 |
In summary, disease clusters and their investigation are a fairly
common epidemiologic issue. There are many methodologic issues in
the investigation of disease clusters, especially for the traditional
environmental or community disease cluster. There are distinct
advantages to the investigation of occupational clusters, which have
been a fruitful source of disease-toxin linkages in the history of
occupational medicine. Nevertheless, disease cluster investigations
demand considerable use of time and other resources, and result in
hypothesis generation at best requiring further investigation.
Therefore, careful consideration must be made before embarking on a
disease cluster investigation.
|
