An infectious disease specialist may perform a bacterial culture so as to identify a specific disease. Learn about what an epidemiologist does. The epidemiology of many infectious diseases is becoming more complex. What Does an Epidemiologist Do? They also may research and investigate the trends in populations of survivors of certain diseases, such as cancer, so that effective treatments can be identified and repeated across the population. She is now at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, where she studies infectious disease. Vaccination programmes in these populations should be improved in order to decrease preventable diseases. The methods have been described in detail elsewhere.23–27 Among these methods, RFLP-PFGE (restriction fragment length polymorphism/pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) and RFLP + probe, and ribotyping have been the most commonly used methods for fingerprinting bacteria.25,28 RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA) and karyotyping have been used for fingerprinting fungi.25,29 MLEE (multilocus enzyme electrophoresis), RAPD, and PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-RFLP have been used for fingerprinting parasitic protozoa.25 Select gene or complete genome characterization, as well as other molecular methods, have been used for viruses.30, TABLE 8.8. Their work description also entails contributing to the design of standards for the prevention of contagious disease in a health establishment. An infectious disease doctor may also be known as an ID physician. He or she may look at how diseases affect certain populations, the emergence of viruses in geographical locations, or he or she may track certain diseases. Factors that can impact virus transmission and spread include: Prevalence of the agent within the population. This type of medical professional may work at schools of public health, colleges or universities, and medicals schools. After becoming licensed to practice medicine, a vet can begin to fulfill the requirements that will lead to board certification in the specialty field of epidemiology, if they are interested in pursuing this avenue. Infectious disease specialists help to … He or she may look at how diseases affect certain populations, the emergence of viruses in geographical locations, or he or she may track certain diseases. A microbial community refers to the mix of organisms present at a time and place, such as the microbial community living in the human nose, which can include several different bacterial and viral species. Collation of locally collected data enables the recognition of any new disease trends. The one major exception is multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE),19,20 which is a robust phenotypic method that performs comparably with many of the most effective DNA-based methods.21,22 Characteristics of selected phenotypic methods are presented in Table 8.6. Follow-up appointments may also be scheduled if necessary.Â. A few of the main duties of an epidemiologist are collecting data for tests, developing a plan of action, communicating their findings to policy makers, and investigating diseases. Characteristics of phenotypic typing methods. Based on this initial review, they will order tests, which could include: They may consult with other specialists, such as a dermatologist for skin infections or a pulmonologist for lung problems. ... Like many other professions, what an epidemiologist does is actually much more varied than what someone might think. The S. aureus in the nose is a population; presuming that nasal S. aureus is swallowed and wiped on hands and thus interacts, the different populations of S. aureus on a human body are a metapopulation. Johannes Sommerfeld, in International Encyclopedia of Public Health (Second Edition), 2017. 2. An infectious disease doctor is a physician who specialises in the various infections that can affect the human body. Because the number of OTUs observed depends on the number of individuals sampled, to compare species richness in different samples, data are displayed in a rarefaction curve. What Does an Infectious Disease Doctor Do? Sample B was most even and sample D the least. Infectious disease doctors are trained in clinical and laboratory skills to make the right diagnoses and organize the best treatment plans. Epidemiology is a field where trained epidemiologists study patterns of frequency and the causes and effects of diseases in human populations. An epidemiologist studies the causes of diseases and other types of serious health problems in the public to stop them from spreading. $27,545 - $226,057. For epidemiologists, this translates into asking questions such as the following. Monitor and report incidents of infectious diseases to local and state health agencies. Your primary care physician may refer you to an infectious disease specialist due to: Many infectious diseases have similar symptoms. An epidemiologist is part detective, reconstructing the source and spread of outbreaks of disease, and part prophet, anticipating outbreaks in the future and helping relevant authorities plan ahead. What Does an Epidemiologist Do? 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