영원할 것 같았던 분단의 겨울을 지나 불현 듯 봄이 오고 있습니다. 그 오랜 시간동안 남북은 대립과 극복의 대상으로 상대를 보아 오기도 하였지만 무관심의 대상이 되기도 했습니다. 이제 남과 북이 이웃으로 소통하고 거리낌 없이 나눔을 주고받는 시대가 성큼 다가온 듯 합니다. 보건의료분야는 어려움속에서도 적지 않은 소통을 해왔지만 지난 10년간은 그나마도 이루어지지 못하였습니다. 이제 다시 올 평화의 시대, 남과 북이 서로 오가고 주고받는 시대를 앞두고 보건의료분야는 공동으로 질병을 퇴치하고 환경을 개선하여 건강증진을 이룩하여야 할 것입니다. 대한예방의학회와 한국역학회는 국회 정춘숙 의원실과 함께 단절된 지난 시간동안의 남북 보건의료체계 변화를 되짚어보고 양측의 주요한 보건문제를 확인하여 앞으로 다가올 남북 평화 교류시대를 현명하게 준비하고자 합니다. 많은 관심과 참여를 기대합니다.
What is an epidemiological week and why do we use them?
An epidemiological week, commonly referred to as an epi week or a CDC week, is simply a standardized method of counting weeks to allow for the comparison of data year after year. Many people know these as CDC weeks because CDC uses them and has published them in the past. Nevertheless, they are used throughout the world by epidemiological teams in different countries. Unfortunately, not all countries calculate epi weeks in the same manner, and this discrepancy causes some difficulty in comparing data internationally.
The question is, how do we define epi weeks? The heart of the matter is how we define the first epi week. Is it the week in which the first of January falls? Is it the first complete week in January? To solve this, there is a definition (in the United States and many Latin American countries) as to how we establish epi week one.
The first epi week of the yearends, by definition, on the first Saturday of January, as long as it falls at least four days into the month. Each epi week begins on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday. (http://www.paho.org/english/sha/be_v21n3-calendar.htm) The following figure provides the epi week calendar for 2006, with epi week one starting (by coincidence) on the first of January.
So why do we bother to determine and use epi weeks? Many times, particularly for mosquito surveillance programs or epidemiological studies, daily increments are too frequent and too varied to be able to be managed and analyzed, or there are many factors that make it impossible to compare daily results. On the other hand, the monthly time interval is too great, and data interpretation is needed at more frequent intervals. Therefore we seek an intermediary period of time to analyze the data, and this brings us to the week. By defining the epi week, we are able to maintain harmony and ensure that all parties count weeks the same way, understanding that epi week n refers to the same time period.