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Epidemiological terminology

Pandemic
Epidemic
Carrier
Adherence
Infection
Invasion
Opportunistic pathogen
Virulence
Incidence
prevalence
Attack rate
Pathogen
Intoxication
Carrier
Latency
Formites
Zoonosis
Sporadic disease

Principles of epidemiology
Pathogen must have stable environment or
reservoir such as soil or water
Transmittable
Disease can be communicable or noncommunicable
The body surface from which pathogen is shed is
called portal of entry
Organism enter the new host through a body
surface called portal of entry
Prevention of non-communicable disease is
disease specific
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Rate of disease in a
population
Concerned
with proportion rather than

absolute number
morbidity rate =
Incidence reflects number of new cases in a
specific time in a given population
Mortality rate= % of people that died from
the disease
Endemic constantly occuring in a population
Epidemics means re-introduction
Spreading world wide is pandemic
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Disease reservoir
Reservoirs are sites in which viable
microorganism remain alive and from which
infection of individual may occur.
Reservoir affect the extent of distribution of a
disease
RESERVOIR OF INFECTION
Wild rats, mice are natural reservoirs of Yersinia
pestis(bacteria that causes plaque)
HUMAN RESERVOIR
if humans are the only reservoir of the disease
then theoreticaly the disease is easier to control
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 Symptomatic infection
Obvious source of infectious agent
Some can be a source of infection in their
incubation period of the infectious agent e.g
mumps virus

Asymptomatic carriers
Immune system is actively reponding to the invading
microorganism
E.g gonorrhea out of 50% of women infected with
Neisseria gonorrhea have no obvious symptoms

Types of carrier
Active carrier :- overt clinical case of a
disease
Healthy carrier:-not ill
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Convalescent carrier:- has recovered from the

Types of carrier based on time of

harborage

Casual hours
Acute days
Transient carrier weeks
Chronic carrier months, years, or
life

Portal of exit
Intestinal tract shed in the faeces
(Vibrio cholerae)
Respiratory organisms are expelled
in droplets (M.tuberculosis)
Those that inhabit the skin are shed
by skin cells (S.aureus {boil and
carbuncle})
Genital pathogen can be carried in
the serum or by vagina secretion
(Neisseria gonorrhea)

Mode of transmission of infectious

disease
Epidemiologist follows the incidence
of a disease by correlating
geographical(vector),
seasonal(school{measles}) etc
Airborne transmission
Contact transmission
Vehicle transmission
Vector borne
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 Airborne transmission
Droplet nuclei 1-4microns
Droplets 10microns
dust
Chicken pox and measles are examples of droplet
spread disease
Contact transmission
Direct contact;- person to person
Touching , kissing and sexual contacts {by
contact with oral secretion and/or body
lesion}
Placenta;- AIDS; Animal contact;salmonella and campylobacter
Indirect contact
Person to person through intermediary
through thermometer, eating utensils,
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drinking psuedomonas is easily transmitted

 Vehicle Transmission
inaminate material or object
involved in pathogen
transmission, formites
Vector borne transmission
External transmission;- flies
carrying shigella on feet
Internal transmission; habourage(does not undergo
physiological or
morphilogical changes) e.g
Yersinia pestis
Biological transmission
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Factors that influence the

epidemiology of disease
The dose
The probability of infection and disease is generally lower when an
individual is exposed to small numbers of pathogen

Incubation period
Disease with long incubation period can spread extensively before
the first case appears.

Population characteristics
Herd immunity
Antigenic variation of the pathogen

General health
Malnutrition, overcrowding, war increases susceptibility

Age
The very young immunity not well developed
The elderly (The immunity wanes over time)

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 Gender
Females Becomes immunosuppressed during
pregnancy

Religion and cultural practices

Circumcision

Genetic background
Diabetics

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 Host susceptibility to pathogen

Depends on the pathogenicity of the organism and
The non-specific and specific defense mechanism of
the host

Pathogen exit from the host

Active escape occurs when the pathogen actively
moves to a portal of exit and leaves the host
Passive escape occurs when a pathogen or a progeny
leaves the host in urine, faeces, droplet or saliva

Virulence and the mode of transmission

Strongly influenced by its mode of transmission and
its ability live outside the host
If MOT is by direct contact and does not incapacitate
the pathogen spread widely
Pathogen transmitted by vector are able to multiply
and better not harm the vector so that they are
healthy enough to transmit the pathogen
If a pathogen cannot survive outside a host and
cannot use a vector it tends to be less virulent and14

 Herd immunity
If the proportion of immune individual is sufficiently
high then the whole population would be protected

Cycles of disease
An example is measles it is transmitted by respiratory
route
Measles show an annual cycle probably because a
new group of non-immune children arrive each year

Control of epidermies
It should be noted that the incidence of many
infectious disease has dropped dramatically because
of the general increase in the well being of the
population i.e better nutrition

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Types of control measures

reducing or eliminating the source of reservoir
infection can be achieved by the ffg:

Quarantine or isolation of carriers

Destruction of animal reservoir of infection
Treatment of water sewage to reduce contamination
Therapy that eliminate or reduces the infectivity of individuals

Breaking the connection btw the source of infection

and susceptible individuals

Chlorination of water supplies

Pasteurization of milk and other beverages
Supervision and inspection of food and food handlers
Destruction of vectors

These reduces the number of susceptible individuals

and raises the general level of herd immunity by
immunization
Passive immunization e.g rabies immunization, hepatitis a
immunization
Active immunization e.g vaccines , just boost the production of T and
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B cell antibodies