lecture 17 chapter 19 Flashcards
puerperal fever
bacterial infection of uterus
_______ led to incidence of puerperal fever dropping to 1/3 previous level
washing hands
what is epidemiology?
the study of distribution and causes of disease in populations
epidemiologists collect and compile data about
sources of disease and risk factors
epidemiologists have expertise in many disciplines including
ecology, microbiology, sociology, statistics, and psychology
transmitted from one host to another
communicable (contagious diseases)
communicable disease transmission can be ______ or ______
direct, indirect
do not spread from host to host
non-communicable diseases
in non-communicable diseases, microorganisms most often arise from
individuals normal microbiota or environment
percentage of people who become ill in population after exposure to infectious agent
attack rate
epidemiologists are more concerned with _______ rather than the absolute number of cases
rate of disease (usually cases per 100,000)
attack rate reflects
infectious dose, immune status of population
a measure of the frequency with which new cases of illness occurs among a population during a specified period
incidence
total number of cases at any time or for a specific period in a given population
prevalence
prevalence reflects
overall impact of disease on society; includes old and new cases, as well as duration of disease
incidence is a measure of risk of
an individual contracting a disease
incidence of disease in a population
morbidity
contagious disease often have high ______ rate: infected individuals may transmit to several others
morbidity
overall death rate in population
mortality
percentage of population that dies from a specific disease
case-fatality rate
_____ is constantly present in population
endemic disease
example of endemic disease
common cold
____: a few cases from time to time
sporadic
_____: unusually large number of cases
epidemic
an epidemic can be introduced _____ or ______
agent, endemic disease
_____ is a group of cases at specific time and population
outbreak
______ is global
pandemic
example of pandemic
COVID19, AIDS
the spread of infectious disease follows a series of steps called
the chain of infection
natural habitat of pathogen
reservoir of infection
parts of chain of infection
reservoir of infectious agent
portal of exit
transmission
portal of entry
susceptible host
_____ is critical to disease control
identification
pathogen is often easier to control if ______ are the only reservoir
humans
clear source of pathogens
symptomatic infections
harder to identify, carriers may not notice infection, can spread it to others
asymptomatic infections
in carriers, the immune system may be responding to pathogen, ______ expression of symptoms
inhibiting
up to ____ of women infected with Neisseria gonorrohoeae are asymptomatic, easily transmit it
50%
______ are difficult to control in wild animal populations
non-human animal reservoirs
examples of non-human animal reservoirs
plague, hantavirus, Lyme disease
______ exist mostly in animals, can be transmitted to humans
zoonoses (zoonotic diseases)
______ can be significantly more sever in humans; no evolution toward balanced pathogenicity
zoonoses
______ are difficult or impossible to eliminate
environmental reservoirs
examples of environmental reservoirs
clostridium species; legionnaires’ disease
body surface or orifice; exit route for pathogen
portal of exit
examples of portals of exits
intestinal tract (shed in feces)
respiratory tract (exit in droplets of saliva)
skin (shed on skin cells)
genital pathogens (semen, vaginal secretions)
disease transmission types
vertical transmission
horizontal transmission
direct transmission
indirect transmission
example of vertical transmission
pregnant mother to fetus in utero; or, mother to infant during childbirth; by breastfeeding
example of horizontal transmission
is person to person via air, physical contact, ingestion of food or water, or vector
______ involves immediate transfer of infectious agent to portal of entry
direct transmission
direct contact
touch (touching, kissing, sexual contact, contact with oral secretions, or contact with body lesions)
direct contact is easiest when infectious dose is
low
______ considered single most important measure for preventing spread of infectious disease
hand washing
some pathogens cannot survive in environment, require ______
intimate sexual contact (treponema palladium, neisseria gonorrhoeae, STDs in general)
indirect transmission occurs in several ways, including:
aerosol droplet transmission
airborne
vehicle-borne
vector-borne
______ can spread respiratory disease when pathogen-laden droplets are inhaled
aerosol droplet transmission
aerosol droplet transmission is minimized by
covering mouth when sneezing
aerosol droplets generally fall to ground within a
meter
______: respiratory diseases often transmitted by small droplets/particles released while talking, etc. travel further
airborne
in airborne disease transmission, ________ remain suspended; inhaled, carry pathogens to lungs
aerosol droplet nuclei (microbes attached to dried material)