What is incidence of disease?

Incidence of disease refers to the number of new cases of a specific disease in a specific population within a defined period. It is typically measured over a year and serves as a measure of the frequency of occurrence of a disease in a defined population during that time frame.

The incidence of a disease can be calculated by dividing the number of new cases by the total population and multiplying it by a factor, often 100,000 or 1,000,000 to represent it as a rate per 100,000 or per 1,000,000 population. This provides a standardized measurement that facilitates comparisons between different diseases and populations.

Here's a mathematical representation of incidence calculation:

Incidence rate = (Number of new cases during a specified time period / Total population size) x conversion factor (usually 100,000 or 1,000,000)

In public health and epidemiology, monitoring the incidence of diseases is crucial for understanding the spread and transmission patterns, identifying risk factors, implementing preventive strategies, allocating healthcare resources, and evaluating the effectiveness of disease control measures.