Descriptive Epidemiology

In description of the unknown pathogen, using data provided will be described mainly using three main pillars of descriptive epidemiology, such as, person, place and time which will be in relation to the ages of the population, place of affected population, time of month and year the population was affected and lastly possible explanations for the disease. The data in the bar graphs, table, and map will enable us in the precision of the information.

Person

Person characteristic include sociodemographic characteristics such as age, race/ethnicity marital status, sex, social class, family variables, blood type, occupation, marital status, environmental exposures, and personality traits. In figure 1; the data represented in the bar chart shows that case per 100, 000 populations at different ages, and the male have the highest amount of disease within the population at all ages. The highest amount of disease in the population were recorded in the age between 5-9yrs, 45-49yrs and 50-54yrs.

Mortality and morbidity are affected by age, and generally, there is less consistency in relation to age and increase in age allows for increase in the chronic conditions. Based on 1991 SEER data the overall incidence and mortality rates for oral and pharyngeal cancer combined are 10.4 per 100,000 population and 2.9 per 100,000 population, respectively. The annual incidence of 15.7 per 100,000 for males far exceeds the rate of 6.0 per 100,000 for females (Division of Infectious Diseases, 2010).

Place

In figure 2; the population living in the West, East, and North East are most affected by the disease. The rest of the affected areas are few and are scattered within the USA. In description of health events by geography, one should know whether geographic features are unique. These features include health services, political, socio, economic and physical environment. In description of health events, some issues need be considered such as size and level of political subdivisions to be compared across geographical areas. Relationship between the outcome and risk factor are vital and understanding of different types of interventions possible at different geographical levels and availability and stability of data (Rockett, 1998)

In figure 3; The state of Connecticut had the highest number of cases of (67.9 per 100,000) followed by Rhode Island (44.8 per 100,000) , New York (23.3 per 100,000), New Jersey (19.9 per 100,000), Delaware (18.5 per 100,000), Pennsylvania (15.4 per 100,000), Wisconsin (9.5 per 100,000) , Maryland (8.3 per 100,000), Massachusetts (5.1 per 100,000)  and Minnesota (5.0 per 100,000). Geographic variations in mortality have been noted. For the period 1987-1991, states with the highest mortality rates were: Alaska (4.1 per 100,000), Delaware (4.1 per 100,000), South Carolina (4.0 per 100,000), and Louisiana (3.7 per 100,000). The District of Columbia had a mortality rate more than twice the total national rate (6.8 versus 3.0 per 100,000). Arkansas, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Utah had the lowest rates (2.2, 2.1, 1.8, 1.7, and 1.3 per 100,000, respectively). From the 1950s through the 1970s, the Southeast had high mortality rates, but these have since decreased (Division of Infectious Diseases, 2010).

Time

In figure 4; The month which the disease was onset, from January to march the cases were below five thousand, in April recorded an increase in the cases to five thousand and from there was a sharp shoot up of cases in June with 15,000 cases and 20,000 cases in July. There was a sharp fall in the cases in August to slightly above 5,000 and then below 5,000 from the month of September to December (Division of Infectious Diseases, 2010).

In figure 5; shows the number of cases reported from the year 1982 to the year 1998. The data shows that in 1982 to 1985, there was a slight increase in each year but the cases were below 5,000 that were recorded. There was a decrease in 1986, there was a rise in 1987 and then to 5,000 cases in 1988. In 1989, the number of cases rose and then slightly rose in 1990, to 1991 and 1992 respectively. In 1993, there was a fall in the number of cases and rise in 1994 to more than 10,000 numbers for cases reported followed by a fall in 1995. The number of cases reported in the year 1996 rose up, in 1997 dropped to below 15,000 cases, and in 1998 rose again to over 15,000 cases reported. Trends over time of a population mainly have access to health services and resources as well as changes over time of health outcomes.

Possible Explanations

The disease may be lower in women than men, because women may be visiting the hospitals and medical centers more often than men and the disease would be detected earlier and seek medical care in good time and hence might not be more dangerous to women as men. 

The most affected geographical area of the disease may be due to health services that may not be readily available and physical environment as most of the affected areas are near or exposed to a water body or cold conditions. When looking at the months the population was least affected by the population were the first and last months of the year and weather conditions may be a contribution to the disease rise compared to the months of May to August that most affected the population.