index case

case (kās) an instance of a disease.

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index case  the case of the original patient (propositus or proband) that stimulates investigation of other members of the family to discover a possible genetic factor. In epidemiology, the first case of a contagious disease.

trial case  a box containing lenses, arranged in pairs, a trial spectacle frame, and other devices used in testing vision.

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index case

n.

See proband.

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Index case

The first case of a contagious disease in a group or population that serves to call attention to the presence of the disease.

Mentioned in: Syphilis

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index case

Etymology: L, indicare, to make known

(in epidemiology) the first case of a disease, as contrasted with subsequent cases. See also propositus.

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case

in epidemiology, an animal which has the specified disease or condition which is under investigation.

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case abstract

a structured summary of a case report suitable for computer entry; permits machine sorting and retrieval and leads an investigator to the original paper records on which detailed descriptions must be based.

case-control sampling

selection of cases as a sample to use in a case-control study (below).

case-control study

a retrospective, analytical, epidemiological study. A group of pre-existing cases of the disease are matched with a selected group of control animals that do not have the disease so that the presence or otherwise of an hypothesized disease determinant can be ascertained in both groups.

case fatality rate

the proportion of cases with a specified condition which die within a specified time.

case finding

the strategy of surveying a population to find the sick animals that are the foci of infection; an essential early step in the eradication of any disease.

case history

the collected data concerning an individual, contact and related animals, environment and management procedures, including any past medical history and any other information that may be useful in analyzing and diagnosing the case or for instructional or research purposes.

index case

the first case recorded in an outbreak.

case management

care of a sick animal including specific and supportive medication, surgical intervention, housing, bedding, nutrition, restraint, collection of specimens for submission to laboratory or stall-side tests.

case population

the group of animals in the total population which are sick or infected, as distinct from the control population, which are not sick or infected.

case recording

entry in records of the clinical findings of individual sick animals. May be structured or unstructured, paper or machine, with or without the accounting record for the case.

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index

pl. indexes, indices [L.] the numerical ratio of measurement of any part in comparison with a fixed standard.

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index case

the first case of a disease in a group to be brought to the attention of the clinician.

Color index

a publication of the Society of Dyers and Colorists and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, containing an extensive list of dyes and dye intermediates. Each chemically distinct compound is identified by a specific number, the CI number, avoiding the confusion of trivial names used for dyes in the dye industry. The Royal Horticultural Society, London, produces a similar document to aid in the identification of flower colors.

erythrocyte i's

see erythrocyte indices.

index Medicus

a monthly publication of the National Library of Medicine, in which the world's leading biomedical literature is indexed by author and subject.

opsonic index

a measure of opsonic activity determined by the ratio of the number of microorganisms phagocytized by normal leukocytes in the presence of serum from an animal infected by the microorganism, to the number phagocytized in serum from a normal animal.

phagocytic index

the average number of bacteria ingested per leukocyte of the patient's blood.

production index

a method of expressing production compared with a potential or target.

refractive index

the refractive power of a medium compared with that of air (assumed to be 1).

therapeutic index

originally, the ratio of the maximum tolerated dose to the minimum curative dose; now defined as the ratio of the median lethal dose (LD₅₀) to the median effective dose (ED₅₀). It is used in assessing the safety of a drug.

index Veterinarius

a periodic listing of all publications in the veterinary literature by the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, United Kingdom. Also available on on-line data search.

vital index

the ratio of births to deaths within a given time in a population.

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index case

See Index patient, see there.