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Difference between outbreak, endemic, epidemic and pandemic. In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire continent.
The classic example is the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak, in which a cholera outbreak was mitigated by removing a supply of contaminated water - an event now regarded as the foundation of the science of epidemiology. [29] Urbanisation and overcrowding (e.g. in refugee camps) increase the likelihood of disease outbreaks.
Widespread non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer are not included. An epidemic is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time; in meningococcal infections , an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered ...
Outbreak response or outbreak control measures are acts which attempt to minimize the spread of or effects of a disease outbreak.Outbreak response includes aspects of general disease control such as maintaining adequate hygiene, but may also include responses that extend beyond traditional healthcare settings and are unique to an outbreak, such as physical distancing, contact tracing, mapping ...
An epidemic curve, also known as an epi curve or epidemiological curve, is a statistical chart used in epidemiology to visualise the onset of a disease outbreak. It can help with the identification of the mode of transmission of the disease. It can also show the disease's magnitude, whether cases are clustered or if there are individual case ...
A 2022 statement from the World Health Organization (WHO), defines the term this way: “Disease X is [used] to indicate an unknown pathogen that could cause a serious international epidemic.”
A medical dictionary definition of pandemic is "an epidemic occurring on a scale that crosses international boundaries, usually affecting people on a worldwide scale". [15] A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious.
Applied field epidemiology can include investigating communicable and non-communicable disease outbreaks, mortality and morbidity rates, and nutritional status, among other indicators of health, with the purpose of communicating the results to those who can implement appropriate policies or disease control measures.