Epidemiology A Very Short Introduction

Author : Rodolfo Saracci
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191609242
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Epidemiology: A Very Short Introduction written by Rodolfo Saracci and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2010-02-25 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is epidemiology? What are the causes of a new disease? How can pandemics be prevented? Epidemiology is the study of the changing patterns of disease and its main aim is to improve the health of populations. It's a vital field, central to the health of society, to the identification of causes of disease, and to their management and prevention. Epidemiology has had an impact on many areas of medicine; from discovering the relationship between tobacco smoking and lung cancer, to the origin and spread of new epidemics. However, it is often poorly understood, largely due to misrepresentations in the media. In this Very Short Introduction Rodolfo Saracci dispels some of the myths surrounding the study of epidemiology. He provides a general explanation of the principles behind clinical trials, and explains the nature of basic statistics concerning disease. He also looks at the ethical and political issues related to obtaining and using information concerning patients, and trials involving placebos. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Paul Slack
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191623962
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.67/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Plague: A Very Short Introduction written by Paul Slack and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-03-22 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout history plague has been the cause of many major catastrophes. It was responsible for the Black Death of 1348 and the Great Plague of London in 1665, and for devastating epidemics much earlier and much later, in the Mediterranean in the sixth century, and in China and India between the 1890s and 1920s. Today, it has become a metaphor for other epidemic disasters which appear to threaten us, but plague itself has never been eradicated. In this Very Short Introduction, Paul Slack explores the historical impact of plague over the centuries, looking at the ways in which it has been interpreted, and the powerful images it has left behind in art and literature. Examining what plague meant for those who suffered from it, and how governments began to fight against it, he demonstrates the impact plague has had on modern notions of public health and how it has shaped our history. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Marta Wayne
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191002828
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Infectious Disease: A Very Short Introduction written by Marta Wayne and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-06-25 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As doctors and biologists have learned, to their dismay, infectious disease is a moving target: new diseases emerge every year, old diseases evolve into new forms, and ecological and socioeconomic upheavals change the transmission pathways by which disease spread. By taking an approach focused on the general evolutionary and ecological dynamics of disease, this Very Short Introduction provides a general conceptual framework for thinking about disease. Ecology and evolution provide the keys to answering the 'where', 'why', 'how', and 'what' questions about any particular infectious disease: where did it come from? How is it transmitted from one person to another, and why are some individuals more susceptible than others? What biochemical, ecological, and evolutionary strategies can be used to combat the disease? Is it more effective to block transmission at the population level, or to block infection at the individual level? Through a series of case studies, Benjamin Bolker and Marta L. Wayne introduce the major ideas of infectious disease in a clear and thoughtful way, emphasising the general principles of infection, the management of outbreaks, and the evolutionary and ecological approaches that are now central to much research about infectious disease. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Virginia Berridge
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191002143
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Public Health: A Very Short Introduction written by Virginia Berridge and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-06 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public health is a term much used in the media, by health professionals, and by activists. At the national or the local level there are ministries or departments of public health, whilst international agencies such as the World Health Organisation promote public health policies, and regional organisations such as the European Union have public health funding and policies. But what do we mean when we speak about 'public health'? In this Very Short Introduction Virginia Berridge explores the areas which fall under the remit of public health, and explains how the individual histories of different countries have come to cause great differences in the perception of the role and responsibilities of public health organisations. Thus, in the United States litigation on public health issues is common, but state involvement is less, while some Scandinavian countries have a tradition of state involvement or even state ownership of industries such as alcohol in connection with public health. In its narrowest sense, public health can refer to the health of a population, the longevity of individual members, and their freedom from disease, but it can also be anticipatory, geared to the prevention of illness, rather than simply the provision of care and treatment. In the way public health deals with healthy as well as sick people it is therefore a separate concept from health services, which deal with the sick population. Drawing on a wide range of international examples, Berridge demonstrates the central role of history to understanding the amorphous nature of public health today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Dorothy H. Crawford
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198811713
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Viruses written by Dorothy H. Crawford and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Viruses are big news. From pandemics such as HIV, swine flu, and SARS, we are constantly being bombarded with information about new lethal infections. In this Very Short Introduction, Dorothy Crawford demonstrates from their discovery and the unravelling of their intricate structures, how clever these entities really are.

Author : Bendix Carstensen
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198841329
Total Pages : 246 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Epidemiology with R written by Bendix Carstensen and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021-01-14 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This practical guide is designed for students and researchers with an existing knowledge of R who wish to learn how to apply it in an epidemiological context and exploit its versatility. It also serves as a broader introduction to the quantitative aspects of modern practical epidemiology. The standard tools used in epidemiology are described and the practical use of R for these is clearly explained and laid out. R code examples, many with output, are embedded throughout the text. The entire code is also available on the companion website so that readers can reproduce all the results and graphs featured in the book. Epidemiology with R is an advanced textbook suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate students, professional researchers, and practitioners in the fields of human and non-human epidemiology, public health, veterinary science, and biostatistics.

Author : Alan Whiteside OBE
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191578185
Total Pages : 174 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book HIV/AIDS: A Very Short Introduction written by Alan Whiteside OBE and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2008-01-24 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: HIV/AIDS is without doubt the worst epidemic to hit humankind since the Black Death. The first case was identified in 1981; by 2004 it was estimated that about 40 million people were living with the disease, and about 20 million had died. Despite rapid scientific advances there is still no cure and the drugs are expensive and toxic. Because of controversies and taboos surrounding safe drug usage and prostitution, the numbers of people infected continues to rise. However, it is in the developing world and especially parts of Africa that the real catastrophe is unfolding. In some of the worst affected countries life expectancy has plummeted to below 35 years, which has led to a serious decline in economic growth, a sharp rise in orphaning, and the imminent collapse of health care systems. The news is not all bleak though. There have been unprecedented breakthroughs in understanding diseases and developing drugs. Because the disease is so closely linked to sexual activity and drug use, the need to understand and change behaviour has caused us to reassess what it means to be human and how we should operate in the globalising world. This Very Short Introduction provides an introduction to the disease, tackling the science, the international and local politics, the fascinating demographics, and the devastating consequences of the disease, and explores how we have — and must — respond. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Neil Pearce
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780476012363
Total Pages : 152 pages
Book Rating : 4.68/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Short Introduction to Epidemiology written by Neil Pearce and published by . This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : David J. Hand
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191578924
Total Pages : 138 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Statistics: A Very Short Introduction written by David J. Hand and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2008-10-23 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern statistics is very different from the dry and dusty discipline of the popular imagination. In its place is an exciting subject which uses deep theory and powerful software tools to shed light and enable understanding. And it sheds this light on all aspects of our lives, enabling astronomers to explore the origins of the universe, archaeologists to investigate ancient civilisations, governments to understand how to benefit and improve society, and businesses to learn how best to provide goods and services. Aimed at readers with no prior mathematical knowledge, this Very Short Introduction explores and explains how statistics work, and how we can decipher them. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Christian W. McMillen
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199340072
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.71/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Pandemics written by Christian W. McMillen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Machine generated contents note: -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Plague -- Chapter 2: Smallpox -- Chapter 3: Malaria -- Chapter 4: Cholera -- Chapter 5: Tuberculosis -- Chapter 6: Influenza -- Chapter 7: HIV/AIDS -- References -- Further Reading -- Index