disease detectives wiki terms 1

Disease Detectives

An event focused on epidemiology: using investigative skills to study disease, injury, health, and disability in populations or groups.

Epidemiology

The study of the distribution and determinants of health conditions in populations and the application of that study to control health problems.

Classical epidemiology

Population-oriented epidemiology that studies community origins of health problems related to nutrition, environment, and human behavior.

Classical approach

A population-based approach that investigates health problems by studying patterns, causes, risk factors, and prevention at the community/population level.

Clinical epidemiology

Epidemiology focused on patients in healthcare settings to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

Clinical approach

A patient-focused approach that applies epidemiological methods to diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and healthcare decisions.

Infectious disease epidemiology

The study of infectious diseases, their transmission, risk factors, and control; heavily dependent on laboratory support.

Chronic disease epidemiology

The study of long-term diseases and their risk factors; often depends on complex sampling and statistical methods.

Descriptive epidemiology

Epidemiology that describes disease patterns using person, place, and time data to identify trends and generate hypotheses.

Analytic epidemiology

Epidemiology that tests hypotheses and investigates possible causes or associations using comparisons between groups.

Descriptive epidemiology questions

Who? What? Where? When?

Analytic epidemiology questions

Why? How?

Disease

An infection that results in signs and/or symptoms.

Sign

An objective finding of disease that can be observed or measured.

Symptom

A subjective experience of disease reported by the patient.

Opportunistic disease

A disease that causes illness when given the opportunity by a damaged or weakened immune system.

Nosocomial disease

An infection acquired in a hospital or healthcare setting.

Iatrogenic disease

An illness unintentionally caused by medical treatment, medication, or a healthcare provider.

Chronic infection

An infection in which the infectious agent remains continuously present and detectable.

Latent infection

An infection in which the agent remains in the body but can become dormant and later reactivate.

Incubation period

The time between exposure to an infectious agent and the appearance of the first signs or symptoms.

Latent period

The time between exposure to a pathogen and the point when a person becomes infected.

Asymptomatic

Infected but displaying no signs or symptoms of disease.

Susceptibility

The degree to which a member of a population is able to resist infection.

Susceptible individual

A person who is capable of becoming infected by a disease.

Pathogenicity

The ability of an infectious agent to cause disease after infection occurs.

Virulence

The degree or severity of disease caused by an infectious agent.

Infectivity

The ability of an infectious agent to establish an infection after exposure.

Morbidity

The occurrence or rate of disease or illness in a population.

Mortality

The occurrence or rate of death in a population.

Case fatality rate

The proportion of people with a disease who die from that disease.

Prevalence

The proportion or number of existing cases of a disease in a population at a specified time or period.

Point prevalence

The number or proportion of existing disease cases in a population at one specific point in time.

Period prevalence

The number or proportion of people who have a disease at any time during a specified period.

Incidence

The rate of new cases of a disease occurring in a population during a specified period.

Attack rate

The proportion of people who become infected among the population at risk during an outbreak or exposure period.

Person-time

The sum of the time each individual in a population is at risk for developing a disease.

Index case

The first identified case of a disease in a particular setting; sometimes called patient zero.

Etiology

The cause or causes of a disease.

Pathology

The study of the causes, mechanisms, structural changes, and effects of disease and injury.

Determinant

Any factor that influences or causes a change in a health condition.

Herd immunity

Protection of a population that occurs when a sufficiently large proportion of the population is immune, reducing transmission and protecting susceptible individuals.

Fulminant

A disease or condition with a sudden, severe, and rapidly progressing onset.

Quarantine

Separating or restricting the movement of people who may have been exposed to a disease to see whether they become sick.

Isolation

Separating people who are known or suspected to be infected from those who are not infected.