- About
- Reading 1 Module Introduction
- Reading 2 Patient Zero
- Reading 3 John Snow
- Activity 1 Causative Agent
- Activity 1 Discussion
- Activity 2 Tracking the Spread
- Activity 2 Resources
- Assessments
Reading 1
Introduction to Seeking the Cause
Have students read the introduction to the module. The purpose of this reading is to introduce students to the science of epidemiology and inform them that they will be learning about the three major ideas in epidemiology – identifying the first cases of an infectious disease, determining the causative agent, and tracking how it spread.
Module Introduction
When an outbreak of a disease occurs anywhere in the world, it is critical to identify the cause of the outbreak and the factors involved in its spread as quickly as possible in order to try to halt its spread. Is the disease infectious or noninfectious? If infectious, what is the agent of infection? Is the causative agent found in food or water? Is it airborne? Does infection require direct contact? Is it highly contagious or difficult to catch? To answer these questions, researchers use methods and tools of epidemiology. Epidemiology is the science of determining the cause of a disease and how it spreads by looking at patterns of the occurrence and distribution of the disease in question. The ultimate goal of epidemiologists is to figure out ways of stopping an outbreak or epidemic and designing ways to prevent them from happening again.
The work of epidemiologists (or disease detectives as they are sometimes called) involves collecting a lot of data and looking for patterns in the data. They need to learn who is sick, what they are sick with (a diagnosis), when and where they got sick, where they live, where they work and what they do at work, with whom they had direct contact, where and when they traveled, what they ate and drank, what hobbies, habits, or traditions they might practice and so forth. From this data they are seeking to determine the source of the outbreak, the causative agent, and how the disease spreads through a population.
Not all epidemics are caused by infectious agents. In addition to epidemics of Ebola and measles, epidemiologists have recently been investigating epidemics of obesity, asthma, and certain cancers. In this module you will learn about tracking the causes and spread of infectious diseases.
When an outbreak of a disease occurs anywhere in the world, it is critical to identify the cause of the outbreak and the factors involved in its spread as quickly as possible in order to try to halt its spread. Is the disease infectious or noninfectious? If infectious, what is the agent of infection? Is the causative agent found in food or water? Is it airborne? Does infection require direct contact? Is it highly contagious or difficult to catch? To answer these questions, researchers use methods and tools of epidemiology. Epidemiology is the science of determining the cause of a disease and how it spreads by looking at patterns of the occurrence and distribution of the disease in question. The ultimate goal of epidemiologists is to figure out ways of stopping an outbreak or epidemic and designing ways to prevent them from happening again.
The work of epidemiologists (or disease detectives as they are sometimes called) involves collecting a lot of data and looking for patterns in the data. They need to learn who is sick, what they are sick with (a diagnosis), when and where they got sick, where they live, where they work and what they do at work, with whom they had direct contact, where and when they traveled, what they ate and drank, what hobbies, habits, or traditions they might practice and so forth. From this data they are seeking to determine the source of the outbreak, the causative agent, and how the disease spreads through a population.
Not all epidemics are caused by infectious agents. In addition to epidemics of Ebola and measles, epidemiologists have recently been investigating epidemics of obesity, asthma, and certain cancers. In this module you will learn about tracking the causes and spread of infectious diseases.