Outbreak Investigation
This topic focuses on the practical application of epidemiological skills to investigate actual or hypothetical outbreaks. Participants will learn to analyze case scenarios, understand different study designs, and interpret various data representations to identify the source and cause of an outbreak.
Key Points
- Analyze case scenarios of outbreaks.
- Differentiate between Experimental and Observational studies (e.g., case-control, cohort).
- Identify the Steps in an Outbreak Investigation.
- Use the person, place, and time triad to formulate case definitions.
- Interpret epi curves, line listings, cluster maps, and other data visualizations.
- Understand the agent, host, environment triad and chain of transmission.
- Calculate and compare rates like attack rate and relative risk.
- Apply the Bradford Hill Criteria to verify causality.