Core Terms
The study of health-related events in a specified populations, or location and why they occurred.
What is Epidemiology?
Measures taken to stop diseases and health issues from occurring in the first place. This is done by addressing risk factors and encouraging healthy practices.
What is Primary Prevention?
An individual who identifies as having a having a particular disease, health condition, or event according to established criteria.
What is a Case?
An individual who carries a pathogen and can pass it to others. These individuals often display symptoms of the illness.
What is an Active Carrier?
Pathogens that are passed directly from one person to another through physical contact.
What is Direct Transmission?
The occurrence of diseases and health conditions in populations according to the variables of person, place, and time. It focuses on what, who, where, and when aspects when trying to understand patterns and trends.
What is Descriptive Epidemiology?
Direct actions that are taken to prevent diseases and health issues.
What is Active Primary Prevention?
The initial individual in a group or community diagnosed with a particular disease or health condition.
What is Primary Case?
Someone who can spread a pathogen but does not show any signs or symptoms of the disease themselves
What is a Passive Carrier?
Pathogens that are transmitted through the air.
What is Airborne Transmission?
A branch of epidemiology that investigates the causes of health-related states or events. It focuses on understanding why and how behind disease patterns using hypothesis testing and evaluation of risk factors.
What is Analytic Epidemiology?
Indirect methods for preventing disease and health issues. These actions do not require individual action.
What is Passive Primary Prevention?
An individual who contracts the disease from the primary case.
What is Secondary Case?
An individual who continues to carry and potentially spread a pathogen even after recovering from their symptoms.
What is a Convalescent Carrier?
Diseases that are spread by vectors (such as insects or animals). These vectors carry and transmit pathogens from one host to another.
What is Vector Borne Transmission?
The capacity of a given intervention under ideal or controlled conditions.
What is Efficacy?
Programs aimed at detecting diseases in early stages and treating them promptly to prevent further progression.
What is Secondary Prevention?
Someone showing symptoms of a disease but has not yet been confirmed through diagnostic testing.
What is Suspect Case?
An individual who infects others with a pathogen during the development stage and before they begin to show any symptoms.
What is an Incubatory Carrier?
Pathogens that are spread through contact with contaminated nonliving objects or other substances that carry the disease.
What is Vehicle Borne Transmission?
An intervention conducted in a real-world setting.
What is Effectiveness?
Strategies to manage and reduce the impact of an already established diseases.
What is Tertiary Prevention?
The first recognized case in an outbreak or epidemic.
What is Index Case?
Someone who carries a pathogen and can transmit the disease at certain intervals, rather than continuously.
What is an Intermittent Carrier?
Pathogens that are transmitted by a vector after undergoing part of their life cycle within the vector.
What is Biological Transmission?