Epidemiology and public health science
Epidemiology studies the distribution and determinants of health and disease in populations. It provides the evidence used to detect outbreaks, estimate burden and evaluate interventions. Health Nexus stewards this page for the Nexus Consortium.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
- 02Service levelR0: information and enquiries
- 03In briefThe short answer
- 04The methodWhat epidemiology and public health science covers
- 05Reference practiceEpidemiological practice is governed by reporting standards and international health law
- 06In systemic risk workTransmission meets supply chains and behaviour
- 07Applied inPlatforms that apply this method
GCRI · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Epidemiology studies the distribution and determinants of health and disease in populations. Epidemiological evidence informs preparedness, resource allocation and the economic consequences of disease. In the Nexus Consortium, Health Nexus stewards its canonical page, and 2 other platforms apply it, including Biotechnology and Biosecurity as well as Health and Biosecurity Governance.
Access to care in the Philippines.
How far each division sits from a large city, with the roads and airports that carry patients and supplies, shown for the Philippines as an example geography for this subject.
What epidemiology and public health science covers.
- 01
Core methods
cohort and case-control studies; disease surveillance; transmission modelling; outbreak investigation; burden of disease estimation; spatial epidemiology.
- 02
Data and instruments
notifiable disease reporting systems; hospital and laboratory records; household and health surveys; vital registration; genomic surveillance.
- 03
Validation
Findings are checked through replication, sensitivity analyses and comparison of independent surveillance streams. Transmission models are assessed by out-of-sample forecasting of case counts.
- 04
Limits
Reporting delays, under-ascertainment and confounding bias estimates. Behaviour change during outbreaks alters the parameters models rely on.
- 05
Use in risk decisions
Epidemiological evidence informs preparedness, resource allocation and the economic consequences of disease. It shows how health shocks interact with travel, labour, supply chains and public finance.
Epidemiological practice is governed by reporting standards and international health law.
| Reference | What it sets |
|---|---|
| International Health Regulations (2005) | Surveillance and notification duties of states |
| EQUATOR guidelines (STROBE, CONSORT) | Reporting standards for observational studies and trials |
| GRADE | Rating certainty of evidence for recommendations |
| WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System | Laboratory network for influenza surveillance |
Transmission meets supply chains and behaviour.
Epidemic models are among the most visible models in public decisions, and their outputs are used far outside epidemiology: school closures, supply-chain planning, economic support. Systemic use needs explicit links to behaviour, health-system capacity and economic activity, each of which feeds back on transmission.
- State whether reproduction numbers are estimated or assumed, and for which period.
- Separate reporting delays and testing changes from real changes in incidence.
- Represent health-system capacity as a constraint, not an output.
- Applications on Health Nexus.
Platforms that apply this method.
Who maintains this page.
Health Nexus stewards epidemiology and public health science: it keeps this description current and reviews how the method is applied across the platforms.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Public health surveillance | The continuous, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health data to plan and evaluate public health action. |
| Reporting delay | The time between disease onset or diagnosis and its appearance in surveillance data. |
| Sentinel surveillance | Surveillance through selected sites that report in detail, used to track trends rather than count every case. |
| Reproduction number | The average number of secondary infections caused by one infected person in a given population. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Where this page leads across the Consortium.
- Applied inGCRIEpidemiology for health securityApplied in Health Nexus.
- Applied inGCRIEpidemiology and public health science for biotechnology and biosecurityApplied in Biotechnology and Biosecurity.
- Applied inGRFEpidemiology and public health science at Health and Biosecurity GovernanceApplied in Health and Biosecurity Governance.
Questions and answers.
Why does one institution host every method page?
How do I suggest a correction to a method page?
Around GCRI.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.