Infectious Diseases Epidemiology

INFECTIOUS DISEASE
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Dr. Jagdish Chataut

Associate Professor & HOD
Community Medicine
 Infectious disease epidemiology is the fundamental
part of the whole epidemiology
 Epidemiology developed from the study of

epidemics infectious diseases
 For the study of epidemiology of diseases, for the

measurement of morbidity and mortality, there
must be clear-cut definitions
 An infectious disease is an illness caused
by a specific infectious agent or its toxic
products.
 It arises through the direct or indirect

transmission of that agent or its products
from reservoir to a susceptible host.
53.9 million from all causes worldwide
10 Leading Causes of U.S. Deaths: 1900 and 1997
1900 1997
1. Pneumonia 1. Heart Disease

2. Tuberculosis 2. Cancer
3. Diarrhea & Enteritis 3. Stroke
4. Heart Disease 4. Chronic Lung Disease
5. Stroke 5. Unintentional Injury
6. Liver Disease 6. Pneumonia & Influenza
7. Injuries 7. Diabetes
8. Cancer 8. HIV Infection
9. Senility 9. Suicide
10. Diphtheria 10. Chronic Liver Disease
Definitions
 Infection: entry and multiplication or development
of an infectious agent in the body of man or animal
 It will not always cause the disease
 Subclinical infection, latent infection, clinical
manifestation
 Contamination: the presence of an infectious
agent on a body surface, water, milk etc
 Pollution differs from contamination by presence
of offensive but not necessarily infectious matter
DEFINITIONS
 Infestation: lodgment, development and reproduction
of arthropods on the body or clothing
 Articles and premises may also be called infested if
they provide shelter to vectors
 Host: a person or animal in which infectious agent
lodge and multiply under natural condition is called
host
 Obligate host: the only host e.g. man in measles
 Definitive host: hosts in which the organism attains
maturity or passes its sexual stage are called primary
or definitive hosts
 Intermediate host: hosts in which organism passes
larval or asexual stage are called secondary or
intermediate hosts
 Surveillance: the continuous scrutiny of the factors
that determine the occurrence and distribution of
disease and other conditions of ill health
 Systematic ongoing collection, collation, and
analysis of data to detect changes in trend or
distribution for the timely dissemination of
information to those who need to know so as to
initiate investigative and control measures
 Nutritional, epidemiological, demographic surveillance
 Nosocomial infection: hospital acquired infections
are the ones that originate in patients while in
hospital or other health facility
 Opportunistic infection: infections arising in a
patients as a result of defect in a host defense
 Iatrogenic disease: hazard of health care. Any
adverse consequences of a preventive, diagnostic or
curative method that causes impairment, disability or
death resulting from physician’s professional activity
 Communicable disease: an illness due to
specific infectious agent, or its toxic products
capable of being directly or indirectly
transmitted from man to man , animal to man,
or from the environment to man or animal
 May be in different forms i.e. sporadic,

endemic, epidemic or pandemic
Definitions cont..
 Endemic: constant presence of a disease or infection or
expected frequency of the disease with in the given area or
population
 Hypoendemic - little transmission and the disease has little
effect on the population.
 Hyperendemic - intense but seasonal transmission;
immunity is insufficient to prevent the effects of malaria on
all age groups.
 Holoendemic - transmission occurs throughout the year. As
people are continuously exposed to disease, they gradually
develop immunity. Affects mostly the child population
 Epidemic: the unusual occurrence or in excess of
expected occurrence of disease or health related event
in the community or region.
 Pandemic: Epidemic affecting large population or
wide geographic area
 Exotic: Imported
 Sporadic: scattered and cases occur irregularly,
haphazardly from time to time
 Zoonoses: an infection or disease which can be transmitted
from vertebrate animals to man under natural conditions
 Anthropozoonoses: Animals to men
 Zooanthroponoses: men to animals
 Amphixenosis: both ways
 May be
 Epizootic
 Enzootic
 Epornithic
Endemic vs Epidemic
Number of Cases of a Disease
Endemic Epidemic
Time
 Incubation period : entry of agent to development
of first signs and symptoms
 Primary case: the case that brings the infection
into a population
 Index: the first case identified by the
investigator
 Communicable period : the time during which an
infectious agent can be transmitted
 Serial interval: the gap in time between the
primary and secondary case
 Generation time: the interval of time between
receipt of infection by a host and maximal
infectivity of that host
 Secondary Attack Rate: the number of exposed
persons developing the disease within the range of
the incubation period, following the exposure to the
primary case
 Elimination: termination of disease transmission so
that the disease no longer is a public health problem
 Eradication: termination of transmission by
extermination of infectious agent through surveillance
and containment
 Quarantine:
 Isolation:
 Quarantine: the limitation of freedom of
movement of such well persons or domestic
animals exposed to communicable diseases for a
longest incubation period
 Absolute
 Modified
 Isolation: separation of diseased persons and
animals from others for the period of
communicability or until free from infection
 Infectivity : ability of an agent to infect
number infected x 100
number susceptible
 Pathogenicity : ability of an agent to cause disease

number with clinical disease x 100
number infected
 Virulence : ability of an agent to cause death

number of deaths x 100
number with disease
Factors Leading to Emergence of Infectious
Diseases
 Population growth
 Unplanned urbanization
 Poor sanitation
 Speed and ease of travel
 Dam building
 Increased antibiotic use for humans and animals
 Encroachment of human populations on forest habitats
 War and social disruption
 Human-animal contact
Uses of infectious disease epidemiology
 Identification of causes of new, emerging infections,

e.g. HIV, SARS, Ebola
 Surveillance of infectious disease
 Identification of source of outbreaks
 Studies of routes of transmission and natural history
of infections
 Identification of new interventions
 Preventive and control measures
 Planning & evaluation
Some Emerging Infectious Diseases
 SARS
 AIDS
 Monkey pox
 Ebola and Marburg viruses
 Dengue
 Influenza
 Hanta virus
Some re-emerging diseases
 Malaria
 Tuberculosis
 Antibiotic-resistant
– Pneumococci
– Staph-aureus
– Gonococci
– Salmonella
Surgeon General’s Prediction
“Because infectious diseases have been largely
controlled in the United States, we can now close
the book on infectious diseases.”
William Stewart, MD
U.S. Surgeon General, 1967

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INFECTIOUS DISEASE

Dr. Jagdish Chataut

 Epidemiology developed from the study of

 For the study of epidemiology of diseases, for the

 It arises through the direct or indirect

1. Pneumonia 1. Heart Disease

 May be in different forms i.e. sporadic,

Number of Cases of a Disease

 Pathogenicity : ability of an agent to cause disease

 Virulence : ability of an agent to cause death

 Identification of causes of new, emerging infections,

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