Epidemiology of Influenza in Scotland

Epidemiology of Influenza in Scotland

Introduction

Epidemiology is a subject of medical discipline that discusses about the large-scale occurrence of contagious diseases. This subject reflects the historical context of its understanding at England in the 19th century. It was during the time when cholera made its outbreak as an infectious disease and needs identification for its cure. Angelerio, a Spanish physician recognized this subject in 1802 with his first dissertation publication. The study was called'Epidemiologia' in his book entitled 'Epidemiologica Espanola' (Spanish epidemiology). It compiles literature on epidemics and outbreaks over thirteen centuries (Collins-Dogrul, 1998). The essay discusses the provisions and challenges for epidemiologists to fight against Influenza in Scotland. It also states its commonalties with the outbreak of Pandemic virus in 2009.

Discussion

Epidemiological determinants

The objective for studying epidemiology is to develop fundamental factors and determinants for health issues for the safeguard and quality health of population. This subject area needs analytical and descriptive analysis on findings and cause of causalities occur. Department of Global Health defines epidemiology as study of determinants and distributions of ailment in the given population. Its purpose is to manage health problems such as cholera, influenza and many epidemic diseases. Identification of alternative causes of disease and evaluation of control effects are other functions of this discipline. This discipline is alienated into the area of alternative and descriptive epidemiology. Descriptive study assesses and categorizes all necessary conditions of affected person. Analytical epidemiologist gauges this descriptive analysis to evaluate trends and patterns. The measurable determinants of epidemiology are population, places and time frequency of disease. This approach is necessary to study the epidemiological effect of influenza in Scotland.

It is evident that epidemiologists critically analyses the time, place and population for any health variable for descriptive analysis. Certain shared characteristics such as demographic, social and genetically induced factors define population. Besides this, the location of residence, work and community may also affect the study. The members of population may not change or migrate over time (closed) or they may change due to migration, birth or death rates. The environmental factors such as sunlight, temperature, humidity and altitude can make the difference. Time can be used as descriptive statistics to examine long-term and short-term variation. The prevalence and incidence of Influenza in the Scotland are other necessary factors to analyze the findings (Koepsell & Weiss, 2003). It helps to identify how common and how rapidly people develop influenza over the time.

Recent trends in reporting Influenza

The Public Health Act of 2008 in Scotland identifies the trends in reporting the outburst of this epidemic disease. Epidemiologists, health professionals and government placed certain guidelines for the safeguard of health provisions of the community. The International Health Regulations assist the officials of Scotland to meet obligations through the assistance of public health boards. These notifications were necessary to aware the public for their health provisions. It requires an urgent and responsible response from the community for the diagnosis and vaccination of Influenza ...