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Public Health & Epidemiology vocabulary · Surveillance and Reporting

Case definition

Meaning in public health & epidemiology, with examples

nounCommon term

In public health & epidemiology, case definition means: A 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.

In Turkish: olgu tanımı, vaka tanımı

How it is used

Essential for comparable surveillance data and outbreak investigations. Case definitions often have levels (suspected, probable, confirmed). Teams agree on, apply, update or widen a case definition; a broad one finds more cases but is less precise.

Example sentences

  1. Our case definition was anyone with diarrhoea who ate at the restaurant between 3 and 5 May.

  2. When the case definition changed, the number of reported cases jumped.

Common collocations

  • standard case definition
  • surveillance case definition
  • apply a case definition
  • broaden the case definition
  • caseA person in a population or study who has the disease, infection or condition being investigated, usually decided by agreed criteria.
  • surveillanceThe continuous, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health data, shared in good time so that action can be taken to prevent and control disease.
  • outbreakA sudden rise in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected, usually limited to one place, group or event.
  • notifiable diseaseA disease that doctors and laboratories are required by law to report to public health authorities whenever they diagnose or suspect it.

More terms: Surveillance and Reporting

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