Epidemiology – The Conversation

The Epidemic Intelligence Service has been a crucial tool in fighting diseases at home and abroad. Its impact would be impossible to replace.

As public health officials try to tame the outbreak, declining vaccination rates draw concern.

If you see a health claim that seems too good – or too bad – to be true, take a moment to step back and assess the evidence.

In the US and Sweden, there’s been a drop in the number of babies receiving the vitamin K injection. But Australia doesn’t collect national data.

Public health calls many deaths ‘preventable,’ but that term can mask how policy, access and geography shape who gets care – and who doesn’t.

While other forms of Ebola can be prevented with a vaccine, none are currently available to prevent this rare strain.

For some, the current peak of the wave has passed. For others, it’s more a slow rise in cases. Here’s what we can expect as the festive season approaches.

Several dozen people have died from an unknown disease in the DRC, and unknown numbers have become ill. This is why we need better disease surveillance.

As overall cancer rates in the US decline, childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia continues to rise.

Officials have confirmed eight new outbreaks in Michigan poultry flocks since mid-December.

Going viral appears to be more than just a catchphrase when it comes to misinformation.

Artificial intelligence can sift thorugh vast amounts of online social media and environmental data to predict avian flu outbreaks.

Cancer deaths in the US have dropped steeply since 1991. But the medical and public health advances leading to these declines have been concentrated among high-income areas.

While cholera launched modern epidemiology and has nearly disappeared in many countries, the disease never went away. It has instead retreated to the places least equipped to fight it.

Herd immunity will protect people in those countries for now, but this is a concerning find.

New research shows fast-food outlets and with few healthy food options was strongly linked to indicators of poorer health for both mother and baby.

Diseases once thought confined to history are making a comeback in Australia. And vaccination is only part of the story.

Infectious diseases can spill over from animals to humans as well as spill back. Each cross-species transmission gives pathogens a chance to evolve and spread even further.

The contraceptive pill is responsible for preventing more cancers than it contributes to. Long-acting contraceptives seem to be as safe when it comes to cancer risk.

As we prepare for the festive season, it’s easy to let COVID boosters fall off our to-do lists. But COVID is still circulating and new shots are available.