In 2016, the Zika virus caused a widespread epidemic in several countries. The United States also suffered from this disease, as can be seen from the statistics published on the CDC website (“2016 case counts,” n.d.). To see a clear picture of the effects of Zika on the U.S. population, it is necessary to measure three components of epidemiology. They include the prevalence of the disease, cumulative incidence, and incidence rate (Gerber, 2018). The first parameter, prevalence, is directly connected to other indicators. It is defined as “the proportion of people with disease at a given point in time” (Gerber, 2018, p. 41).
Its formula is the number of diseased individuals divided by the total number of individuals (Gerber, 2018). In Florida, the population in 2016 was 20.61 million people (“Resident population,” n.d.). The number of infected citizens reached 1107, and the calculations allow for concluding on Zika prevalence of 5.4 % (“2016 case counts,” n.d.). This indicator and the calculations will be helpful in further analysis.
The second parameter is the cumulative incidence, which is also a proportion. This indicator reflects the disease frequency during a selected period (Gerber, 2018). It is calculated as the number of new cases between two points in time divided by the total number of individuals at risk at the beginning of the period (Gerber, 2018).
Hence, the cumulative incidence of Zika for 2016 is 5.3 %, according to the CDC (“2016 case counts,” n.d.). The third parameter is the incidence rate, which measures the rapidity of new cases occurring and is calculated as the number of new cases over the period divided by total person-time at risk (Gerber, 2018). Hence, the incidence rate of Zika in Florida is 93 persons per month.
References
2016 case counts in the US. (n.d.). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Gerber, J.S. (2018). Epidemiological methods in infection control. In E. Lautenbach, P.N. Malani, K.F. Woeltje, J.H. Han, E.K. Shuman, & J. Marshall (Eds.), Practical healthcare and epidemiology (pp. 41-51). Cambridge University Press.
Resident population in Florida 1960-2019. (n.d.). Statista. Web.