Unit 1 Intro to Pathology Set 1 Pathology
- Slides: 8
Unit 1: Intro to Pathology Set #1
Pathology vs. Epidemiology • Epidemiology is the study of the frequency and distribution of disease in order to identify its: – Cause – Source – Route of transmission • Epidemiology is concerned with the rate of disease in a given population.
• Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through the examination of organs, tissues and body fluids. • Main way to study: – Autopsy
Epidemic vs. pandemic • A disease that is native to a local region is called an endemic disease. – Ex: • An epidemic is the occurrence of a disease in larger numbers than would be expected in a given population.
• Ex: An outbreak of influenza that affects thousands of people in a month in a nation and a half dozen cases of a rare form of liver cancer affecting industrial workers in a chemical plant over a period of several years.
• A pandemic is an epidemic of world-wide proportions. • Ex: The influenza pandemic of 1918 -1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I, at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people.
Reservoirs of infection • Human Reservoirs: Infected people and people who are carriers of the infection. • Nonhuman Reservoirs: Diseases such as plague and rabies that can be transmitted to humans but exist primarily in other animals.
• Environmental reservoirs are impossible to eliminate.
