Foundations of Epidemiology
The foundation of public health and answers the basic questions of who, what where, when, why, and how. E
What is Epidemiology
A person in a population who has been identified as having a particular disease, disorder, injury or condition.
What is a Case?
An inanimate object that can harbor an infectious agent and is capable of being a means of transmission.
What is a fomite?
An individual who has been exposed to and harbors a disease causing organism and who has done so for some time, even though the person may have recovered from the disease.
What is an Active Carrier?
Preventing a disease or disorder before it happens.
What is Primary Prevention?
Involves characterization of the distribution of health-related states or events.
What is Descriptive epidemiology?
Found by looking at several variables to determine the severity of the illness.
What is Case Severity?
An invertebrate animal that transmits infection by conveying the infectious agent from one host to another.
What is a vector?
An individual who harbors a pathogen and who, although in the recovery phase of the course of the disease, is still infectious.
What is Active Primary Prevention?
What is Analytic epidemiology?
The first disease case in the population.
What is a Primary Case?
The habitat (living or nonliving) in or on which an infectious agent lives, grows, and multiplies, and on which it depends on for its survival in nature.
What is a Reservoir?
An individual who has been exposed to and harbors a pathogen but has not become ill or shown any of the symptoms.
What is a Healthy Carrier (or Passive Carrier)?
Does not require behavior change on the part of the individual (eating vitamin-enriched foods, drinking fluoridated water).
What is Passive Primary Prevention?
A specific event, condition, or characteristic that precedes the health outcome and is necessary for its occurrence.
What is a cause?
What is the Index Case?
Contains, spreads, or harbors an infectious organism.
What is a Carrier?
An individual who has been exposed to and harbors a pathogen, is in the beginning stages of the disease, is displaying symptoms, and has the ability to transmit the disease.
What is an Incubatory Carrier?
Health screening and detection activities used to identify disease early on and prevent progression.
What is Secondary Prevention?
A behavior, environmental exposure, or inherent human characteristic that increases the chance of developing and adverse health outcome.
What is a Risk Factor?
An individual (or group of individuals) who has all the signs and symptoms of the disease or condition but has not been diagnosed as having the disease.
What is a Suspect Case?
An infectious organism in vertebrate animals that can be transmitted to humans through direct contact, a famine, or a vector.
What is a Zoonosis?
An individual who has been exposed to and harbors a pathogen and who can spread the disease in different places or at different intervals.
What is an Intermittent Carrier?
Blocking the progression of a disability, condition, or disorder to keep it from advancing and requiring excessive care.
What is Tertiary Prevention?