The contagious nature of infectious diseases calls for extra effort in the prevention phase, during an outbreak and after the situation. One way stakeholders can confront this menace is understanding the terminology used in that field (Vetter & Jesser, 2017). First, one would need to understand the term epidemiology which is the identification of factors that lead to specific health-related issues within a particular community and using this scientific data to help avert such situations in other settings. Therefore, epidemiology offers experts data and trends to devise policies and advise the population.
Epidemiology has other related terms. The first one is “outbreak”, which refers to the excess of occurrence of disease thus requiring extra effort and resources to combat it (Vetter & Jesser, 2017). The second word is “prevalence” which implies the fraction of the population that has been affected by a certain outbreak. Lastly, “incidence” is the frequency with which it occurs. Understanding of such terms is also key to helping populations position themselves well to avoid the scourge of infectious diseases.
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The Role of Nurses within Epidemiology
A nurse plays a crucial role in epidemiology as they form a bridge between the community and the ministry of health. Their leading role is that of the advocate for the people (Hakobyan, 2018). Under this banner, they perform several activities such as negotiating appropriate health-care programs for a particular population, promoting awareness of various health problems, and instigating supportive community action to achieve better health outcomes. Therefore, the efforts of the nurse will ensure that the community gets the best under the circumstances to avoid adverse effects that may come with infectious diseases.
The nurse is also a case-finder which is a significant role in the field of epidemiology as it leads to the presentation of valuable data. The nurse will engage in targeted care for individual patients thus they will be at a better position to identify all the areas of need (Vetter & Jesser, 2017). Additionally, their roles entail a great deal of observation of social conditions. In this process, it will be easy to identify aspects that may not have been captured in previous studies. In summary, nurses are caregivers, educators, counselors and health partners to the community where they serve. As a result, nurses are instrumental in informing future decisions in the healthcare sector.
Current Infectious Diseases
The USA grapples with viral hepatitis and tuberculosis currently. The first form of Hepatitis that needs attention is Hepatitis B. The condition makes the liver swell thus leading to fatigue, nausea, and jaundice (Razavi-Shearer et al., 2018). The essential prevalence of the disease was at 0.4%. However, voluntary in the southern states where many undocumented immigrants are found indicated a 15% prevalence. It is estimated that between 700.000 and 1.4 million people have hepatitis B and 9,000 new cases are reported every year (Razavi-hearer et al., 2018). Such figures are unsettling and require more effort by the ministry of health to contain the disease further.
Hepatitis C is also quite common in the United States. It may not be as severe as Hepatitis B, but the fact that it is chronic makes it necessary to avert its spreading. In 2017, there were about 2.5 to 3.9 million people with the disease while about 17,000 new infections were reported (Hofmeister et al., 2018). The prevalence of this disease in the southern state is also higher since the movement of individuals across the border and between states is very fluid.
Tuberculosis is also a threat since it has affected about one-third of the earth’s population. The fact that the cases of the disease may be lower in the USA is not settling since the contact between the country, and other regions have become more frequent. Therefore, the chances of the disease taking root in the various settlements in the USA is high. As of 2017, there were about 10,000 new cases of TB in the country (Hofmeister et al., 2018). The low and middle-income neighborhoods in the USA suffer the greatest TB infections.
Associating Three Current Infectious Diseases with Healthy People 2020
The healthy 2020 people intend to reduce the incidence of contagious disease through immunization. S of fat, the efforts of the program has borne fruit as far as the current infectious diseases are concerned. For instance, the incidence of Hepatitis B declined by 80% between 1987 and 2004 as shown in Figure 1 (Razavi-hearer et al., 2018). In the same vein, Hepatitis C containment has witnessed many advancement s as well. For instance, the treatment of the disease received a boost with the pegylated interferon and ribavirin which was shown to have a positive response in 50% of the Hepatitis C patients who used it. Efforts to combat TB have also been relatively successful. Despite the high rates of spread in other parts of the world, the US only reported 10,000 new cases in a year.
Evidence-Based Practices to Reduce Infectious Diseases
Advancements in technology and more training of staff will go a long way to curb the spread of infectious disease. Technology and qualified staff will help come with quick ways of detecting the disease and also combat it. Technology will also be essential in facilitating coordinated responses to the infection (Hofmeister et al., 2018). The combination of this factor will make it easy to assemble teams and issue instructions especially when the disease affects poor neighborhoods with limited infrastructure and amenities.
Secondly, strategies that focus on the prevention of diseases need to be embraced. One of the reasons infectious diseases are hard to contain is that patients have minimal information regarding them (Hakobyan, 2018). Therefore, having a system where the community will be engaged often regarding the diseases will help them live a life of prudent choices that will shield them from the disease.
Finally, culturally appropriate health care is necessary to address the needs of various settings. Differences come in the demographics in the different healthcare systems within the country. Multiple factors such as migration, trade, agricultural practices, and bioterrorism make each of the segments unique in its way (Razavi-hearer et al., 2018). Therefore, having policies that put into focus these differences will help achieve positive outcomes.
References
Duarte, R., Silva, D. R., Rendon, A., Alves, T. G., Rabahi, M. F., Centis, R., & Migliori, G. B. (2018). Eliminating tuberculosis in Latin America: making it the point. Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia , 44 (2), 73-76.
Hakobyan, S., Sepehry, A. A., Nikoo, N., Khachatryan, D., Nikoo, M., Song, M. J., ... & Krausz, M. R. (2018). An update of Hepatitis C prevalence rates in homeless adults after Hepatitis C treatment paradigm change: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medical Research Archives , 6 (1).
Hofmeister, M. G., Rosenthal, E. M., Barker, L. K., Rosenberg, E. S., Barranco, M. A., Hall, E. W., ... & Blythe Ryerson, A. (2018). Estimating Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the United States, 2013 ‐ 2016. Hepatology .
Razavi-Shearer, D., Gamkrelidze, I., Nguyen, M. H., Chen, D. S., Van Damme, P., Abbas, Z., ... & Akarca, U. (2018). Global prevalence, treatment, and prevention of hepatitis B virus infection in 2016: a modelling study. The lancet Gastroenterology & hepatology , 3 (6), 383-403.
Vetter, T. R., & Jesser, C. A. (2017). Fundamental epidemiology terminology and measures: it really is all in the name. Anesthesia & Analgesia , 125 (6), 2146-2151.
