Epidemiology

BAC2006 high incidence1990 high incidence2012 high incidence A2006 high incidence B1990 high incidence C2012 high incidence

BAC2006 high incidence1990 high incidence2012 high incidence A2006 high incidence B1990 high incidence C2012 high incidence

What is the function of the CDC and the WHO?

Both of these agencies are capable of tracking incidences of diseases within large populations.

If an avian influenza virus evolves and spreads easily from person to person, the concern is that the virus may spread across continents as

a pandemic.

An epidemiologist explaining the pattern of an infectious disease by collecting data relating an outbreak to person, place, and time is using ________.

descriptive epidemiology

The low level of disease noted in this figure by an asterisk illustrates a(n)

endemic disease.

In the case of an outbreak of a disease such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), why is it so important to identify the index patient instead of just treating the patients who have already become infected?

to track the spread of the disease to isolate and treat other patients who might be carriers to determine the exact location where the infection occurred

Which of the following is NOT considered a standard (routine) infection control measure?

using gowns and masks to interact with all patients

This diagram shows the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) through a population. The circles represent SARS patients within the population. Which of the following statements correctly matches a patient with his or her role in this outbreak?

Patient 35 is a "superspreader."

Why are pandemics more likely now than they were 100 years ago?

Technology has made it possible for people to travel around the globe more rapidly.

An epidemiologist studying diphtheria in Eastern Europe gathers information about the total number of active cases in a given area and the number of new cases in that area over a given time. If an epidemic occurs, which of the following would the epidemiologist notice?

The prevalence and incidence would both increase.

An endemic disease will exhibit

a low prevalence and incidence.

An 11-year-old girl undergoing a routine surgery at a local hospital develops a surgical-wound infection. Even with aggressive treatment, the girl dies. The infection she developed is best known as

a nosocomical infection.

Which of the following describes the first stage of surveillance?

An infection control practitioner reviews a patient's chart to check the signs and symptoms.

Which of the following questions is considered important in identifying the source of a nosocomial infection?

Is each patient infected with an identical isolate of the pathogenic organism?

When a new emerging disease is reported to the CDC or the WHO, epidemiologists rush to determine the index case. Why is identification of the index case important?

Knowing the index case is useful in containing the spread of an epidemic.

These three graphs show the incidence of three vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States. Which of the following statements is true?

Measles and mumps have shown a general decline over time, while pertussis has recently increased.

The lines on this image show human mobility routes. What is the significance of these routes in terms of human diseases?

Mobility has increased the incidence of pandemics.

When humans live in close contact with wild and domestic animals, which of the following is likely to occur?

New diseases may erupt as bacteria and viruses in the animals evolve the ability to infect humans.

The links in the chain of infection from left to right in this figure are

organism, reservoir, transmission, susceptible host.

During a cholera outbreak in London in 1854, John Snow created this map. The thick black lines represent cholera deaths. The circle near the middle represents the location of a well that Snow suspected was involved in the outbreak. This map would be considered

part of an observational study.