Disease Detectives v3

Hippocrates (460 BC to 365 BC)

The father of medicine; differentiated medicine from magic and created the first school for medicine[cite: 1]

Black Death Pandemic (1347 to 1351)

Killed 50% of Europe[cite: 1]

Antoine van Leeuwenhoek (1632)

Father of microbiology and first person to observe cells[cite: 1]

John Graunt (1662)

London haberdasher and councilman who published a landmark analysis of mortality data[cite: 1]

James Lind (1740)

Designed first experiment using a concurrently treated control group while studying scurvy[cite: 1]

Edward Jenner (1790)

Developed the world's first smallpox vaccine using cowpox clinical trials[cite: 1]

William Farr (1800)

Father of modern vital statistics and surveillance; systematically collected and analyzed Britain's mortality statistics[cite: 1]

John Snow (1813)

The father of field epidemiology; formed and tested hypothesis on cholera as waterborne transmission in London[cite: 1]

Ignac Semmelweis (1818)

Father of hand washing[cite: 1]

Louis Pasteur (1822)

Recognized bacterial cause, developed vaccines for anthrax and rabies, established germ theory of disease[cite: 1]

Joseph Lister (1827)

Father of antiseptic surgery[cite: 1]

Robert Koch (1843)

Formalized standards to identify organisms with infectious diseases[cite: 1]

Florence Nightingale (1853)

Founder of modern nursing; made significant sanitary reforms during the Crimean War[cite: 1]

Mary Seacole

Opened the British hotel in Balaclava during the Crimean War, tending to British soldiers[cite: 1]

Edgar Sydenstricker (1881)

Pioneer public health statistician whose work helped shed light on true causes of pellagra[cite: 1]

Jonas Salk (1914)

Created the polio vaccine released in February 1955[cite: 1]

Flu Pandemic (March 1918 to April 1920)

Major global influenza pandemic[cite: 1]

Joseph Goldberger (1920)

Published a descriptive field study showing the dietary origin of pellagra[cite: 1]

Alexander Fleming (1928)

Discovered penicillin and its potential in treating bacterial infections[cite: 1]

William Gaunt (1937)

Gathered London morbidity data to understand how demographic factors affect individuals[cite: 1]

Mantel and Haenszel (1959)

Developed a statistical procedure for stratified analysis of case control studies[cite: 1]

MacMahon (1960)

Published first epidemiologic text with a systematic focus on study design[cite: 1]

DA Henderson (1966)

Known for completely eradicating smallpox and establishing the WHO Expanded Program on Immunization[cite: 1]

Carlo Urbani (2003)

Discovered SARS; WHO expert in Hanoi, Vietnam[cite: 1]

4 Steps to Solve Health Problems

1) Data Collection (Surveillance); 2) Assessment (Inference); 3) Hypothesis Testing (Determine how and why); 4) Action (Intervention)[cite: 1]

Natural History of Disease

Progression of a disease process in an individual over time in the absence of treatment from pathological onset to resolution[cite: 1]

Role of Surveillance

Assess health status, detect change in disease trends, data collection for planning, and early warning[cite: 1]

Limitations of Surveillance

Dependent on reporting, reporting inconsistency, unrepresentative data, and takes time[cite: 1]

5 Step Surveillance Process

Data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, data dissemination, link to action[cite: 1]

Active Surveillance

State or local officials actively search for info by contacting health providers or labs; highly timely and accurate[cite: 1]

Passive Surveillance

Healthcare providers or labs initiate reporting to officials; simple and easy, but prone to underreporting[cite: 1]

Sentinel Surveillance

Deliberately involves a limited network of carefully selected reporting sites for high quality data[cite: 1]

Syndromic Surveillance

Relies on detecting individual and population health indicators before confirmed diagnoses[cite: 1]

5 Stages of Infectious Disease Progression

1) Incubation stage, 2) Prodromal stage, 3) Acute stage, 4) Convalescent period, 5) Resolution[cite: 1]

Incubation Stage

Pathogen actively replicating without producing symptoms[cite: 1]

Prodromal Stage

Initial appearance of vague, flu like symptoms[cite: 1]

Acute Stage

Maximum impact of infectious process and specific symptoms[cite: 1]

Convalescent Period

Infection is contained and eliminated, damaged tissue repaired[cite: 1]

Resolution Stage

Total elimination of pathogen with no residual symptoms[cite: 1]

Scientific Method for Disease Detectives

Obtain background info, define problem, formulate hypothesis, develop study, collect data, evaluate results, report results[cite: 1]

Cluster vs Outbreak

A cluster is a spatiotemporal grouping of cases; an outbreak has a common agent and cases are higher than expected[cite: 1]

BRFSS

Collects data from US residents regarding health related risk behaviors and chronic health conditions[cite: 1]

Chronic Disease

A disease or condition that lasts 3 months or longer and may get worse[cite: 1]

Cluster

An aggregation of cases closely grouped in time and space[cite: 1]

Communicable Disease

Infectious diseases that spread specifically from person to person or animal to person[cite: 1]

Convalescent Period Definition

The period in which your body is recovering from a serious injury or disease[cite: 1]

Droplet Nuclei

Residue of droplets of infectious agents[cite: 1]

Etiology

Study of the cause of a disease[cite: 1]

Epidemiology

Study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why[cite: 1]

FATTOM

Mnemonic representing six favorable conditions for foodborne pathogens (Food, Acidity, Temperature, Time, Oxygen, Moisture)[cite: 1]

Food Borne Illness

Disease that travels through unsafe foods[cite: 1]

Fulminant

Occurring suddenly and with great intensity or severity[cite: 1]

Fungi

Plant like organisms that can be pathogens and cause infections[cite: 1]

Hawthorne Effect

Individuals in a study modify their behavior due to awareness of being studied[cite: 1]

Holoendemic

Endemic affecting younger populations or children[cite: 1]

Iatrogenic

A disease or infection gained from being treated[cite: 1]

Incubation Period

Time between contact with a pathogen and first showing symptoms[cite: 1]

Index Case

The first documented patient in a disease epidemic or study[cite: 1]

Infectivity

Proportion of exposed persons who become infected by infectious agents[cite: 1]

Infectious Dose

Amount of pathogen required to cause disease[cite: 1]

Latent Period

Time between contact with a pathogen and when a person is able to spread it[cite: 1]

Mode of Transmission

The way a pathogen moves from one body to another[cite: 1]

Morbidity

Rate of disease in a population[cite: 1]

Mortality

Rate of death in a population[cite: 1]

Mortality Rate

Number of deaths due to a disease divided by total population[cite: 1]

Mycology

Study of fungi[cite: 1]

NCHS

National Center for Health Statistics[cite: 1]

NHANES

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey[cite: 1]

Pathogenicity

Proportion of infected persons who develop clinical disease[cite: 1]

Portal of Entry or Exit

Opening where a pathogen may enter or exit[cite: 1]

Primary Case

Original case in a population[cite: 1]

R Nought

The reproductive number indicating how contagious a disease is[cite: 1]

Reservoir

Area where agents can thrive and reproduce[cite: 1]

Respiratory Droplet

Disease type that travels through water or mucus droplets sent through coughs or sneezes[cite: 1]

Risk

Probability that an individual will be affected by or die from an illness or injury[cite: 1]

Sequelae

Aftereffect of a disease or injury[cite: 1]

STD

Disease that travels through sexual intercourse or mixing blood[cite: 1]

Surveillance

Systematic and ongoing collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data[cite: 1]

Vaccine Efficacy or Effectiveness

Trials setting versus real world setting performance[cite: 1]

Vector

Animal that can transfer a pathogen without actually having it[cite: 1]

Virulence

Severity of clinical disease to death[cite: 1]

Incidence vs Prevalence

Incidence counts new cases over a given time period at risk; prevalence counts all affected persons at any given point in time[cite: 1]

P equals I times D

Formula where Prevalence equals Incidence multiplied by Duration[cite: 1]

Cross Sectional Study

Survey or health questionnaire snapshot in time; fastest and least expensive[cite: 1]

Case Control Study

Compares people with and without disease to find common exposures; good for rare diseases[cite: 1]

Cohort Study

Compares people with and without exposures to see what happens; most accurate observational study[cite: 1]

Ecological Study

Comparisons of geographical locations using pre existing data[cite: 1]

Randomized Controlled Trial

Gold standard of study design, human experiment; most scientifically sound[cite: 1]

Quasi Experiments

Research similar to traditional experimental design but lacking random assignment[cite: 1]

Case Reports or Series

Observational descriptive design tracking individuals with a shared disease over time without a control group[cite: 1]

Animal Research

Scientific study of animals in labs to gain biological knowledge[cite: 1]

Meta Analysis

Statistical method combining quantitative data from multiple independent studies[cite: 1]

Systematic Review

Scholarly synthesis of evidence on a clearly defined topic using explicit methods[cite: 1]

Primordial Prevention

Risk factor reduction targeted towards an entire population through laws and policy[cite: 1]

Primary Prevention

Early intervention to avoid initial exposure to a disease agent[cite: 1]

Secondary Prevention

Screening and instituting treatment during the latent stage[cite: 1]

Tertiary Prevention

Intervention during the symptomatic stage to arrest or reverse disease progression[cite: 1]

Quaternary Prevention

Health activities to mitigate or avoid consequences of unnecessary intervention[cite: 1]

Food Safety Prevention Rules

Cook meat thoroughly, avoid cross contamination, chill leftovers, wash produce, report illnesses[cite: 1]

Active Immunity

Immunity resulting from primary immune response after exposure to a live pathogen or vaccine[cite: 1]