Summary

The Epidemiological Triad is a method to use in the studies of infectious/chronic diseases and injuries. It provides a simple framework to understand risk factors and the causal relationship between the agent, host, and environment within a disease. With epidemiology, it promotes public health to identify the effectiveness of interventions to prevent and eliminate the disease. With the use of the epidemiologic triad, it is easier for epidemiologists to correlate the connections the environment, host, and agent have with one another to spread a disease. With the use of the epidemiologic triad, it clearly depicts what connection is the most prominent to the transmission of a disease, whether it be direct contact with the hosts, or if an agent is involved. All three factors in the epidemiological triad are linked with development of a disease. The environment can affect the agent to either be more susceptible or less susceptible in the host, depending on the infectious or chronic disease. Since all three aspects of the epidemiological triad can be influenced by one another, public health professionals can use them to advance their studies in the present and near future.