mass action principle

a basic tenet of epidemiology, which relates the incidence of an epidemic disease in a given population to the number of current cases, the number of susceptible people, and the infection transmission parameter.

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

mass ac·tion prin·ci·ple

(mas ak'shŭn prin'si-pĕl)

The fundamental principle in epidemic theory: the incidence of an infectious disease is determined by the product of the current prevalence and the number of susceptibles in the population.
See also: serial interval, infection transmission parameter

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

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References in periodicals archive ?

Such findings would be consistent with the mass action principle of disease transmission, which assumes that transmission is a function of density (16).

Long-term Studies of Hantavirus Reservoir Populations in the Southwestern United States: A Synthesis