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Components of Epidemiology

This document discusses components of epidemiology and surveillance. It begins by explaining qualitative and quantitative investigations in epidemiology, with qualitative including studying the natural history of disease and testing causal hypotheses, and quantitative involving measurement and numerical analysis. It then focuses on surveillance, defining it as the ongoing collection and analysis of health information in an animal population to allow for timely control measures. The objectives, types (including disease, epidemiological, sentinel, and serological), and approaches (passive vs. active vs. targeted vs. scanning) of surveillance are then outlined.

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164 views

Components of Epidemiology

This document discusses components of epidemiology and surveillance. It begins by explaining qualitative and quantitative investigations in epidemiology, with qualitative including studying the natural history of disease and testing causal hypotheses, and quantitative involving measurement and numerical analysis. It then focuses on surveillance, defining it as the ongoing collection and analysis of health information in an animal population to allow for timely control measures. The objectives, types (including disease, epidemiological, sentinel, and serological), and approaches (passive vs. active vs. targeted vs. scanning) of surveillance are then outlined.

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GAURAV KUMAR
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Lecture 10

UNIT-2 (VETERINARY EPIDEMIOLOGY)


(Credit Hours 3+1=4)

Components of Epidemiology and


Surveillance
Dr. Anjay
Assistant Professor
Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology
Bihar Veterinary College
Bihar Animal Sciences University
Patna
Components of Epidemiology
The first stage in any investigation is the collection of relevant data.

Investigations can be either qualitative or quantitative or a combination of these two


approaches.

Qualitative investigations: The natural history of disease, Causal hypothesis testing.

Quantitative investigations: involve measurement (e.g., the number of cases of disease),


and therefore expression and analysis of numerical values.
 It include surveys, monitoring and surveillance, studies, modelling, and the
biological and economic evaluation of disease control.
Qualitative investigations
The natural history of disease:
The ecology of diseases, including the distribution, mode of transmission and
maintenance of infectious diseases, is investigated by field observation.

Causal hypothesis testing:


If field observations suggest that certain factors may be causally associated with a
disease, then the association must be assessed by formulating a causal hypothesis.
Causality (causation) deals with the relationship between cause and effect.
The scientist is primarily concerned with identification of causes to explain natural
phenomena.
A hypothesis is a theory that is not well tested.
Quantitative investigations
Surveillance
Surveillance was originally applied to individuals; primarily to contacts of serious
communicable diseases (e.g. pneumonic plague), who were closely watched for the
development of the first signs of illness.

Monitoring is “the making of routine observations on health, productivity and


environmental factors and the recording and transmission of these observations.”

Surveillance is the on-going systematic collection and collation of useful information


about disease, infection, intoxication or welfare in a defined animal population, closely
integrated with timely analysis and interpretation of this information, and dissemination
of relevant results to those requiring them, including those responsible for control
measures.
Surveillance is a more intensive form of data recording than monitoring,
and has three distinct elements:
1. Gathering, recording and analysis of data;
2. Dissemination of information to interested parties, so that:
3. Action can be taken to control disease
Objective of surveillance
Rapid detection of disease outbreaks;

Early identification of disease problems (endemic and non-endemic);

Definition of priorities for disease control and prevention;

Identification of new and emerging diseases;

Evaluation of disease control programmes;

Provision of information to plan and conduct research;

Confirmation of absence of a specific disease.


Types of surveillance

Disease surveillance:
Addresses the aspects of occurrence & spread of disease pertinent to disease control.

Example: during outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, sources of infection must be traced,


isolated and removed.

It is more focused than surveillance in general which, for instance, may include recording of
the distribution of agents and vectors, and serological 'imprints' of past infection.

Epidemiological surveillance:
The continuous investigation of a given population to detect the occurrence of disease for
control purposes, which may involve testing of part of a population.
Sentinel surveillance:

Surveillance can include the entire national herd (testing for bovine tuberculosis).

Alternatively, a few farms, abattoirs, veterinary practices or laboratories may be


selected; these are then referred to as 'sentinel' units, because they are designed to 'keep
watch' on a disease.

Serological surveillance (serosurveillance):

It is the identification of patterns of current and past infection using serological tests.
Passive and active surveillance:

Passive surveillance has been defined as the examination of only clinically affected cases
of specified diseases or

It is described as the continuous monitoring of the existing disease status of the
populations that are surveyed, using routinely collected data to produce outputs that can
feed into policy decisions.

Examples include reports of laboratory diagnoses, routine meat inspection findings and
statutory notification of disease.

It is therefore essentially monitoring with the intention of acting on its findings.
The active surveillance, which involves the sampling of clinically normal animals in the
population, therefore being important in the surveillance of diseases in which subclinical
cases and carriers predominate.

Active surveillance, involves the committed effort of veterinary authorities to collect


information, commonly by undertaking surveys of specific diseases.
Targeted surveillance

It collects specific information about a defined disease so that its level in a defined
population can be measured and its absence monitored.

Scanning (global) surveillance

It maintains a continuous watch over endemic disease.

If scanning surveillance identifies an unusually high frequency of similar, undiagnosed


cases (e.g., of respiratory disease), it may trigger a more detailed investigation to explore
the likelihood of a new disease occurring; this is syndromic surveillance.
THANKS
FOR
KIND ATTENTION

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