What are your chances...

[Skynetmain]

Tapeworm odds

I have no idea where to put this, so the mods can move this if this is the wrong place.

This asks some pretty straightforward questions and gives your chances of getting a tapeworm. I have a 14% chance. Lower than I expected. (If that doesn't make anyone want to go near me, I don't blame you.) Give it a shot and share your chances.

[Siniri]

I have a 2% chance, apparently. The beef question annoyed me because I don't eat it, but that wasn't an option (they thought of it on the pork question, though ).

[dorky public health rant]What bothers me more, though, as a soon-to-be-epidemiologist, is their lack of clarity on what they mean by chance. I'm assuming, based on the numbers that Sky and I got, that they mean lifetime risk. And as fun as the quiz is, I suspect that they used a simple additive model, without considering how the various risk factors interact with each other. Now if they had done some sort of logistic regression (or even survival analysis) to create their model and estimate risk, I'd be more impressed -- especially if they included 95% confident intervals.[/dorky public health rant]

[Regan]

10% chance after doing the quiz three times! Honestly, I would answer the 10th question and the quiz would reset. Even more bothersome is that I retook the quiz twice

And yes, Siniri, that was pretty dorky

[Siniri]

Yes, except you can't estimate risk from a survival analysis (you can estimate hazards, though -- or at least hazard ratios). I also had to take it twice before it gave me my results.

[draconis]

12%! I hope that means Almost Nil, ha. I don't fancy having (another) freeloader around, lol.

[theonlysaneone]

22%. It's not my fault I like rare beef...

Anyway, this doesn't seem realistic. Haven't tapeworms been all but eradicated outside of third world countries?

[Siniri]

22%. It's not my fault I like rare beef...

Anyway, this doesn't seem realistic. Haven't tapeworms been all but eradicated outside of third world countries?

From the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual (18th ed.) -- paraphrased b/c I'm lazy:

occurrence: all continents but Antartica.
eliminated in Iceland, reduced in Tasmania, Cyprus, and NZ (so if you're in these places, yes, you're less likely to get it).
control programs in Argentina, Brazil, China, Kenya, Spain, Uruguay, and Mediterranean countries.

transmission: fecal-oral route (usually children) through contaminated food, H20, soil, fomites (poor hygiene = risk factor), through close association of humans and infected dogs (intermediate hosts = herbivores).
eggs can survive for several months in pastures/gardens

prevention: handwashing, wash fruits/veg, handle dog poop appropriately,control contacts with infected dogs

[Miyu]

I have a 4% chance.

I agree with the beef question, there should be an option for people who don't eat it. Otherwise their results are skewed.

Aren't the methods tartar and carpaccio(?) only in terms of meat products. They said carpaccio(?) meant raw. Well, do they include salads, vegetables, fruits which would come raw naturally? Or just meat. They should clarify.

I don't think there are enough questions to really determine a person's chance.
Such as the livestock questions. Well, shouldn't there be a question about whether or not you washed your hands after coming in contact with the livestock?
Or whichever else.

[theonlysaneone]

I have a 4% chance.

I agree with the beef question, there should be an option for people who don't eat it. Otherwise their results are skewed.

Aren't the methods tartar and carpaccio(?) only in terms of meat products. They said carpaccio(?) meant raw. Well, do they include salads, vegetables, fruits which would come raw naturally? Or just meat. They should clarify.

I don't think there are enough questions to really determine a person's chance.
Such as the livestock questions. Well, shouldn't there be a question about whether or not you washed your hands after coming in contact with the livestock?
Or whichever else.

You're right, but this is just a fun quiz with little scientific merit. Just suspend your disbelief for a while and enjoy the result

[Nessa]

I have 24% o.0

[Combusken BG]

No idea because as soon as I answer the 10th question and the quiz would reset (regardless of how fast or slow I anwser). I have tried six times already and it won't give me a result.

[shapu]

My wife got giardia from a starbucks here in St. Louis. Now she says, "I've been host to a growing lifeform, and I don't know if I even want kids anymore."

Although it was in the end much cheaper than pregancy, so maybe it's not so bad.

[eilu]

44%
Can I help it if I live in a third world country?
But this can't be right- it's not like we live in filth and have tapeworms crawling all over the place. I don't have a tapeworm, nobody I know has ever had a tapeworm (and I've worked in community healthcare some, if it were that prevalent should've seen a few)- so yeah, I have to agree with Sinri's rant.
Reminds me of this though:

[Miyu]

Hahaha, that picture is hilarious!

[Siniri]

My favorite part is "no baths."