Lecture 1 Notes Flashcards
Avian flu
A severe, often fatal flu virus of birds, especially poultry, that is transmissible from them to humans
-aka = bird flu
What happens as more vaccines are introduced?
The mortality rate decreases
When was the Spanish flu?
1918
Spanish flu
Influenza caused by an influenza virus of type A
Smallpox
An acute contagious viral disease, with fever and pustules usually leaving permanent scars
What are the 4 definitions of epidemiology
- Friedman, 1987 = Study of disease occurrence in human populations
- Schulte, 1993 = Study, prevention and control of health risks faced by human populations
- Madigan, 2003 = Study of the occurrence, distribution and control of diseases
- Tortora, 2013 = Science that studies when and where diseases occur and how they are transmitted in populations
What is epidemiology? (5)
- Systematic collection and analysis of vital statistics
- Delineation of the triad of agent, host and vector
- Refined exposure assessment
- Clearly delineated study designs
- Increase conceptional and statistical capabilities for modelling diseases and predicting epidemics or pandemics
What are the 3 types of epidemiology?
- Descriptive
- Analytical
- Experimental
Descriptive epidemiology
Collecting data and describing occurrence of human diseases
Analytical epidemiology
Analyzing a particular disease using case control method or cohort method
Experimental epidemiology
Tests effectiveness of a new vaccine against AIDs
What are the 8 causes of death and their %?
- Communicable diseases (32%)
- lower respiratory tract = 6.8%
- HIV/AIDs = 4.9%
- diarrheal diseases = 3.2%
- tuberculosis = 2.7%
- malaria = 2.2%
- measles = 1.1% - Non-communicable diseases (58%)
- cardiovascular diseases = 29.3%
- cancer = 12.5% - Injuries (9%)
What does the triad consist of? (3)
- Agent
- Host
- Vector
Agent
Is the cause of the disease
- typically a microbe = too small to see with the naked eye
What are 5 examples of an agent?
- Bacteria (gonorrhea)
- Protozoa (malaria)
- Virus (influenza)
- Prions
- Chemicals
Host
An animal or a plant in which a parasite or commensal organism lives
What are 4 examples of a host?
- Humans (culture, geography, history)
- Animals (vertebrate, invertebrate)
- Plants (gymnosperm)
- Bacteria
Vector
An organism which transmits infection by conveying the pathogen from one host to another without causing disease itself
What are 4 examples of vectors?
- Ticks (Lyme disease)
- Mosquitos (malaria)
- Needles
- Surgical devices
What are the 2 population models?
- Exponential
2. Logistic