A local health department in the Midwest reports cases of certain diseases to the state health department for inclusion in the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). From the perspective of community-level disease monitoring, which of the following 3-year trends in incidence rates for hepatitis A would be of local, state, and national interest?a. 2012 = 2/100,000; 2013 = 3/100,000; 2014 = 1/100,000b. 2012 = 4/100,000; 2013 = 8/100,000; 2014 = 6/100,000c. 2012 = 12/100,000; 2013 = 8/100,000; 2014 = 31/100,000d. 2012 = 16/100,000; 2013 = 24/100,000; 2014 = 9/100,000

The correct answer is 2012 = 12/100,000; 2013 = 8/100,000; 2014 = 31/100,000

Explanation:

In this report, the occurrence of Hepatitis A in 2014 was more than twice than the occurrence in 2012.  At community levels, the spread of the disease can be endemic, epidemic or in pandemic proportions.

The spread of the disease in a community or region at a level which is higher than the expectation will be epidemic.  However, mostly people tend to connect large number os incidences with epidemic, even when one case cam be termed as epidemic if the disease is considered to be eliminated perilously.