Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Public Health Practice

Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Public Health Practice is a readable, lively introduction to the topic. Devoted specifically to the methods required to study infectious disease, this book is an ideal introduction that provides students with the requisite skills to conduct, evaluate, and understand the field of infectious disease epidemiology. The book is organized in two sections, Foundations, and Diseases and Agents. Foundations covers history of the practice, study designs and surveillance, microbiology concepts; immunologic concepts, computer-based tools; vaccines, and nosocomial (hospital-based) infections.

Part two, Diseases and Agents, is organized around key categories of infectious diseases, including: airborne, diarrheal, transmitted via blood and bodily fluid; vector-borne; and helminthic.

Each chapter interweaves historical case studies as they relate to each specific topic. These vignettes will help to illuminate the present (i.e., 21st century) practice of infectious disease epidemiology. Each chapter will begin with an overview of the key concepts that will follow. Each chapter will end with approximately a dozen study questions to assist students with their appreciation of the material. Each chapter will also include a selected bibliography to provide sources for further reading. Chapters, as appropriate, will include mathematical problems for hand-calculation as well as resources for infectious disease epidemiology computer-applications. The text will include a range of appropriate teaching aids, e.g., teachers' manual, students' study guide (with solutions to selected mathematical problems in the text), and guided exercises.

Part One: Foundations

1: Infectious Disease in Historical Perspective



Early Concepts in Infectious Diseases and Epidemic Diseases
Germ Theory and Disease Investigation in the 19th Century (John Snow/Cholera, Hinle-Coch Postulates)
Beginning of Basic Public Health Measures (Sanitation, Vaccines, Antibiotics)
Post-WW II Epidemiologic Transition (shift from mortality due to infection to chronic/behavioral)
Emerging Diseases in Developing Countries

2: Study Designs and Surveillance



Review of Study Designs (case studies, ecological studies, case control studies, cohort studies, experimental studies)
Disease Surveillance Methods (sources of data)

3: Microbiology of Infectious Disease



Microbiological tools for infectious disease epidemiology
Basic laboratory techniques (microscopic, DNA/RNA)

4: Immunologic Concepts: Host-Pathogen Interactions



Different types of host-immune response
Antigens
Antibodies
Immunosuppression (role in infectious disease)

5: Computer-Based Tools



Mathematical modeling of infectious disease outbreaks
Geographic information systems

6: Vaccine Intervention



Development of vaccines for primary prevention of disease (diphtheria, typhoid, polio, measles, mumps)
Future/Emerging vaccines (malaria, rotovirus)

7: Nosocomial Infections



Community-based infections (eg, physician's office)
Institutionally-based infections (eg, hospital)
Antibiotic resistance

Part Two: Diseases and Agents

8: Airborne Infectious Disease

Influenza



Epidemiologic and demographic Historical significance of influenza pandemics
Typical aetiologies
Influenza epidemiology and the significance of antigenic shift/drift
Influenza: Patterns of mortality and morbidity

Acute Respiratory Infections



Typical aetiologies
Host Risk factors

Measles



Historical perspectives prior to introduction of vaccines
Rationale of vaccine use for measles
Emerging concerns about vaccine-associated sequelae

9: Diarrheal and Gastrointestinal Disease

Viral Etiology



Rotavirus, etc
Emerging Rotaviral vaccines

Bacterial Etiology



E. coli
Vibrio cholerae
Other bacterial pathogens

Parasitic Etiology



Entamoeba histolytica
Necator americanus
Giardia lambliae

10: Disease Transmitted via Blood and Bodily Fluids

HIV and AIDS



AIDS in historical perspective
Immune reponse to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Opportunistic Infections associated with AIDS

Viral Hepatitis

Non-HIV STDs

11: Vector-Borne Disease



Mosquito-Borne (e.g., malaria, Yellow Fever, West Nile etc.)
Tick-Borne (e.g., RMSF, Lyme Disease, etc.)
Other Arthropod Vectors

12: Helminthic Disease



Hookworm
Disease
Schistosomiasis
Other Geohelminthes