Public Health Ch 4, Ch 5, and Ch 6

John Snow

father of epidemiology

Epidemic

increase in the frequency of a disease above the usual and expected rate

Notifiable Diseases

infectious diseases for which health officials request or require reporting for public health reasons and can be prevented with proper actions

Incidence

rate of new cases of a disease in a defined population over a defined period of time.

Cohort studies

start out by measuring exposure and watching for the development of disease

Case-control studies

start with people who are already ill and look back to determine their exposure

Epidemiology

studies the patterns of disease occurrence in human populations and the factors that influence these patterns. the study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human populations.

Prevalence

total number of cases existing in a defined population at a specific time.

Placebo

an inactive substance similar in appearance to the drug or vaccine being tested.

Double-blind

both the patient and the doctor are blind as to whether the patient is receiving a drug or a placebo in a clinical trial

Randomized

each subject is assigned to the treatment group or the control group at random

Cofounding Variables

factors that are associated with the exposure and that may independently affect the risk of developing the disease.