Utility of Epidemic Curve in Public Health: An Epidemiologist Perspective

Authors

  • Saurabh R Shrivastava Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College & Research Institute, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Prateek S Shrivastava Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College & Research Institute, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Jegadeesh Ramasamy Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College & Research Institute, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India

Keywords:

Epidemic curve, Epidemiologist, Outbreak, Public health

Abstract

Globally, the primary concern of the epidemiologist in the public health arena is to assess the disease occurrence in a specified population, who has been exposed to a wide range of potential determinants, some of which may cast a significant role in the causation of a disease. An epidemic curve is a plot to depict the occurrence of a disease or other health-associated incident in a defined population over a specific time interval. In infectious disease epidemiology, the epidemic curve has been extensively employed to estimate the magnitude and duration of an epidemic; in ascertaining the source of the infection; probable modes of transmission or exposure; and the incubation period of the disease. To conclude, the tool of the epidemic curve, by virtue of its attributed characteristics, can assist the epidemiologist in timely implementation of the containment measures and thus reduction in the magnitude of the disease.

References

1. Park K. Principles of epidemiology and epidemiologic methods. In: Park K, editor. Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine. 20th ed. Jabalpur: Banarsidas Bhanot Pub-lishers; 2009. p. 59-62.

2. Jiang X, Wallstrom G, Cooper GF, Wagner MM. Bayesian prediction of an epidemic curve. J Biomed Inform. 2009; 42(1): 90-9.

3. Nsoesie EO, Beckman R, Marathe M, Lewis B. Prediction of an epidemic curve: A supervised classification ap-proach. Stat Commun Infect Dis. 2011; 3(1): 5.

4. Okada M, Kawano K, Kura F, Amemura-Maekawa J, Watanabe H, Yagita K, et al. The largest outbreak of le-gionellosis in Japan associated with spa baths: epidemic curve and environmental investigation. Kansenshogaku Zasshi. 2005; 79(6): 365-74.

5. Nishiura H. Real-time forecasting of an epidemic using a discrete time stochastic model: a case study of pandemic influenza (H1N1-2009). Biomed Eng Online. 2011; 10: 15.

Downloads

Published

2014-07-01

How to Cite

Shrivastava, S. R., Shrivastava, P. S., & Ramasamy, J. (2014). Utility of Epidemic Curve in Public Health: An Epidemiologist Perspective. International Journal of Medical Research, 2(03), 61–62. Retrieved from https://ijmrinternational.in/index.php/ijmr/article/view/45

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 03 (2014)

Section

Technical Note

License

The authors retain the copyright of their article, with first publication rights granted to Medsci Publications.