Infection rate

An infection rate or incident rate is the probability or risk of an infection in a population. It is used to measure the frequency of occurrence of new instances of infection within a population during a specific time period.

${\text{Rate of infection}}=K\times {\frac {\text{the number of infections}}{\text{the number of those at risk of infection}}}$

The number of infections equals the cases identified in the study or observed. An example would be HIV infection during a specific time period in the defined population. The population at risk are the cases appearing in the population during the same time period. An example would be all the people in a city during a specific time period. The constant K is assigned a value of 100 to represent a percentage. An example would be to find the percentage of people in a city who are infected with HIV: 6,000 cases in March divided by the population of a city (one million) multiplied by the constant (K) would give an infection rate of 0.6%. ^{[citation needed]}

Calculating the infection rate is used to analyze trends for the purpose of infection and disease control.^[1] An online infection rate calculator has been developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that allows the determination of the streptococcal A infection rate in a population.^[2]

^ "Calculation of Infection Rates" (PDF). Utah Department of Health. 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-09.
^ "Group A Streptococcus Calculator". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2017-01-09.

[1] "Calculation of Infection Rates" (PDF). Utah Department of Health. 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-09.

[2] "Group A Streptococcus Calculator". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2017-01-09.

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