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| {{merge|Index case (medicine)|Talk:Index case (medicine)#Merger proposal|date=November 2007}}
| | #REDIRECT [[index case]] |
| {{for|the band|Index Case (band)}}
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| An '''index case''' is the patient that serves as the central point of reference in a disease outbreak. This may be the initial case identified in an outbreak. A synonym may be [[Index case (medicine)|patient zero]]. The first generation of cases from the index case are primary cases. Cases that arise from the primary cases are considered secondary cases. The concepts of an index case, [[proband]], and informant are similar but arise from different disciplines. Babbage has a great description of informants in [[sociological research]]. (Babbage 2007) The index case is typically used by disease outbreak (usually an infectious disease) investigators, [[epidemiologists]], physicians, and [[communicable disease]] nurses to describe the case that is noticed first in a [[case series]], outbreak or [[epidemic]]. The proband is used in genetics to describe the case that seeks treatment first. The proband case typically is a disease that has a genetic basis. In sociological research conducted in the field an informant, is sometimes used to overcome obstacles to recognizing culturally specific information. A proband and index case may also be used as an informant in disease outbreak investigations. [[Epidemiology]], [[genetics]], and [[sociological research]] may overlap. In these cases, the terms may be used interchangeably.
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| [[Category:Disease]]
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