EPIDEMIOLOGY TRIANGLE

INFECTIOUS DISEASE INFECTIOUS DISEASES INFECTIOUS DISEASES

I’VE HAD MY PARENTS I’VE HEARD ABOUT
GRANDPARENTS HAD,
BUT I NEVER DID
Common cold Tuberculosis- Tuberculosis
Grandfather
Chicken pox HIV/AIDS
flu Pneumonia
measles Malaria
mumps Dengue
Hepatitis A and B
Malaria

1. Can you describe in your own words the Epidemiologic Triangle and how it works?

Epidemiologic Triangle is a tool that scientist used when investigating the spread of a
disease such as tuberculosis etc. It analyzes where a certain disease and other health
factors originates, disease’s spread process, and how it can be prevented. Epidemiologic
triangle has three vertices, the agent, host, and the Environment. The concept of agent
includes chemical and physical causes of a disease or injury. In some instances, the
presence of the agent can cause disease and on the other hand, non-exposure to the
agent will directly result in disease. The host is the organism who is exposed to a
disease. Some host are asymptomatic and unaware that they have the disease. Some risk
factors that sets a host’s susceptibility to an infectious agent includes age, gender,
genetic composition, and other practices. Epidemiologic Triangle should be done
thoroughly in order to determine how a certain disease spread and develop effective
control and prevention measures. Lastly is the environment, it is the extrinsic factors
that can influence exposure and susceptibility. Environmental factors include climate,
animals transmitting agents and socioeconomic factors like lack of sanitation. In
conclusion, it is important to consider the three vertices on the Epidemiologic Triangle
before making a final assessment and conclusion.

2. Why is the Triangle important to understanding the spread of infectious diseases and
how to stop them?

Triangle is important to understanding the spread of infectious diseases and how to stop
them, since triangle analyze on where a certain disease and other health factors originates.
Three corners of the triangle such as the agent, we can identify what microbe causes the
disease, for the host, answers the question “who” who is/are exposed to that disease, and
lastly, environment which answer the question “where” external factors that cause or allow
disease transmission. With that, triangle allows us to address a certain disease’s spread
process and how to stop that infectious disease from spreading. Thus, triangle allows us to
implement preventable and safety measures.