Final answer:
Epidemiology is a public health science that answers questions about the occurrence, distribution, and determinants of health and disease within populations. Specifically, it seeks to understand what health events are taking place, when they occur, how they are transmitted, and who is affected, which corresponds to option b. what, when, how, who.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subject in question is epidemiology, which is the science focusing on the causes, distribution, and effects of health-related events within populations. Specifically, epidemiology seeks to answer questions about the occurrence, frequency, and patterns of diseases. The correct answer that epidemiology aims to answer is: what (disease or health event is occurring), when (it occurs), who (is affected by it), and how (the disease spreads or is transmitted).
Surveying Epidemiological Questions
The correct answer to what epidemiology seeks to understand is b. what, when, how, who. This broadly covers what health issues are present, when they occur, how they spread within a population, and who is affected. These questions allow epidemiologists to study and analyze the impact of disease in populations, which includes understanding factors such as the number of infected people, the spread of infection, and the social implications of diseases.
For example, 19.2 Global Health and social epidemiology are connected, as social epidemiology focuses on the study of the causes and distribution of diseases (Option d). An epidemiologist like John Snow, who is known for his work in identifying the source of a cholera outbreak in London, demonstrated the importance of epidemiological research in public health. Moreover, epidemiological studies may look at both acute and chronic diseases, countering the misconception that acute diseases are always less dangerous than chronic diseases.