Epidemiology

Define epidemiology. http://www.cdc.gov/excite/classroom/intro_epi.htm

"the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states in specified populations, and the application of this study to control health problems." StudyEpidemiology is the basic science of public health. It's a highly quantitative discipline based on principles of statistics and research methodologies. DistributionEpidemiologists study the distribution of frequencies and patterns of health events within groups in a population. To do this, they use descriptive epidemiology, which characterizes health events in terms of time, place, and person. DeterminantsEpidemiologists also attempt to search for causes or factors that are associated with increased risk or probability of disease. This type of epidemiology, where we move from questions of "who," "what," "where," and "when" and start trying to answer "how" and "why," is referred to as analytical epidemiology. Health-related statesAlthough infectious diseases were clearly the focus of much of the early epidemiological work, this is no longer true. Epidemiology as it is practiced today is applied to the whole spectrum of health-related events, which includes chronic disease, environmental problems, behavioral problems, and injuries in addition to infectious disease. PopulationsOne of the most important distinguishing characteristics of epidemiology is that it deals with groups of people rather than with individual patients. ControlFinally, although epidemiology can be used simply as an analytical tool for studying diseases and their determinants, it serves a more active role. Epidemiological data steers public health decision making and aids in

developing and evaluating interventions to control and prevent health problems. This is the primary function of applied, or field, epidemiology.

Terms/concepts to understand and be able to discuss: Etiology: The study the cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition. a disease of unknown etiology Disease surveillance: Practice by which the spread of disease is monitored in order to establish patterns of progression. The main role of disease surveillance is to predict, observe, and minimize the harm caused by outbreak, epidemic, and pandemic situations, as well as increase knowledge about which factors contribute to such circumstances. Endemic: A disease regularly found among people habitating a certain area. In epidemiology, an infection is said to be endemic in a population when that infection is maintained in the population without the need for external inputs. For example, chickenpox is endemic in the UK, but malaria is not. Epidemic v pandemic: Pandemic - prevalent over the whole world/country. So local vs. global. The CDC has developed a Pandemic Severity Index, with categories of increasing severity (Category 1 to Category 5). It uses a ratio to estimate the number of expected deaths. Similar to preparing for a hurricane, this index helps communities with pandemic preparedness and planning. Outbreak investigation:

Morbidity: the incidence of disease : the rate of sickness VS a diseased state or symptom Mortality: Prevalence: The number of cases of a specific disease present in a given population at a certain time. (the proportion of a population found to have a condition) Incidence: A measure of the risk of developing some new condition within a specified period of time. Number of new cases in a fixed time period / Number of people at risk. Usually the period of study is chosen to be one year, in which case we speak of the annual incidence. This gives a proportion, ranging from 0 to 1, that is useful in communicating the idea of risk: what is the probability that my patient will get this disease within the time-frame? Infectivity: Infectivity refers to the ability of a pathogen to establish an infection. More specifically, infectivity is a pathogen's capacity for horizontal transmission that is, how frequently it spreads among hosts that are not in a parent-child relationship. The measure of infectivity in a population is called incidence. Virulence: The degree of pathogenicity within a group or species of parasites as indicated by case fatality rates and/or the ability of the organism to invade the tissues of the host. The pathogenicity of an organism - its ability to cause disease - is determined by its virulence factors

Chain of transmission:

http://chain.stylex.ca/english/ http://contagions.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/what-is-the-chain-of-infection/