Disease Detectives Epidemiology

Classical Epidemiology

A population-oriented approach that studies community origins of health problems related to nutrition, environment, and human behavior.

Clinical Epidemiology

Studies patients in health care settings to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Epidemiology that is heavily dependent on laboratory support.

Chronic Disease Epidemiology

Epidemiology that is dependent on complex sampling and statistical methods.

Descriptive Epidemiology

Considers time/place/person data on a disease to determine trends, answering questions like who/what/where/when.

Analytic Epidemiology

Involves hypothesis testing to determine causality of disease, answering questions like why/how.

Disease

Infection that results in signs (objective) and symptoms (subjective).

Opportunistic disease

A disease that causes sickness when given the opportunity of a damaged or weakened immune system.

Noscomial disease

An infection that is acquired in a hospital.

Iatrogenic disease

An illness that is caused by medication or a physician.

Chronic infection

An infection where the agent is continuously present and detectable.

Latent infection

An infection where the agent is continuously present, but can remain

dormant before reactivation.

Incubation period

Time in between when a person comes into contact with an agent of

disease and when they first show symptoms or signs of disease.

Latent period

Time in between when a person comes into contact with a pathogen and when they become infected.

Asymptomatic

Displays no signs or symptoms, but is infected and can carry the disease

Susceptibility

To what extent a member of a population is able to resist infection

Susceptible individual

A member of a population at risk of becoming infected by a disease.

Pathogenicity

The property of causing disease following infection.

Virulence

The property of causing severe disease.

Infectivity

The property of establishing infection following exposure.

Morbidity

The rate of disease in a population.

Mortality

The rate of death in a population.

Case fatality rate

The rate of death due to a disease in the diseased population.

Prevalence

The number of existing cases of disease in a given population.

Point prevalence

The number of existing cases of disease in a given population at a given point in time.

Period prevalence

The total number of cases of disease in a given population over a period of time.

Incidence

The rate of new cases of disease in a given population over a period of

time.

Attack rate

The number of people infected, divided by the total sample. There

should be a high attack rate in those exposed and a low attack rate in

those unexposed.

Person-time

The sum of the time during which each individual in a population was

at risk for a disease.

Index case

Also known as “patient zero”; the first case of a disease in a specific setting.

Etiology

The cause of a disease.

Pathology

The science of the study and diagnosis of disease and injury.

Determinant

Any factor that brings about change in a health condition.

Herd immunity

A critical proportion of a population is immune to a disease such that the entire population is protected.

Fulminant

A sudden and severe onset.

Quarantine

When you may have been exposed.

Isolation

When you have been exposed.