Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases

Flashcards covering key concepts related to the prevention and control of communicable diseases from the lecture notes.

What are some leading communicable diseases affecting low-income countries?

HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

What percentage of malaria deaths worldwide in 2020 were children under 5 years old?

77% (487,000 deaths).

What is the significance of the SDGs in relation to communicable diseases?

They include a specific target to end the epidemics of AIDS, TB, malaria, and NTDs, and to combat hepatitis and other communicable diseases.

What is the epidemiologic triangle?

A model used to describe the dynamics between an infective agent, a susceptible host, and a supportive environment.

Name a method to prevent the transmission of communicable diseases.

Immunizing the host or disinfecting a room to eliminate the agent.

Define epidemiology according to Last (1988).

The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specific populations, and the application of these data in the control of health problems.

What are the two broad types of epidemiology?

Descriptive epidemiology and analytic epidemiology.

What is the purpose of case-control studies in epidemiology?

They help identify risk groups and risk factors associated with diseases.

What are the primary objectives of secondary prevention?

To stop or slow the progression of disease and to prevent or limit permanent damage through early detection and treatment.

What are the six components of the infectious disease process?

The agent, its reservoir, its portal of exit, its mode of transmission, its portal of entry, and the susceptible host.

What are the characteristics of an epidemic?

Disease occurrence among a population that is in excess of what is expected in a given time and place.

What defines a carrier in infectious disease terms?

A person who does not have apparent clinical disease but is a potential source of infection to others.

What is the effect of carriers on disease transmission known as?

The iceberg effect, indicating that carriers often constitute a hidden reservoir of infection.

How can the portal of entry for pathogens occur?

Through body openings, incisions, wounds, or mucous membranes.

What are the three major levels of disease prevention?

Primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention.

What is the formula for calculating prevalence rate?

Prevalence rate = Number of existing cases in a population at a specified point in time / Population at the same specified point in time.

What influences the prevalence of a disease?

Factors include longer duration of the disease, increase in new cases, and improved diagnostic facilities, among others.

What does descriptive epidemiology aim to identify?

Who has the disease, what the disease is, why it arose, where it occurred, and when it occurred.