Epidemiology

human who harbors a pathogen and can transmit diseases to others without any sign or symptom of the diseases

disease where the pathogen is transmitted from a source through direct or indirect contact to a susceptible host resulting in infection

disease that easily and rapidly spreads from a source to a susceptible host through direct or indirect contact

spread of microbes through droplet nuclei in air

disease outbreak that occurs as a larger-than-expected number of cases occurring over a short time in a geographic region

science that investigates the cause, transmission, timing, and distribution of infectious disease episodes, with a focus on recognizing outbreaks, controlling those outbreaks, and treating the infected

study of the disease causes

inanimate surface or object that carries pathogenic microbes

situation in which a sufficient number of individuals in a population are immune to a contagious disease so that the disease spread is severely limited

disease having high prevalence in early childhood and infecting most of a population’s children, resulting in a total population in which children more often show evidence of the disease than adults

spread of pathogens between members of the same species not in a parent-offspring relationship

disease that is present at a high and constant frequency in a population and equally affects all groups within that population

number of new disease cases recorded during a certain period of time

disease resulting from infection

characteristic of a disease that refers to how many pathogen particles are needed to infect a particular host

frequency of a disease in a certain population

frequency of deaths in a population

health care–acquired infection

disease outbreak affecting a large percentage of the world’s population over a vast (even worldwide) geographic region or regions

area of the body through which a pathogen can enter

area of the body through which a pathogen can be transmitted to others or to the environment

total number of cases within a population during a certain period of time

person, animal, plant, soil, or substance that harbors an infectious agent

disease that occurs only occasionally or in scattered incidents

an organism that serves as a carrier of a pathogen between hosts with the pathogen having minimal effect on the fitness of the carrier

object from which pathogens can be indirectly transferred to a person via touch or ingestion

spread of pathogens from mother to offspring before or during birth

infectious disease spread via animal reservoirs, which can be both wild and domestic animals