The analysis of disease clusters, Part II: Introduction to techniques

Public health professionals often are asked to investigate apparent clusters of human health events or "disease clusters." A cluster is an excess of cases in space (a geographic cluster), in time (a temporal cluster), or in both space and time. This is the second part of an introductory-level review of the analysis of disease clusters for physicians and health professionals concerned with infection surveillance in hospitals. It reviews the status of the field with the hope of expanding the use of cluster analysis methods for the routine surveillance of infectious diseases in the hospital environment.