Hygiene and Epidemiology

Hygiene, together with epidemiology, represent the integral, biomedical fundaments of public health. The threat of epidemics depopulating both rural population and expanding urban centres, compelled medicine to develop these two new disciplines in the 19th century. Hygiene is the science of health preservation. Originally, it dealt with all factors affecting the physical and mental health and well-being of the population; it was rooted in the medical knowledge of disease incidence and disease prevention. The firm link between hygienic theories and practice with that of health status promote the prevention and control over infectious diseases. Initially, epidemiological focus was on communicable diseases, later it expanded to non-communicable ones.
This text will support the preparation for a state exam at a pre-graduate level, providing thus a starting point for acquiring the desirable knowledge.