Epidemiology
The study of distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in human population while also applying this study to the prevention and control of health issues.
What is epidemiology?
A person in a population who's been identified as having a specific disease, disorder, injury, or condition vs. Ensuring that cases are constantly diagnosed.
What is the difference between a case and a case definition?
An organism, usually a human or an animal, that carries and harbors the disease.
What is a host?
Contains, spreads, or harbors an infectious organism.
What is a carrier?
Preventing a disease or disorder before it happens. It includes health promotion, health education, and health protection.
What is primary prevention?
The ability of a program to create benefits among those who participate in the program vs. those who do not. Suppose a severe dietary intervention program was created to aid in the recovery process of heart attack patients. If the patients who are part of the program have a better chance of recovery than those who aren't, the program would be considered efficacious (efficacy).
What is efficacy, and what does it refer to?
The ongoing and consistent presence of a disease in a community and usually prevails in a region. For example, the flu tends to follow a seasonal trend, where the number of cases are highest in fall and winter.
What is an endemic?
The behavior of when the disease or virus moves to a new host.
What is the mode of transmission?
When the pathogen leaves the human body, animals, or environment through the nose, mouth, blood, or other bodily fluids and is spread.
What body parts are included in the portal of exit?
Proper nutrition, getting immunizations, environmental protection, education in school, good hygiene, sanitation, infection control, and more are included in prevention efforts.
What are examples of primary prevention?
This model shows the interaction and interdependence between the agent, host, environment, and time.
What does the triangle of epidemiology show?
An individual or a group who shows all the signs and symptoms of a disease, but has not been diagnosed or has the cause of symptoms connected to the suspected pathogen.
What is a suspect case?
Physical contact, such as skin-to-skin, sexual intercourse, and touching - between an infected host and another person can transfer diseases such as HIV/AIDS, toxoplasmosis, and athlete's foot.
What are examples of direct transmission diseases and how can one transfer them to another susceptible person?
An individual who has been exposed to and carries the pathogen, but has not been ill or shown any symptoms, also can be described as asymptomatic.
What is a healthy carrier?
Requires behavioral change in the individual (stop smoking, changing eating habits) vs. Does not require behavioral change in the individual (drinking water)
What is the difference between active primary prevention and passive primary prevention?
COVID-19 affected and attacked the population of the extensive region, country, and continent. Epidemic refers to cases of an illness and specific health-related behavior or events in a community or region.
How was COVID-19 a pandemic, not an epidemic?
First disease case in a population in an epidemic and is also brought to the attention of health experts and epidemiologists.
What is primary case and how does it relate to the index case?
This transmission occurs when an arthropod, such as fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, conveys the infectious agent, but do not cause the disease itself. It's responsible for transmitting the pathogen. It includes diseases such as malaria and Lyme disease.
When does vector-borne transmission occur and what are some examples of vector-borne diseases?
An individual who still harbors the pathogen and is in the recovery process of the disease, but is still infectious.
What is a convalescent carrier?
Patient education, health counseling, aftercare treatments, health promotion, and overall attempting to live a productive and useful lifestyle
What are examples of rehabilitation?
First step is to identify who is at the greatest risk and monitor the exposure and public. Second step is to identify the cause and modes of transmission. Third step is to describe the pathologic changes overtime, symptoms of the disease, and outcomes. Last step is to identify the efficacy and measure the effectiveness of the public health program. Effectiveness refers to producing benefits among patients.
What are the steps in public health assessment and how is effectiveness involved?
How is case severity found?
Occurs when an agent is transferred or carried by some item, organism, etc. which will result in disease. For example, dust particles, food, water, air pollutants - airborne transmission and vehicle-borne transmission.
What is indirect transmission and what are some examples?
An individual who has been exposed to and harbors a pathogen. They can also spread the disease in different places and/or different intervals.
What is an intermittent carrier?
Goal is to help the diseased, disabled, or injured individual. Consists of limiting disabilities by providing rehabilitation when the disease, injury, or disorder has already happened. For example, arthritis may consist of medical/surgical treatment such as pain control and psychosocial strategies like phone interventions.
What does tertiary prevention do and how does it help the patient/individual?