
Time for a check-up
Epidemiology looks at a population’s health
Epidemiology is the study of health and disease in populations, human or otherwise. It covers mapping an outbreak of flu, to predicting how badger populations will respond to vaccination against tuberculosis, to comparing rates of lung cancer in populations of smokers and non-smokers.
By looking at patterns of disease, epidemiologists try to understand risk factors and provide information that will help public health authorities prevent and respond quickly to outbreaks of infectious disease.
Lead image:Illustration © Glen McBeth