Third Lesson Flashcards
Endemics
an infectious disease that exists permanently in a particular region or population
Epidemics
an outbreak of disease that infects many people at about the same time and may spread through one or several communities. It is more localised than a pandemic
Epidemiological periods/ phases/ stages
periods when death rates, life expectancy and types of disease are fairly constant. Average life expectancy and causes of mortality don’t change much in that period
Epidemiological transitions
Profound changes of death rates and life expectancies through history. When there is a change from one epidemiological period to the next
Epidemiological triangle of infectious disease
According to this theory infectious disease is the result of an interaction between agent, host and environment. The agents are the germs whose presence is necessary to produce the disease. Host factors include the immunological status, behaviour, personal and social characteristics of the person who comes in contact with the agent. The environment is the collection of external social and physical factors influencing the onset and outcome of the disease. For our purposes, whether or not medical science can deal with the disease is also an environmental factor. According to this theory, in order to die from malaria, the mosquitoes that carry the parasite (agent) must be present, which also depend on the environment. Whether or not the person who is infected dies from it also depends on host factors like being resistant enough.
Epidemiology
It looks at disease and death patterns at the population level. Which group of people got sick/ died? When? Where? Of what? It is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events (including disease)
Mortality rate
a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time
Pandemics
When an epidemic spreads throughout very large regions or even the world. It stretches over a larger area, infects more people and causes more deaths than an epidemic. A notorious example is the Black Death. An other is the Spanish Flu, which infected 500 million people around the world, and resulted in the deaths of 50 to 100 million in 1918
Public health
the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals. Working for people’s health outside of a medical setting. Trying to provide clean, health promoting environments, for example. It uses laws for example to make a country or city healthier. Public health efforts are very much needed even today to achieve sanitation, safe food standards etc…
