The Old and New Faces of Epidemiology: From the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases to Social Epidemiology
A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Assessments".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 2066
Special Issue Editors
Interests: clinical epidemiology; neuroepidemiology; neuropathology
Interests: social epidemiology; health inequalities; childhood asthma
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Epidemiology is the foundation upon which other medical sciences that deal with health in a broader sense were built. The development of epidemiological methodology has helped to build our knowledge of the risk factors for many diseases. Initially, the efforts of epidemiology were focused on the control of infectious diseases and the identification of causative agents, as these represented significant health and social challenges for many generations. With the increasing impact of chronic non-communicable diseases, epidemiology has also been utilized with considerable success in this field. It is due to a large epidemiological cohort study (the Framingham Heart Study) that it is possible to identify risk factors for cardiovascular disease and introduce prevention in this area. The medical progress achieved in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease would not have been possible without epidemiology. Similar patterns can be seen in many other areas of medicine. Epidemiology provides 'tacit support' and is one of the driving forces in medicine. In turn, the link between medicine and social sciences expressed through the idea of the humanization of medicine has also influenced further developments in epidemiology and the formation of its new branch, social epidemiology, which takes into account not only standard risk factors, but also the determinants of the broader social environment. Thus, the individual fields within epidemiology combine to provide a holistic picture of the health status of the population and a full analysis of the factors that promote and harm health and, as a result, contribute to effective disease prevention and control programmes.
This Special Issue is a tribute to epidemiology.
We particularly want to emphasize that epidemiology is a science that represents a confident continuum between what has already been studied and discovered and new and neglected health problems. Therefore, this Special Issue covers a broad area of research. Its aim is to present epidemiological achievements in the field of infectious diseases, taking into account neglected and emergency infectious diseases and the social, economic, and environmental factors that enable the development of these diseases. In the field of the so-called civilization diseases, we wish to focus on the most pressing problems of epidemiology and public health. The development of epidemiology would not be possible without the development of new research methods and epidemiological methodologies with the use of statistical methods; therefore, publications dealing with this topic will be welcome.
We are pleased to invite you to present your research on the epidemiology of infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases (mental disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer), and social epidemiology (social determinants of health, discrimination and stigmatization, and health status of vulnerable populations). Original research and review articles are welcome, as well as meta-analyses focusing on new research areas in epidemiology, key achievements, and their relevance to public health.
Original research articles and reviews are welcome for this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following.
- Old and new infectious diseases and neglected and emergency infectious diseases;
- Epidemiology of non-communicable diseases, such as mental disorders, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases;
- Social epidemiology, with particular reference to the social determinants of health and the health needs of vulnerable populations;
- Development of epidemiological research methods and their applications in the planning of preventive and healthcare actions;
- Translation of epidemiological research into public health action.
We look forward to receiving your inputs and contributions.
Dr. Jerzy Słowiński
Guest Editor
Dr. Agata Wypych-Ślusarska
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- communicable diseases
- non-communicable diseases
- psychosocial determinants of health
- social epidemiology
- disease prevention
- translational epidemiology
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