描述流行病学偶而也可为某个疾病的病因学提供直接的指征。非洲的儿童淋巴瘤和疟疾之间的关系就是一个例子。但是,更常见的是病因假说起于另外来源,而且它的批判性调查需要特殊的流行病学资料。显然,只有某些病因性影响是流行病学调查所能及的,而没有一种疾病是一种影响单独作用的结果。流行病学所关切的不是阐 Descriptive epidemiology can, on occasion, provide a direct indication of the etiology of a disease. The relationship between childhood lymphomas and malaria in Africa is an example. However, it is more common for etiological hypotheses to originate from alternative sources, and its critical investigation requires special epidemiological data. Obviously, only certain aetiological effects are within the reach of epidemiological investigations, and none of them is the result of a single agent. Epidemiology is not concerned with elucidation