This belongs in the “learn something new and interesting everyday” category.
When I think of what epidemiologists do, I tend to think of experts tracking diseases in large communities or highly mobile people. Today, I learned about epidemiology-based programs in hospitals, which, on second and third thought, totally makes sense!
One of the purposes of epidemiology is to understand the spread of disease so that we can reduce the risk of outbreaks and/or manage them effectively. Some studies have shown that health-care associated infections are more common and have significant health and financial costs..and affect vulnerable populations, folks who are already sick or recovering from an illness. (A peer-reviewed source that summarizes the history of the development of hospital epidemiology and infection control.)
As epitomized by the Hospital Epidemiology/Infection Control Department at The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s mission statement, these programs:
(copied from the mission statement)
- Investigate and control hospital outbreaks and infection clusters among patients and personnel
- Develop and maintain infection control policies and procedures for all hospital departments
- Manage antimicrobial use
- Develop novel stratigies (sp) to survey for healthcare associated infections
- (Support) continuing education and other training
(credit: Fuse / Thinkstock.com)
