Incidence and Prevalence, Research Paper Example

Nowadays, medical care is not only aimed at finding a cure or to extend the ability of individuals to survive, but also focuses on improving all aspects of maintaining a quality life. Epidemiological information such as the incidence and prevalence rate can be utilized in order to plan and evaluate approaches and policies in the prevention of the disease. It may also be used as a guide for management of the disease. The incidence and prevalence rate are often the standard descriptors of a disease’s frequency or how common it is within a given community. Although incidence and prevalence are closely related, they differ in the disease aspect that they measure.

Incidence in epidemiology is used to describe the new cases of a disease in a given period (Last, 2001). The incidence rate is particularly useful in gaining insight on how common a disease occurs in a given period of time, thus estimating the risk of getting the disease. Meanwhile, prevalence measures the percentage of a given population afflicted with the disease at a given time (Rothman, 2012). Although the term “prevalence rate” is widely used, it is best to keep in mind that prevalence does not refer to the rate itself, and pertains to proportion instead.

To differentiate between the two, this can be more appreciated when applying these to an outbreak of food poisoning. One of the most common causes of food poisoning is from a type of bacteria called Salmonella. In 2009, the CDC received over 40,000 reports of Salmonella, equating to 13.6 cases for every 100,000 people (CDC, 2009). This data refers to the Incidence rate as it pertains to the number of new cases in a given year. However, to look at the prevalence rate, an extensive look on Salmonella infection is required. Aspects of Salmonella infection that can be looked into to determine prevalence include: hospitalization stays caused by the disease, death resulting from infection, and origins of contaminated food. In fact, one study on the prevalence of Salmonella, found out that 87% of Salmonella cases were food-borne, of which 10% is caused by person-to-person infection.

References

CDC, Salmonella Annual Summary Tables 2009, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dfwed/PDFs/SalmonellaAnnualSummaryTables2009.pdf

Last, John M., ed. A Dictionary of Epidemiology (4 ed.). 2001, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Rothman, K. Epidemiology: An Introduction, 2012, Oxford University Press. p. 53.