incidence of disease

Incidence of a disease refers to the number of new cases that develop in a specific population during a defined period. It helps measure how quickly a disease is spreading or emerging. For example, if 50 new cases of flu occur in a city of 100,000 people over a month, the incidence rate indicates the risk of developing the flu during that time. Understanding incidence helps healthcare professionals detect outbreaks, allocate resources, and evaluate the effectiveness of prevention strategies.