Epidemiology News and Research

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Most Americans may have inadequate understanding of palliative care

The majority of surveyed Americans had an inadequate understanding of palliative care, and frequency of health care utilization was one determinant of knowledge.

5 Jun 2021

Analysis: Mounting pressure on China about Covid ‘lab leak’ could backfire

President Joe Biden has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to determine whether the Covid virus, or a near ancestor, emerged from a cave, a live-animal market, a farm — or a secretive Chinese laboratory.

4 Jun 2021

New method gives an accurate real-time estimate of epidemic trajectories

A new method to monitor epidemics like COVID-19 gives an accurate real-time estimate of the growth rate of an epidemic by carefully evaluating the relationship between the amount of viruses in infected people's bodies, called the viral load, and how fast the number of cases is increasing or decreasing.

3 Jun 2021

Alzheimer's disease increases a threefold risk of contracting severe COVID-19 and death

Neurodegenerative disorders that cause dementia increase the risk of contracting severe COVID-19 and dying from the disease.

3 Jun 2021

Researchers detect Zika virus RNA in free-ranging African bats

A team of Colorado State University scientists, led by veterinary postdoctoral fellow Dr. Anna Fagre, has detected Zika virus RNA in free-ranging African bats. RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a molecule that plays a central role in the function of genes.

3 Jun 2021

Could higher carnitine levels in the blood protect against severe COVID-19?

Researchers at the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU), Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, found that carnitine and its derivative acetyl-carnitine provide a protective effect against severe COVID-19. Doubling of carnitine or acetyl-carnitine is tied to a 40-percent reduction risk of disease progression.

2 Jun 2021

Can immunity form and interaction with seasonal coronaviruses influence SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology?

A new study hypothesizes that cross-protection from seasonal epidemics of HCoVs could not only affect SARS-CoV-2 transmission but also protect children from the disease.

2 Jun 2021

Childhood vaccination rates in Texas have dropped steeply during COVID-19 pandemic

A team of researchers from universities in California and Texas has found immunization rates for children in Texas for a wide range of diseases, including polio and measles, have dropped steeply during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 Jun 2021

Study provides new knowledge about molecular mechanisms underlying human traits, diseases

A new study analyzing the association between an individual's genetics (genotype) and their observable characteristics resulting from the interaction of genetics and the environment (phenotype), contributes new knowledge to the understanding of human complex traits and diseases.

1 Jun 2021

SWOG researchers to present practice-changing research at virtual ASCO 2021

"SWOG always brings an impressive portfolio of work to the ASCO annual meeting," said SWOG Chair Charles D. Blanke, MD, "and this year I'm particularly excited about the research our investigators are presenting because it includes results that are likely to be practice-changing."

1 Jun 2021

Researchers develop novel set of tools for designing vitamin D clinical trials

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have developed a novel set of tools for designing vitamin D clinical trials that capture large seasonal and population-wide differences in vitamin D status, typically seen in individuals.

1 Jun 2021

Promoting infant healthy feeding practices can result in lower consumption of fats, carbohydrates later

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil found that when health workers were trained to promote infant healthy feeding practices to pregnant women their children consumed less fats and carbohydrates at 3 years of age and had lower measures of body fat at the age of 6.

1 Jun 2021

Ethnic diversity in genetic study identifies more genomic regions linked to type 2 diabetes-related traits

By ensuring ethnic diversity in a largescale genetic study, an international team of researchers, including a University of Massachusetts Amherst genetic epidemiologist, has identified more regions of the genome linked to type 2 diabetes-related traits.

1 Jun 2021

COVID-19 had claimed more than 3 million lives worldwide in 2020

By the end of 2020, COVID-19 had claimed the lives of more than three million people worldwide, representing 1.2 million more deaths than officially reported earlier, says a newly released report by the World Health Organization (WHO).

31 May 2021

Expanding genomic research into different ancestries yields more and better results

Today The Lundquist Institute announced that its investigators contributed data from several studies, including data on Hispanics, African-Americans and East Asians, to the international MAGIC collaboration, composed of more than 400 global academics, who conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis led by the University of Exeter.

31 May 2021

COVID-19, mass testing and the utility of wastewater epidemiology

In a recent study, researchers developed a methodology to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater with the potential for finding an association between the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) SARS-CoV-2 influent viral RNA load and COVID-19 cases in the community. This study indicates that a national scale wastewater-based epidemiology can play a role in COVID-19 surveillance.

31 May 2021