3.4 - Lesson 3 Summary

Lesson 3 Summary Section

Lesson 3 was a big lesson!  It introduced the main calculations for disease occurrence and frequency including counts, proportions, ratios, rates, and risks. An important component of epidemiologic measures is the concept of time, which is incorporated into rates and risks.  The two main measures of disease frequency are incidence (new cases) and prevalence (new + old cases) which both are important for understanding the landscape of public health issues.  Finally, we learned about outbreak investigations which are needed when a new public health concern arises - again, focusing on the who, when, and where to best understand the issue.