"Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population."
Concepts and methods used in the study of infectious diseases.
Microbiology: The study of microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, including their structure, function, and behavior.
Immunology: The study of the immune system and how it responds to infectious agents.
Pathology: The study of disease processes and their effects on the body.
Anatomy and Physiology: The study of the structure and function of the human body and its organs.
Biostatistics: The application of statistical methods to epidemiological studies, such as calculating disease rates and analyzing data.
Epidemiological Methods: The principles and techniques used to investigate the spread of infectious diseases and their risk factors in populations.
Public Health Surveillance: The ongoing monitoring of infectious diseases and their trends and patterns in populations.
Outbreak Investigation: The process of identifying and containing an infectious disease outbreak in a population.
Infectious Disease Control Measures: The strategies and methods used to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases.
Global Health: The study of health issues and disease patterns around the world, and strategies to improve health outcomes globally.
Public Health Policy: The development and implementation of policies that improve public health, including infectious disease prevention and control measures.
Zoonotic Diseases: Diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, such as Zika, Ebola, and COVID-19.
Vaccinology: The study of vaccines, including their development, effectiveness, and delivery.
Antimicrobial Resistance: The phenomenon of bacteria and other microorganisms becoming resistant to antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs.
Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases: Infectious diseases that are new, are spreading to new areas, or are increasing in incidence after a period of decline.
Descriptive Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that involves the study of the distribution of disease within populations. It provides initial data on the distribution of infectious diseases and helps to identify patterns of occurrence and significant risk factors.
Analytical Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that involves the study of the causes and determinants of infectious diseases. It aims to identify risk factors associated with the development of infectious diseases, as well as the causes of outbreaks and how they spread.
Molecular Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that involves the use of molecular biology techniques to understand the distribution, transmission, and evolution of infectious diseases. This approach may be used to understand genetic differences between infectious disease strains or to identify the source of an outbreak.
Clinical Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that focuses on the study of the clinical aspects of infectious diseases. It aims to help clinicians diagnose and treat infectious diseases, and may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of diagnostic and treatment options.
Social Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that examines the social determinants of infectious diseases. It provides insights into the complex interplay between social and environmental factors that affect the distribution of infectious diseases.
Field Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that involves the investigation of disease outbreaks in real-time. Field epidemiologists collect data, conduct investigations, and implement control measures to stop the spread of infectious diseases in the affected population.
Mathematical Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that uses mathematical models to better understand the transmission and control of infectious diseases. These models can help predict the spread of disease, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and develop strategies to control outbreaks.
Ecological Epidemiology: It is the branch of epidemiology that examines the relationship between infectious diseases and the environment. It investigates the role of environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and climate change in the emergence and spread of infectious diseases.
"It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidence-based practice by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive healthcare."
"Epidemiologists help with study design, collection, and statistical analysis of data, amend interpretation and dissemination of results (including peer review and occasional systematic review)."
"Major areas of epidemiological study include disease causation, transmission, outbreak investigation, disease surveillance, environmental epidemiology, forensic epidemiology, occupational epidemiology, screening, biomonitoring, and comparisons of treatment effects such as in clinical trials."
"Epidemiologists rely on other scientific disciplines like biology to better understand disease processes, statistics to make efficient use of the data and draw appropriate conclusions, social sciences to better understand proximate and distal causes, and engineering for exposure assessment."
"Epidemiology, literally meaning 'the study of what is upon the people,' is derived from Greek epi 'upon, among', demos 'people, district', and logos 'study, word, discourse', suggesting that it applies only to human populations."
"The term is widely used in studies of zoological populations (veterinary epidemiology), although the term 'epizoology' is available, and it has also been applied to studies of plant populations (botanical or plant disease epidemiology)."
"The distinction between 'epidemic' and 'endemic' was first drawn by Hippocrates, to distinguish between diseases that are 'visited upon' a population (epidemic) from those that 'reside within' a population (endemic)."
"The term 'epidemiology' appears to have first been used to describe the study of epidemics in 1802 by the Spanish physician Joaquín de Villalba in Epidemiología Española."
"The term epidemiology is now widely applied to cover the description and causation of not only epidemic, infectious disease, but of disease in general, including related conditions."
"Some examples of topics examined through epidemiology include high blood pressure, mental illness, and obesity."
"Epidemiology has helped develop methodology used in clinical research, public health studies, and, to a lesser extent, basic research in the biological sciences."
"It shapes policy decisions and evidence-based practice by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive healthcare."
"Epidemiologists help with study design, collection, and statistical analysis of data, amend interpretation and dissemination of results."
"Statistics are used to make efficient use of the data and draw appropriate conclusions."
"Major areas of epidemiological study include environmental epidemiology, forensic epidemiology, occupational epidemiology, and screening."
"Epidemiologists rely on engineering for exposure assessment."
"Epidemiology is a cornerstone of public health."
"Epidemiologists conduct disease surveillance to track the occurrence and spread of diseases in populations."
"Epidemiologists help with study design, collection, and statistical analysis of data, amend interpretation and dissemination of results (including peer review and occasional systematic review)."