Introduction to Disease Classification and Epidemiology

Vocabulary flashcards covering disease categories, transmission types, epidemiological occurrence levels, and the epidemiological triangle model.

Acute disease

A disease characterized by a rapid, sudden onset and a duration lasting less than three months.

Chronic disease

A disease that takes a long time to develop, lasts long-term or for the rest of a person's life, and cannot be cured, only managed.

Disease

A disruption or damage to a tissue or organ.

Infectious disease

A disease resulting from a host being invaded by microbes, microbe products, or parasites that benefit while causing damage to the host.

Microbes

Organisms that require a microscope to be seen, such as viruses or bacteria.

Colonization

The presence of microbes living on or in a host without causing damage, such as beneficial Lactobacilli acquired from eating yogurt.

Noninfectious disease

A disease that is not caused by a microbe or parasite.

Communicable disease

A subcategory of infectious disease that moves directly from one person to another person.

Non-communicable infectious disease

An infectious disease that cannot be transmitted directly from person to person, such as Cyclospora or foodborne E. coli from lettuce.

Contagious disease

A subcategory of communicable infectious disease that is rapidly and easily spread from person to person with minimal effort.

Sporadic disease

A disease that occurs only occasionally within a specified population.

Endemic disease

The expected, constant baseline level of a disease within a specific population over time.

Epidemic disease

A disease occurrence within a population that rises above the expected endemic level.

Pandemic disease

An epidemic disease that spreads globally across multiple continents or around the world.

Triangle model

An epidemiological model composed of agent, host, and environment used to understand disease dynamics and prevent disease by breaking one of the connections.

Agent

The component of the epidemiological triangle model that answers what is causing the disease.

Environment

The component of the epidemiological triangle model that answers where the disease occurs.

Susceptible host

The component of the epidemiological triangle model representing who is vulnerable to or affected by the disease.