County of Los Angeles
Department of Public Health
Office of AIDS Programs and Policy
600 S. Commonwealth Avenue, 10^th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90005
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. M - F
Phone: (213) 351-8000
Fax: (213) 738-0825
Email: aids@ph.lacounty.org

HIV/AIDS Content Notice
PRIVACY STATEMENT

Glossary of Terms

Endemic

• An outbreak of disease such that for a limited period a significantly greater number of persons in a community or region suffer from it than is normally the case. Thus an epidemic is a temporary increase in prevalence. Its extent and duration are determined by the interaction of such variables as the nature and infectivity of the casual agent, its mode of transmission and the degree of preexisting and newly acquired immunity.

Incidence

• The number of cases of a disease, abnormality, accident, etc., arising in a defined population during a stated period, expressed as a proportion, such as x cases per 1000 persons per year.

Prevalence

• The number of instances of infections or of persons ill, or of any other event such as accidents, in a specified population, without any distinction between new and old cases.

 

Source: World Health Organization - Glossary