Principles of Communicable Diseases Epidemiology

Principles of Communicable
Diseases Epidemiology
Lecture-1- 4th stage
Dept. of Family & Community medicine
By Dr. Muslim Nahi Saeed \Ph. D Family medicine
Monday December 14th ,2020
-Definition of Epidemiology: is the study of the distribution and determinants
of health-related states and events in populations, and the application of this
study to control health problems.
-What is infectious disease epidemiology?
-Epidemiology: - Deals with one population. Identifies causes.
-Infectious disease epidemiology with 2 or more populations.
1) Humans
2) Infectious agents: Helminths, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses.
3) Vectors: - Mosquito (protozoa-malaria), snails (helminths-schistosomiasis)
- Blackfly (microfilaria-onchocerciasis).
4) Animals: - Dogs and sheep/goats: Echinococcus
- Mice and ticks: Borrelia
-A case is a risk factor: Infection in one person can be transmitted to others.
Routes of transmission
1. Direct:
- Skin-skin (Herpes type 1)
- Mucous-mucous (STI)
- Across placenta (toxoplasmosis)
- Through breast milk (HIV)
- Sneeze-cough (Influenza)
2. Indirect:
- Food-borne (Salmonella)
- Water-borne (Hepatitis A)
- Vector-borne (Malaria)
- Air-borne (Chickenpox)
**Exposure: A relevant contact: depends on the agent - Skin, sexual intercourse, water
Reservoir
Any person ,animal ,arthropod ,plant, soil ,or substance (or combination of these) in which
an infectious agent normally lives & multiplies ,on which it depends primarily for survival, &
. where it reproduces itself in such manner that it can be transmitted to a susceptible host
Reservoir is of three types-
Human reservoir (cases, carriers)
Animal reservoir
.Reservoir in non-living things
Carrier
A person or animal that harbors a specific infectious agent without clinical disease & serves
.as a potential source of infection
As a rule carriers are less infectious than cases but more dangerous ,because they remain-
.hidden and readily infect susceptible individual
Vector of infection
An insect or any living carrier that transports an infectious agent from an infected
individual or its wastes to a susceptible individual or its food or immediate
surroundings. Both biological and mechanical transmissions are encountered.
Incidence of an infectious disease:

number of new cases in a given time period expressed as percent infected per year
(cumulative incidence) or number per person time of observation (incidence density).
Prevalence of an infectious disease:

number of cases at a given time expressed as a percent at a given time. Prevalence is
a product of incidence x duration of disease, and is of little interest if an infectious
disease is of short duration (i.e. measles), but may be of interest if an infect. disease
is of long duration (i.e. chronic hepatitis B).
Opportunistic infection
This is infection by organisms that take the opportunity provided by a defect in host
defense (e.g. immunity) to infect the host and thus cause disease. For example,
opportunistic infections are very common in AIDS. Organisms include Herpes simplex,
cytomegalovirus, M. tuberculosis….
Reproductive rate of infection:
Potential for an infectious disease to spread.
Influential factors include:
*the probability of transmission between an infected and a susceptible individual;
* frequency of population contact;
*duration of infection;
* virulence of the organism
* population immune proportion .
Eradication and Elimination
Termination of all transmission of infection by the extermination ‫ ابادة‬of the
infectious agent through surveillance and containment. Eradication is an absolute
process, an “all or none” phenomenon, restricted to termination of infection from
the whole world. The term elimination is sometimes used to describe eradication
of a disease from a large geographic region. Disease which are amenable to
elimination in the meantime are polio, measles and diphtheria.
Surveillance
means to watch over with great attention, authority & often with suspicion.
According to another, surveillance is defined as "the continuous scrutiny
(inspection) of the factors that determine the occurrence and distribution of
disease and other conditions of ill-health"
Immunity:
Protection against a disease. There are two types of immunity, passive and active.
Immunity is indicated by the presence of antibodies in the blood and can usually be
determined with a laboratory test.
Community Immunity ("Herd Immunity")

Vaccines can prevent outbreaks of disease and save lives. When a critical portion of
a community is immunized against a contagious disease, most members of the
community are protected against that disease because there is little opportunity
for an outbreak.
Even those who are not eligible for certain vaccines—such as infants, pregnant
women, or immunocompromised individuals—get some protection because the
spread of contagious disease is contained. "

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Principles of Communicable

Incidence of an infectious disease:

Prevalence of an infectious disease:

Community Immunity ("Herd Immunity")

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