Section 7: Epidemiology

Question 0

What are the types of epidemiological studies

Answer 0

• descriptive
• analytical
• experimental

Question 1

What is epidemiology

Answer 1

study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations and the application of this study to control of health problems

Question 2

What is etiology

Answer 2

the study of why things occur, the study of causation

Question 3

Who is Edward Jenner

Answer 3

he made the observation that cowpox and smallpox are closely related
-prevention of smallpox by vaccinating with cowpox

Question 4

Who is John Snow

Answer 4

made the observation that outbreak of cholera was linked to public water pump
-ended the epidemic by removing pump handle

Question 5

What are the factors necessary for disease transmission

Answer 5

• pathogenic organism
• reactive host
• environmental conditions

Question 6

What are the methods of transmission

Answer 6

• Direct
• indirect
• vector

Question 7

What is direct transmission

Answer 7

person to person contact

-person can have clinical disease or subclinical

Question 8

What is a carrier

Answer 8

individual that does not exhibit symptoms but harbors organism causing disease

Question 9

What is indirect transmission

Answer 9

• contaminated food or water

- contact with inanimate objects (fomites)

Question 10

What is vector transmission

Answer 10

• insects=notably mosquitos, flies

- arachnids=ticks

Question 11

What are the patterns of host/pathogen relationships

Answer 11

• mutualistic
• commensal
• parasitic

Question 12

What is a mutualistic relationship

Answer 12

type of symbiosis in which both organisms benefit

Question 13

What is a commensal relationship

Answer 13

type of symbiosis in which there is no obvious benefit for organisms involved

Question 14

What is a parasitic relationship

Answer 14

type of symbiosis in which only one partner benefits at the expense of the other partner

Question 15

What is a reservoir for infection

Answer 15

long term host of pathogen of an infectious disease, usually without injury to itself and serves as a source from which other individuals can be infected

Question 16

What is a primary reservoir

Answer 16

inanimate

• microbes are viable and multiply
  ie: food, soil

Question 17

What is a secondary reservoir

Answer 17

inanimate

• microbes are viable, but do not multiply
• air. soil

Question 18

What is zoonosis

Answer 18

any infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals, both wild and domestic, to humans

Question 19

What are the risk factors for disease

Answer 19

• age
• gender
• ethnicity
• nutrition
• pre-existing disease
• occupation
• food and water

Question 20

What are patterns of disease

Answer 20

• endemic
• epidemic
• outbreak
• pandemic

Question 21

What is a endemic

Answer 21

infection is maintained in the population without the need for external inputs. Constantly present in the population

Question 22

What is an epidemic

Answer 22

disease that appears as new cases in the population in a period of time at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected. Higher incidence

Question 23

What is an outbreak

Answer 23

small and localized epidemic

Question 24

What is a pandemic

Answer 24

global epidemic of an infectious disease that affects people or animals over an extensive geographical area

Question 25

What is herd immunity

Answer 25

when a critical portion of a population is immune to a disease, either through natural immunity or vaccination, a phenomenon called herd immunity develops
-results in inability of an infectious disease to spread due to the lack of a critical concentration of susceptible host

Question 26

What is morbidity

Answer 26

measurement of the incidence of a disease

• measures new events, so is also measure of risk
• calculate morbidity to determine how fast the disease develops in a population

Question 27

What is prevalence

Answer 27

prevalence of a disease is the number of individuals affected at a specific time

Question 28

What is attack rate

Answer 28

The attack rate is the proportion of people who are exposed to the disease during the outbreak who do become sick

Question 29

What is mortality

Answer 29

death rate due to a given disease

-gives information about the severity of the disease