407 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.
This two-cohort epigenome-wide association study reveals that occupational endotoxin exposure induces specific DNA methylation alterations and immune-cell remodeling, particularly neutrophil expansion, which are linked to inflammatory pathways and impaired respiratory function.
By integrating hospital diagnostic data with community healthcare utilization surveys through a Bayesian model, this study reveals that brucellosis incidence in a pastoralist population in northern Tanzania is among the highest globally, with estimates significantly influenced by low healthcare access that often leads to under-estimation of the disease burden.
A study of 1,699 school-aged children in the Kimpese health district of the Democratic Republic of the Congo revealed very high schistosomiasis prevalence in both urban (75%) and rural (82%) areas, with distinct species distributions and risk factors, suggesting that control programs must address both settings with equal urgency.
This study utilizes latent class analysis of the UK Household Longitudinal Study to reveal that distinct caregiving transition trajectories, particularly recurrent caregiving, are associated with a unique profile of health behaviors characterized by elevated smoking but reduced physical inactivity and problematic drinking.
This study introduces an NO2- and mobility-informed metapopulation model that, by integrating county-level nitrogen dioxide concentrations into infection rates, significantly outperforms classic SIR and mobility-only models in forecasting the first COVID-19 wave in Oklahoma, particularly during periods of high incidence.
This micro-longitudinal study of older adults in the UK found that higher-than-usual personal exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) is associated with modest reductions in next-day light physical activity and step counts, as well as increased sedentary time, highlighting the importance of personal monitoring for capturing short-term exposure-behavior associations.
Using latent class analysis on 151,832 UK Biobank participants, this study identified six distinct patterns of co-occurring modifiable risk factors, all of which were significantly associated with an increased risk of incident dementia, suggesting that targeting these specific clusters could improve risk stratification and prevention strategies.
Using thigh-worn accelerometers, the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reveals that childhood cancer survivors engage in extensive sedentary behavior and insufficient sleep, with only a small fraction meeting all health recommendations, highlighting an urgent need for targeted interventions to improve physical activity and sleep, particularly among adolescents and those treated with radiotherapy.
This modelling study establishes a quantitative framework demonstrating that wastewater surveillance offers the greatest value for detecting emerging viruses with high viral shedding and concentrated infection spikes, such as SARS-CoV-2 and Ebola, compared to those with lower shedding rates like chikungunya.
This study utilizes agent-based modeling and phylogenetic evidence to demonstrate that global immuno-epidemiology, specifically epidemic asynchrony across interconnected MSM networks, enabled the persistence and endemic transition of mpox clade IIb by allowing viral reservoirs in Asia to replenish transmission chains in Europe and the Americas as local immunity waned.