When trying to determine whether the swine flu outbreak was getting wo

When trying to determine whether the swine flu outbreak was getting worse, which of the following rates should be carefully observed?

a. The crude death rate
b. The age-specific death rate
c. The swine flu incidence rate
d. The swine flu prevalence rate

ESSAYBID ANSWER

ANS: C
The incidence rate of new cases would be most useful for detecting short-term acute disease changes, because the swine flu duration is usually relatively short.