General Principles Flashcards
The frequency and pattern of health events in a population
Distribution (think about a line graph or spot/area map)
The evaluation of the distribution by person, place and time factors
Descriptive epidemiology
The causes and other factors that influence the occurrence of health-related events
Determinants of Disease
The WHY and HOW of what causes disease is known as:
Analytical Epidemiology
**Name the 5 goals of epidemiology:
- Identify and explain the etiology or the cause of a disease/condition/disorder/death/health outcome, and the risk factors associated with it.
- Determine the extent or burden of disease in a community. This is essential for planning health services.
- Study the natural history and prognosis of a disease, which will lead the efforts for intervention.
- Evaluate both existing and new preventative and therapeutic measures, and modes of health delivery
- Provide the foundation for public health policy development and making regulatory decisions related to occupational and environmental problems.
**The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to control health problems
Epidemiology- def by John Last
Name the 3 components of the epidemiologic triad
- Host
- Agent
- Environment
A component of the epidemiological triad, this is generally a susceptible human or animal
Host
A component of the epidemiological triad, a microorganism, such as a bacteria, virus, fungi or parasite.
Agent
A component of the epidemiological triad, this includes factors such as air, water, soil, and healthcare equipment that can provide a place for microbes to hibernate or live w/o causing disease
Environment
A vehicle or form of transmission of the agent, such as a bat who carries rabies, or the contaminated hands of a healthcare worker
Vector
The first person to record his theories of disease which he attributed illness to the climate, soil, water, mode of life, and nutrition
Hippocrates
This man coined the terms ENDEMIC and EPIDEMIC DISEASE
Hippocrates
Considered to be the father of medicine
Hippocrates
This man said:
- “A good physician must familiarize himself w/a new work place or community”: environment and people.
- The importance of both PREVENTION and TREATMENT
- Observation of all contributing factors to disease
- Consider the inhabitants mode of life (drinking, eating, activity level, industriousness)
Hippocrates
He first proposed 3 modes of transmission of contagious disease:
- direct contact (person to person)
- contact w/FOMITES (contaminated articles/objects)
- Through the air
Gilolamo Fracastoro
Gilolamo Fracastoro proposed these 3 modes of transmission of contagious disease:
- Direct contact from one person to another
- Contact w/fomites (contaminated objects)
- Through the air
He believed disease was transmitted by seeds and influenced by astrology.
Gilolamo Fracastoro
He created a study to test the effectiveness of dietary supplements on scurvy patients (cider, vinegar, seawater, garlic, oranges, lemons)
James Lind (Matt LINDland’s ugly lemon head)
His study used the TRUE EPIDEMIOLOGIC APPROACH, observing the effect of person, place, time on the development and spread of disease
James Lind
He observed that milk maids developed a mild form of disease similar to smallpox, called “cowpox”. These maids seemed to be immune to smallpox during epidemics.
Edward Jenner
He performed the first vaccine clinical trial
Edward Jenner
This boy was the first to be inoculated with _____ and developed immunity to smallpox 6 weeks later
James Phipps, inoculated w/cowpox
AKA vaccination, this term is defined as the intentional inoculation of healthy people w/a disease to induce immunity
Variolation
