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Public Health & Epidemiology vocabulary · Surveillance and Reporting

Case

Meaning in public health & epidemiology, with examples

/keɪs/nounCore term

In public health & epidemiology, case means: A person in a population or study who has the disease, infection or condition being investigated, usually decided by agreed criteria.

In Turkish: olgu, vaka

How it is used

Epidemiologists count cases, not patients. Cases are classified as suspected, probable or confirmed, and can be new, imported, locally acquired or fatal. Reports talk about case numbers, case counts and rising cases.

Example sentences

  1. We have three confirmed cases and five suspected cases so far.

  2. Case numbers usually peak in late January.

Common collocations

  • confirmed case
  • suspected case
  • probable case
  • imported case
  • case count
  • case definitionA standard set of criteria, such as symptoms, lab results, time and place, used to decide whether a person should be counted as a case of a particular disease.
  • index caseThe first case of a disease that comes to the attention of health authorities in an outbreak or a family, leading investigators to look for others.
  • notifiable diseaseA disease that doctors and laboratories are required by law to report to public health authorities whenever they diagnose or suspect it.
  • incidenceThe number of new cases of a disease in a population during a set period, usually given as a rate such as 25 new cases per 100,000 people per year.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Surveillance and Reporting

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.