I. What does an epidemiologist do?
II. Definitions
endemic-disease constantly present in a particular geographic area
epidemic-disease with an unusually high incidence
pandemic-worldwide severe epidemic
morbidity-illness (morbidity rate)
mortality-death (mortality rate)
incidence-number of new cases in a specified group in a period of time
prevalence-number of total cases in a specified group at any one time
CDC-Centers for Disease Control
MMWR-Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
III. Spread of disease
reservoirs
entry of pathogen
transmission
person to person
vehicle
vectors
examples
Yersinia pestis: pg. 620-621
Plague case, Arizona (MMWR)
Mycobacterium tuberculosis: pg. 481-485
Tuberculosis case (MMWR)
Tuberculosis information (WHO)
IV. How do epidemiologists study the spread of disease?
Descriptive
who
where
when
Analytical
retrospective
prospective
Example
V. Disease eradication