Timeline of epidemiology

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This is a timeline of epidemiology, attempting to describe the evolution of the field over time. Epidemiology has become a standard area of clinical science, and is the most fundamental basic science of public health.[1]

Big picture

Time period Development summary
17th century The field of epidemiology emerges. The first feature of the century relevant to the emergence of the discipline is the availability of population data about causes of death, in particular deaths from plague.[2]
19th century John Snow, Ignaz Semmelweis, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Florence Nightingale, and others make important contributions to the field of epidemiology during the century. In the mid 1800s the focus of epidemiology is just on infectious diseases and epidemics.[1] By mid to late century, bacteria are being identified as major causes of diseases.[3]
20th century Epidemiology begins to focus on infectious diseases overall in the mid–century.[1]
1960s Epidemiology begins to focus on laws regarding the distribution of disease at a community level.[1]
1980s Late in the decade, epidemiology starts focusing on how to control or minimize health problems and diseases.[1]
21th century Subfields of epidemiology, like E-epidemiology, keep rising and developing.

Epidemiologic transitions

An epidemiologic transition describes changing patterns of population age distributions, mortality, fertility, life expectancy, and causes of death.[1]

Transition Development summary
Hunter–gatherer to cities First epidemiologic transition, ocurring circa 10,000 BC with the advent the agricultural revolution. People become less dependent on hunting and gathering and begin producing food and domesticating animals. This brings the emergence of infectious diseases and diseases related to nutrition, caused by the new practice of agriculture and food production. This shift would bring zoonotic diseases, nutrient deficiencies and increased contact with disease vectors. Few epidemics turn into major epidemics.[4][5]
Immunologic resisteance and organism change The second transition takes place at a time where human immune systems and disease-causing organisms both evolve, resulting in a change from major epidemics of disease to endemic disease. People develop physical and genetic changes that serve to minimize the effects of diseases.[1][4][5]
Public health and sanitation Disease patterns change from infectious to chronic and degenerative diseases in developed parts of the world due to improvements in nutrition, public health, and clinical medicine. Cardiovascular diseases and cancer begin to occur more during this transition. They are often associated with the longer lifespan and a sedentary lifestyle.[1][4][5]
Increased globalization There's a resurgence and rapid spread of infectious diseases.[1] Starting at the end of the 20th century, globalization provoques both new diseases and the reemergence of infectious ones occuring as well as the rapid spread of disease.[1][4][5]


Full timeline

Year Event type Details Country/geographical location
460–377 BC Scientific development Hippocrates is considered to be the first epidemiologist. In his three books entitled Epidemic I, Epidemic III and On Airs, Waters and Places, Hippocrates attempts to describe disease from a rational perspective, rather than a supernatural basis. Hippocrates observes that different diseases occur in different locations. He also notes that malaria and yellow fever most commonly occur in swampy areas. Hippocrates also introduces terms like epidemic and endemic.[3]
1546 Scientific development Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro publishes his writing on contagion and contagious diseases, proposing that diseases are each caused by a rapidly multiplying seed, and that the seeds are transmitted by direct contact, air, or contaminated garments.
1662 Scientific development English amateur statistician John Graunt publishes his Natural and Political Observations ... upon the Bills of Mortality. In it, he analyzes the mortality rolls in London before the Great Plague, presenting one of the first life tables, and reporting time trends for many diseases, new and old. Graunt provideds statistical evidence for many theories on disease, and also refutes some widespread ideas on them. Graunt describes disease occurrence and death with the use of systematic methods and develops and calculates life tables and life expectancy.[3][2] United Kingdom
1624–1689 Scientific development Thomas Sydenham approaches the study of disease from an observational angle rather than a theoretical one.[3]
1754 Scientific development Scottish naval surgeon James Lind publishes A Treatise on Scurvy, in which he identifies the symptoms of scurvy and the fact that the disease becomes common in sailors after as little as a month at sea.[6] United Kingdom
c.1774 Scientific development English farmer/dairyman Benjamin Jesty notices his milkmaids never get smallpox, but cowpox from the cows. Jesty comes to the conclusion that there's a link between acquiring cowpox and not getting smallpox. Jesty would expose his wife and children to cowpox to protect them from smallpox, with success.[3][6]
c.1775 Scientific development English surgeon Percivall Pott writes that a mixture of noxious substances (i.e., chimney soot), when not removed from the skin after occupational exposure, could cause a specific cancer.[7] Percivall Pott is considered to be the first person to show that an environmental carcinogen may cause cancer.[1]
1807–1883 Scientific development British epidemiologist William Farr advances John Graunt's work in order to better describe epidemiologic problems.[3] United Kingdom
1850 Publication Lemuel Shattuck publishes the first report on sanitation and public health problems in the Commonwealth of Massachussets. This marks the beginning of epidemiology in the United States.[3] United States
1854 Scientific development English physician John Snow demonstrates, during an epidemic in London, that the transmission of cholera is significantly reduced when uncontaminated water is provided to the population. Snow is considered one of the most important contributors to the field of epidemiology.[3][8] United Kingdom
1857 Convention The first quarantine convention is held in the Unied States. The prevention of typhus, cholera, and yellow fever is discussed. Port quarantine and the hygiene of immigrants are also of concern. Public health educational activities begin at this time.[3] United States
1870–1879 Scientific development German physician Robert Koch shows that anthrax is transmissible and reproducible in experimental animals (mice). The epidemiologic significance that Koch demonstrates is that the anthrax bacillus is the only organism that causes anthrax in a susceptible animal.[3] Prussia
1879 Publication A. H. Buck publishes Hygiene and Public Health, an early major book on public health, which includes epidemiologic topics.[3]
1882–1883 Scientific development German microbiologist Robert Koch, in the process of discovering the causes of anthrax, cholera and tuberculosis, develops methods and technical procedures still used today by epidemiologists. Koch asserts that four criteria must be fulfilled to establish a causal relationship between a parasite and a disease. These criteria are known as Koch’s Postulates.[9]
1886 Scientific development The first major epidemiologic implication of deficiency illness comes in this year when the Dutch commission the firm of C. A. Pekelharing and Winkler who sends army doctor Christian Eijkman to the East Indies to investigate the cause of beriberi. In site, Eijkman observes that chickens fed on polished rice develop symptoms of beriberi and recover promptly when the food is changed to whole rice. However, Eijkman would mistakenly attribute the cause of the disease to a neurotoxin.[3]
1887 Treatment Japanese naval surgeon T. K. Takaki eradicates beriberi from the Japanese navy by adding vegetables, meat, and fish to their diet, which until date was mostly rice.[3] Japan
1900 Scientific development The infectious nature of yellow fever is established.[3]
1906 Policy Standard methods of water analysis are adopted in the United States.[3] United States
1913 Scientific development The pasteurization of milk is shown to be effective in controlling the spread of disease.[3]
1913 Organization The Harvard School of Public Health is established as the first school of public health in the United States.[3] United States
1938 Scientific development The term "clinical epidemiology" is introduced.[10]
1965 The American Journal of Hygiene (first published in 1921) is renamed American Journal of Epidemiology.[11] United States
1967 The term neuroepidemiology is first introduced by Dr. Len Kurland, Dr. Milton Alter and Dr. John F. Kurtzke.[12]
1971 Publication Professor Abdel R. Omran, working at the University of North Carolina, writes “Conceptually, the theory of epidemiologic transition focuses on the complex change in patterns of health and disease and on the interactions between these patterns and their demographic, economic and sociologic determinants and consequences.” Since this publication, the theory of epidemiological transition would be adopted and prove useful in laying out an overarching perspective on changing demographic patterns.[13][14] United States
1973 Kilburn E. et al. introduce the notion "molecular epidemiology" into the scientific literature.[15]
1978 The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health arises from the British Journal of Social and Preventive Medicine, first issued in 1947 as the British Journal of Social Medicine.[11] United Kingdom
1982 Scientific development The term "molecular cancer epidemiology" is introduced by Parera and Weinstein.[16]
1982 Organization The International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN) is established to strengthen the research capacity of medical schools in the developing world through the development of Clinical Epidemiology Units (CEUs).[17]
1985 Publication The European Journal of Epidemiology is founded as a forum on the epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable diseases and their control.[18]
1988 The Journal of Chronic Diseases is renamed Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.[11]
1990 Blackwell Scientific introduces new journal Epidemiology, to meet the need of an expanding body of epidemiologic research looking for a place to publish.[11]
1991 Publication The International Guidelines for Ethical Review of Epidemiological Studies are published by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS).[19]
1998 Organization The International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology (ICPE) is established by the World Health Organization to carry out cross-national comparative studies of the prevalences and correlates of mental disorders.[20]
2004 Organization A Computational Epidemiology Research Laboratory (CERL) is established at the University of North Texas to conduct and promote research in computational epidemiology.[21] United States
2007 Ekman and Litton introduce the term e-epidemiology, defining it as "the science underlying the acquisition, maintenance and application of epidemiological knowledge and information using digital media such as the Internet, mobile phones, digital paper, and digital TV. E-epidemiology also refers to the large-scale epidemiological studies that are increasingly conducted through distributed global collaborations enabled by the Internet".[22]
2009 The 2009 influenza A pandemic proves that the joint evolutionary and epidemiological investigation of rapidly evolving pathogens is both feasible and can provide useful and timely information for public health and epidemic control decisions.[23]
2010 Scientific development The term "molecular pathological epidemiology" is used by Shuji Ogino and Meir Stampfer.[24]
2012 Scientific development It is recognized that many pathogens' evolution is rapid enough to be highly relevant to epidemiology, and that therefore much could be gained from an interdisciplinary approach to infectious disease integrating epidemiology and molecular evolution to "inform control strategies, or even patient treatment".[23][25]

Numerical and visual data

Google Scholar

The following table summarizes per-year mentions on Google Scholar as of May 27, 2021.

Year epidemiology descriptive epidemiology infectious disease epidemiology epidemiology etiology epidemiology biostatistics
1980 16,100 773 5,810 2,210 436
1985 25,100 1,390 8,660 3,400 713
1990 45,700 2,470 13,000 4,690 1,550
1995 102,000 4,260 18,000 6,720 2,750
2000 248,000 8,940 29,600 11,700 4,420
2002 312,000 10,700 34,000 14,000 5,450
2004 409,000 13,100 47,200 17,100 7,420
2006 559,000 18,500 62,100 22,700 8,620
2008 613,000 26,900 75,500 29,400 10,600
2010 685,000 37,600 94,000 33,800 12,500
2012 669,000 54,900 110,000 45,100 18,400
2014 629,000 67,500 115,000 49,200 22,300
2016 384,000 65,500 104,000 48,400 23,800
2017 365,000 64,400 99,500 47,900 25,500
2018 229,000 56,400 87,100 44,200 24,700
2019 148,000 52,800 77,200 41,200 25,400
2020 132,000 45,300 76,100 33,600 25,000
Epidemiology tb.png

Google Trends

The comparative chart below shows Google Trends data for Epidemiology (Field of study) and Epidemiology (Search term), from January 2004 to February 2021, when the screenshot was taken. Interest is also ranked by country and displayed on world map.[26]

Epidemiology gt.jpg

Google Ngram Viewer

The chart below shows Google Ngram Viewer data for Epidemiology, from 1800 to 2019.[27]

Epidemiology ngram.jpeg

Wikipedia Views

The chart below shows pageviews of the English Wikipedia article Epidemiology, on desktop from December 2007, and on mobile-web, desktop-spider, mobile-web-spider and mobile app, from July 2015; to January 2021.[28]

Epidemiology wv.jpg


Meta information on the timeline

How the timeline was built

The initial version of the timeline was written by User:Sebastian.

Funding information for this timeline is available.

What the timeline is still missing

Timeline update strategy

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Introduction and History of Epidemiology". coursera.org. Retrieved 31 January 2018. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Morabia, Alfredo. "Epidemiology's 350th Anniversary: 1662–2012". doi:10.1097/EDE.0b013e31827b5359. Retrieved 10 February 2018. 
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 "Historic Developments in Epidemiology" (PDF). samples.jbpub.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 McKeown, Robert E. "The Epidemiologic Transition: Changing Patterns of Mortality and Population Dynamics". PMC 2805833Freely accessible. doi:10.1177/1559827609335350. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Harper, Kristin; Armelagos, George. "The Changing Disease-Scape in the Third Epidemiological Transition". PMC 2872288Freely accessible. doi:10.3390/ijerph7020675. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Introduction to Epidemiology (Merrill ed.). Retrieved 26 December 2017. 
  7. ↑ McKinnell, Robert Gilmore. The Understanding, Prevention and Control of Human Cancer: The Historic Work and Lives of Elizabeth Cavert Miller and James A. Miller. Retrieved 1 February 2018. 
  8. ↑ Kukaswadia, Atif. "John Snow – The First Epidemiologist". blogs.plos.org. Retrieved 2 March 2018. 
  9. ↑ "Epidemiology: A Timeline". prezi.com. Retrieved 2 March 2018. 
  10. ↑ Fowkes ,, FG; Dobson, AJ; Hensley, MJ; Leeder, SR. "The role of clinical epidemiology in medical practice.". PMID 10266880. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Boslaugh, Sarah. Encyclopedia of Epidemiology, Volume 1. Retrieved 11 February 2018. 
  12. ↑ "HONORING JOHN F. KURTZKE, MD". ijmsc.org. Retrieved 11 February 2018. 
  13. ↑ "The Epidemiologic Transition: Changing Patterns of Mortality and Population Dynamics". journals.sagepub.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017. 
  14. ↑ "Notes on Contributors". PMC 2690272Freely accessible. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0009.2005.00416.x. Retrieved 26 December 2017. 
  15. ↑ Zhebrun, AB. "[From molecular to genomic and metagenomic epidemiology].". PMID 25286516. Retrieved 11 February 2018. 
  16. ↑ GANN, PETER H.; DAVIS, DEVRA L.; PERERA, FREDERICA. "Biological Markers in Environmental Epidemiology: Constraints and Opportunities" (PDF). dge.carnegiescience.edu. Retrieved 11 February 2018. 
  17. ↑ Halstead, SB; Tugwell, P; Bennett, K. "The International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN): a progress report.". PMID 2037863. 
  18. ↑ "European Journal of Epidemiology". link.springer.com. Retrieved 1 February 2018. 
  19. ↑ Rägo, Lembit; Santoso, Budiono. "Drug Regulation: History, Present and Future" (PDF). who.int. 
  20. ↑ "Cross-national comparisons of the prevalences and correlates of mental disorders. WHO International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology.". PMID 10885160. 
  21. ↑ "Welcome to CeCERA". cerl.unt.edu. Retrieved 2 March 2018. 
  22. ↑ Van Gelder, MMH; Pijpe, A. "E-epidemiology: a comprehensive update". oapublishinglondon.com. Retrieved 10 February 2018. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Pybus, O. G.; Fraser, C.; Rambaut, A. "Evolutionary epidemiology: preparing for an age of genomic plenty". doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0193. Retrieved 10 February 2018. 
  24. ↑ Ogino, Shuji; Stampfer, Meir. "Lifestyle Factors and Microsatellite Instability in Colorectal Cancer: The Evolving Field of Molecular Pathological Epidemiology". PMC 2841039Freely accessible. doi:10.1093/jnci/djq031. Retrieved 10 February 2018. 
  25. ↑ Little, Tom J.; Allen, Judith E.; Babayan, Simon A; Matthews, Keith R; Colegrave, Nick. "Harnessing evolutionary biology to combat infectious disease". PMC 3712261Freely accessible. Retrieved 10 February 2018. 
  26. ↑ "Epidemiology". Google Trends. Retrieved 16 February 2021. 
  27. ↑ "Epidemiology". books.google.com. Retrieved 20 February 2021. 
  28. ↑ "Epidemiology". wikipediaviews.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021. 
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