📊 Category

epidemiology

286 papers

Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread through populations and what factors influence their patterns. Rather than focusing on individual patients, this field examines broader trends to identify outbreaks, track transmission, and guide public health decisions. By analyzing data on infection rates and risk factors, researchers work to prevent future health crises and protect communities worldwide.

On Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category directly from medRxiv to make these critical findings instantly accessible. For each study, we provide both a plain-language explanation for general readers and a detailed technical summary for specialists. This dual approach ensures that vital insights into disease dynamics are understood clearly and quickly by everyone who needs them.

Explore the latest research below to see how scientists are currently mapping disease trends and developing strategies to safeguard global health.

📊 epidemiology

Effect of an integrated community-based intervention on antenatal care, incidence of malaria in pregnancy, adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes in rural Mali and Burkina Faso: The INTEGRATION cluster randomized trial.

A secondary analysis of the INTEGRATION cluster randomized trial in rural Mali and Burkina Faso found that a four-month community-based intervention delivering intermittent preventive treatment for malaria during seasonal home visits did not significantly improve antenatal care coverage, reduce malaria incidence in pregnancy, or improve adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes compared to standard clinic-based care.

Bognini, J. D., DEMBELE, M., BIHOUN, B., KOITA, K., TRAORE, S., ROUAMBA, T., HUYEN TON NU NGUYET, M., COULIBALY, O., NTA (…)2026-03-23
📊 epidemiology

Predictive and Seasonal Dynamics of the Human Wastewater Virome

By analyzing three years of targeted hybrid capture sequencing data from 15 Texas cities, this study demonstrates that the human wastewater virome exhibits strong, predictable seasonal patterns and interconnected ecological dynamics that enable machine learning models to accurately forecast viral abundance and infer sampling time, thereby establishing a foundation for proactive, metagenomics-based infectious disease monitoring.

Vahdat, Z., Grimm, S. L., Gandhi, T., Tisza, M., Javornik-Cregeen, S., Bel Rhali, S., Clark, J., Prakash, H., Petrosino (…)2026-03-23
📊 epidemiology

Epidemiological, vectorial and landscape changes in the context of declining Onchocerca volvulus transmission across the Kakoi-Koda focus, Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo

This study demonstrates that *Onchocerca volvulus* transmission in the Kakoi-Koda focus of the DRC has markedly declined due to a combination of community-directed ivermectin treatment and landscape-driven shifts in vector species, although targeted surveillance remains essential to confirm elimination thresholds.

Amaral, L.-J., Ukety, T., Upenjirwoth, J., Wonyarossi, D. U., Mandro, M. N., Nyisi, F., Adroba, P., Stolk, W. A., Fodjo (…)2026-03-22
📊 epidemiology

Public attitudes toward sharing health data for artificial intelligence: Differences by data type and sector in the Health in Central Denmark cohort

A 2024 survey of nearly 39,000 participants in Central Denmark reveals that public willingness to share health data for AI development varies significantly by data type and is substantially higher when the data is managed by public institutions rather than private ones, highlighting the critical role of institutional trust and data sensitivity in shaping acceptance.

Schaarup, J. R., Isaksen, A. A., Hulman, A.2026-03-22
📊 epidemiology

EVOLVE-HBV: A retrospective cross-sectional study to quantify and characterise HBV infection, exposure, immunity and susceptibility in a rural population in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

This retrospective cross-sectional study in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, reveals a high prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus infection (10.4%) and exposure (34.9%) alongside low vaccine-mediated immunity, underscoring an urgent need for scaled-up interventions to meet global elimination targets.

Anderson, M., Mazibuko, L., Sukali, G., Maponga, T. G., DELPHIN, M., Waddilove, E., Upton, J., Naidoo, V. G., Olivier, S (…)2026-03-19
📊 epidemiology

Determining fragility and robustness to missing data in binary outcome meta-analyses, illustrated with conflicting associations between vitamin D and cancer mortality

This paper introduces a generalized method for assessing meta-analytic fragility using the Ellipse of Insignificance and Region of Attainable Redaction approaches, demonstrating through an analysis of vitamin D and cancer mortality studies that even large-scale meta-analyses can be highly sensitive to minor data changes or missing literature, thereby challenging the robustness of conflicting clinical findings.

Grimes, D. R.2026-03-18
📊 epidemiology

SEVA: An externally driven framework for reproducing COVID-19 mortality waves without transmission feedback

The paper introduces the SEVA framework, an externally driven model that successfully reproduces the temporal structure of early COVID-19 mortality waves across multiple regions using a single parameter for population-level exposure, thereby offering a parsimonious alternative to traditional transmission-based models by decoupling epidemic dynamics from infection feedback.

Varming, K.2026-03-18✓ Author reviewed ⓘ
📊 epidemiology

Game Over for the Baseline: Anomalous Burden and Structural Seasonal Shifts in Post-Pandemic U.S. Influenza Hospitalization, 2009 to 2025

This study analyzes 16 seasons of U.S. influenza hospitalization data (2009–2025) to reveal that the post-pandemic era is characterized by a nearly doubled disease burden, a structural shift toward intensified and earlier seasonality, persistent racial and ethnic disparities, and anomalous peaks that exceed pre-pandemic projections.

Hedman, H.2026-03-18