, and explain thoroughly:
A. What is wrong with this scenario? Critically think about infectious diseases, food-borne pathogens, and transmission.
B. What actions are cause for concern?
C. What is possibly happening for the person?
D. What would have improved the scenario for this person.