Outbreak (epidemiology)
In epidemiology, outbreaks are understood to mean the occurrence of new cases of infection or disease ( incidences ) in a population, with more incidences being observed in relation to time, population and location than was to be expected.
The demarcation to the epidemic is fluid, but generally speaking of an epidemic only in the case of larger outbreaks.
The outbreak can be localized or scattered, but a common cause should exist or at least be suspected as likely. The Robert Koch Institute speaks of an outbreak when "several cases that are uniform according to diagnostic criteria and are epidemiologically related" are present. Sometimes rare and particularly dangerous diseases are referred to as an outbreak in just one or a few cases. In order to check whether there is actually an outbreak, the diagnosis of the suspected cases must be established and their number compared with the number of cases that are usually expected. As long as no common cause can be found in an accumulation of incidences, the term cluster is used for the time being . If there is a causal connection between frequently occurring and reliably diagnosed incidences, an outbreak of an epidemic can be assumed.
A further increase in the event of a global outbreak or epidemic is the pandemic . In the case of particularly large outbreaks that spread widely or have the potential to do so, one also speaks of superspreading events.
A secondary outbreak is another outbreak related to an already known outbreak and a satellite outbreak is a minor outbreak related to a previous major outbreak.
The branch of epidemiology that deals with outbreaks is known as outbreak epidemiology .
Outbreak types
In general, one differentiates between the following types of outbreak
- Secondary outbursts
- Satellite outbursts
- Pseudo outbursts
A secondary outbreak is an additional outbreak around a known outbreak that is related to the latter (e.g., related outbreaks in a family or in a community facility). In contrast, a satellite outbreak is a small outbreak that is causally related to a large outbreak that is spatially distant. If there is only a temporal coincidence of infections for which there is no epidemiological connection, then one speaks of a pseudo outbreak.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b A. Krämer, R. Reintjes, Infektionsepidemiologie , Springer 2003, p. 42
- ↑ a b c d e f g Wolfgang Kiehl: Infection protection and infection epidemiology. Technical terms - definitions - interpretations. Ed .: Robert Koch Institute, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-89606-258-1 , p. 16, keyword outbreak
- ↑ Alexander Krämer and Ralf Reintjes: Infection epidemiology: methods, modern surveillance, mathematical models, global public health. Springer-Verlag, 2013, p. 73.