Refers to a concentration of people with the same infections in the same area at the same time.
The World Health Organization uses the following categories to describe the transmission patterns of COVID-19:
- sporadic cases which refer to a small number of cases (one or more) that are either imported or detected locally
- clusters of cases which are grouped in time, geographic location, and or by common exposures
- community transmission which refers to larger outbreaks of local transmission
TIP: Outbreak and cluster are often confused. According to the US Center for Disease Control, an outbreak carries the same definition as an epidemic but is often used for a more limited geographic area. A cluster refers to a collection of cases grouped in place and time that are suspected to be greater than the number expected, even though the expected number may not be known.
Categories:
Epidemiology Infectious Disease Transmission
Cross-reference:
WHO (World Health Organisation)COVID-19Community transmission