Epidemiology of communicable diseases

Epidemiology and biostatistics are powerful tools at the hand of public health specialists and clinicians. With epidemiological and statistical principles and methods one can measure health and disease status, assess the burden of diseases in an area, prioritize for control, and assess the effectiveness of interventions.

This course covers basic principles and methods of epidemiology and biostatistics and their use in assessing causation, burden of disease, and sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests. It also introduces participants to the different study designs.

1. Use epidemiological and statistical methods to assess the burden of diseases
2. Apply the epidemiological approach to disease causation and evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of health care
3. Describe the common causes of death, disease, and disability in an area or community
4. Effectively manage, analyze, report, and present collected data
5. Identify the strengths and limitations of epidemiological study designs