Epidemiology Lecture 1: Introduction

What is the purpose of public health?

Prevents epidemics and the spread of disease

Protects against environmental hazards

Prevents injuries

Promotes and encourages healthy behaviors and mental health

Responds to disasters and assists communities in recovery

Assured the quality and accessibility of health services

What is public health concerned with?

Protecting the health of entire populations

Local, national, or international

What is an epidemic?

An unexpected increase in the number of disease cases in a specific geographical area

Examples of epidemics

Yellow fever

Smallpox

Measles

Polio

What is a pandemic?

An exponential growth in disease

Virus covers a wide area, affecting several countries/populatioins

Cases grow daily

The virus has nothing to do with virology, population immunity, or disease severity

What does endemic mean?

When a disease outbreak consistently presents itself in a particular region

Spread rates are predictable

What is an example of an endemic disease?

Malaria

The 3 core domains of public health

Assessment

Policy development

Assurance

Assessment

The regular collection and dissemination of data on health status, community health needs and epidemiologic issues

Policy development

Promotion of the use of the base of scientific knowledge in decision making on policy matters affecting the public’s health

Assurance

The provision of services necessary to achieve mutually agreed-upon goals by one of three ways:

Directly

Encouragement of other entities to supply

Regulation

Dental public health

The science and art of preventing and controlling dental diseases and promoting dental health through organized community efforts

How to provide assessment in dentistry

Assess oral health status and implement an oral health surveillance system

Analyze determinants of oral health and respond to health hazards in the community

Assess public perceptions about oral health issues and educate/empower them to achieve and maintain optimal oral health

How to work on policy development in dentistry

Mobilize community partners to leverage resources and advocate for/act on oral health issues

Develop and implement policies and systematic plans that support state and community oral health efforts

How to provide assurance in dentistry

Review, educate about, and enforce laws and regulations that promote oral health and ensure safe oral health practices

Reduce barriers to care and assure utilization of personal and population-based oral health services

Assure an adequate and competent public and private oral health workforce

Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based oral health promotion activities and oral health services

Conduct and review research for new insights and innovative solutions to oral health problems

What is epidemiology?

The study of how diesels distributed in the populations and the factors that influence or determine this distribution

Identifies disease patterns, risk factors, optimal intervention strategies, and help to inform policy decisions for population health

Why does a disease develop in some people but not in other people?

Disease, illness, and health status are not randomly distributed in human population

Each of us has certain characteristics that predispose us to, or protect us against, a variety of different diseases. These characteristics are caused by genetics, the result of exposure to certain environmental hazards, or the behaviors that we engage in.

John Snow and the Foundations of Epidemiology

The father of epidemiology

Cholera was spreading, source ended up being a water pump in London on Broad St.

Led to fundamental changes in water and waste systems