Case Concepts
What is a Case Definition?
A standard set of criteria to continuously diagnose a case despite the origin.
What is a Primary Prevention?
Preventing a disease before it occurs.
What is a Direct Transmission?
Immediate transfer from the infected person to another.
What is an Epidemic?
An excess occurrence of cases of a disease or condition in a normal expectancy population.
What is a Vector?
When an invertebrate animal such as tick, mite, mosquito, etc. transmits the infectious agent from one person to another.
What is a Primary Case?
The first disease case found in the population.
What is an Active Primary Prevention?
Actions required to alter an individual’s behavior.
What is an Indirect Transmission?
An agent is carried by an intermediate factor resulting in disease.
What is an Endemic?
An ongoing occurrence of an existing disease in a population.
What is a Reservoir?
Where the infectious agent lives, grows, and multiplies.
What is a Secondary Case?
The second case found in the population after a person has been infected due to interaction with the primary case.
What is a Passive Primary Prevention?
Actions not required to alter an individual’s behavior.
What is an Airborne Transmission?
Droplets or dust particles are carried to a host by pathogen resulting in an infection.
What is a Common-Source Epidemic?
An infectious-disease epidemic which occurred from a specific source.
What is a Zoonosis?
An infectious organism comes from vertebrate animals such as rabies, virus, etc. which can be transferred to humans by direct contact, fomite, or vector.
What is a Suspect Case?
A person or group of persons who has signs and symptoms of a disease or condition but have not been diagnosed yet.
What is a Secondary Prevention?
Enforces health screening and detection activities to identify a disease or condition.
What is a Vector-borne Transmission?
Arthropod such as mosquito, flea, tick, etc. transmit the infectious agent.
What is a Propagated Epidemic?
An infectious-disease epidemic which occurred from transmission from one infected person to another.
What is a Vehicle?
When infectious agents from its reservoir are transmitted from a nonliving intermediary such as clothing, food, or water to a susceptible person.
What is an Index Case?
Though it is not always the primary case, it is the first case observed by epidemiologists.
What is a Tertiary Prevention?
Limits disabilities by implementing rehabilitation for diseases, injuries, or conditions that have already progressed and damaged an individual.
What is a Vehicle-borne Transmission?
An inanimate object transmits the infection agent to an individual.
What is a Mixed Epidemic?
An infectious-disease epidemic in which individuals who suffered from a common-source epidemic have contact with others and escalate the disease.
What is a Carrier?
Contains, spreads, and harbors infectious organisms.