W3 communicable diseases Flashcards
(31 cards)
Define epidemiology.
The use of statistics and observations to deal with incidence, distribution and cause of disease.
What is the epidemiological triad?
Monitoring public health
Responding to disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics
Investigating emerging and reemerging diseases.
What fits into the monitoring public health branch of epidemiology?
Morbidity rates
Mortality rates
What fits into the responding to disease outbreaks branch of public health?
Determining the cause of outbreaks
Institute control measures to limit/prevent further outbreak.
What fits into the investigation emerging and reemerging diseases branch?
Determining risk factors
Recommending control measures.
What is a communicable disease?
An illness due to a specific biological agent or its toxins that can be passed from organism to organism.
What is an epidemic?
A spike in disease levels in a population, increase above the expected occurence.
What is an endemic?
The constant presence of a disease at its expected frequency within a population.
What is a pandemic?
A disease affecting a large portion of a population over a wide geographic area, often multiple countries.
What is an exotic disease?
A disease that was imported from another country, often travel related.
What is a sporadic disease?
Cases occur infrequently and haphazardly with no pattern, has the potential to spread rapidly as cause unknown.
What is a zoonosis?
An infection that is transmissible from animals to humans.
What is an enzotic and epizotic?
Enzotic - the normal level of disease in a population
Epiotiz - a higher than normal level of disease in an animal population
What is a common source epidemic?
Also known as a point source epidemic.
Rapid rise and fall in incidence
Arises from a single source such as food poisoning or a bad well.
Number of cases increases rapidly to a peak than decreases to zero.
What is a propagated epidemic?
A disease with a slow rise and fall in incidence
Disease is transmitted from person to person, escalating more infected.
Appears to improve then spikes, when incubation period ends.
Greater peaks as continues over time, peaks eventually merge and incubation periods not seen on graph as too much random spread.
What is the latent period?
The time between exposure and the development of infectiousness.
What does nosocomial?
A hospital or other health setting enquired infection.
What is a reservoir in relation to infectious disease?
The person, animal, object or substance from which a disease originates and spreads from.
the person/thing you might catch it from.
What are the different types of reservoirs in infectious disease?
Human reservoir
Animal reservoir
Non-living reservoir e.g water.
What are the different modes of transimission?
Direct - skin contact, droplet infection, vaccination, trans-placental.
Indirect - vehicle born (water etc), vector borne, air-borne, formite borne (intimate objects), unclean hands and fingers of a person who passes disease but does not get it themselves
What is the difference between eradication and elimination of an infectious disease?
Elimination aims to remove from population or geographic area
Eradication - no longer exists, zero worldwide.
What teams are involved in managing infections within a hospital?
DIPC
Infection and Prevention Control Team.
What teams are responsible for managing an infection in the community?
Local Health Protection Agency
What is the DIPC?
The director of Infection Prevention and Control,
Raise awareness around and promote infection prevention and control.
Leadership in policy review, implementation and development for infection control.
Monitor and try to stop infectious outbreaks in a hospital.
Contact senior members of teams, escalate response to other organisations if needed.
