📊 Category

epidemiology

357 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

Uncovering identifiability of epidemiological models: basic reproduction number and complementary data streams

This study demonstrates that while individual parameters in epidemiological models may not be uniquely identifiable, the basic reproduction number often is, and that adding minimal complementary data can render otherwise non-identifiable models globally identifiable, thereby shifting the focus of public health surveillance toward ensuring the identifiability of decision-relevant quantities rather than complete model identifiability.

Pant, B., Saucedo, O., Pogudin, G.2026-01-25
📊 epidemiology

ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF MITOCHONDRIAL HETEROPLASMIC VARIANTS AND CARDIOMETABOLIC TRAITS

By analyzing deep whole-genome sequencing data from 16,882 participants across six multi-ancestry cohorts, this study identified twelve significant associations between rare mitochondrial heteroplasmic variants and various cardiometabolic traits, including a strong link between CO1 gene variants and hyperlipidemia, thereby highlighting the role of mitochondrial heteroplasmy in cardiometabolic disease pathophysiology.

Sun, X., Liu, X., Bulekova, K., Pitsillides, A. N., Guo, X., Qian, Y., Raffield, L. M., Rotter, J., Rich, S., Abecasis (…)2026-01-25
📊 epidemiology

Epidemiology of stillbirths and maternal post-discharge outcomes following stillbirths in Uganda: a prospective cohort study

This prospective cohort study of over 7,000 women in Uganda reveals that maternal morbidity following stillbirth is high and identifies previous child death, transport delays, and pregnancy-related illnesses as key risk factors, while highlighting adequate antenatal care and partner support as protective measures.

Twinamatsiko, o., Nguyen, V., Owen. Wiens, M., Komugisha, C., Namala, A., Ngonzi, J., Pillay, Y., Mugisha, N. K., Christ (…)2026-01-25
📊 epidemiology

Dietary sugar exposure in early life and risk of adult mental health disorders: UK Biobank cohort study

This UK Biobank cohort study suggests that exposure to sugar rationing during the first 1,000 days of life is associated with a reduced risk of developing anxiety disorders in adulthood, independent of later dietary habits, while its protective effect against depression appears weaker and potentially mediated by later-life factors.

Navratilova, H. F., Whetton, A. D., Geifman, N.2026-01-22
📊 epidemiology

Assessing diagnostic accuracy of Ov16 rapid diagnostic tests for onchocerciasis using Bayesian latent class models

By applying Bayesian latent class models to pooled data from Mozambique, Ghana, and Benin, this study demonstrates that while the novel GADx Ov16 rapid test achieves the sensitivity required for stopping mass drug administration, none of the evaluated tests meet the necessary specificity thresholds to support elimination decisions without confirmatory strategies.

Norman, J., Bassabi-Alladjie, N.-M., Boko-Collins, P. M., de Souza, D. K., Gass, K., Hamill, L., Langa, J., Moore, C., N (…)2026-01-22
📊 epidemiology

A distributed, privacy-preserving platform for linkage of epidemiological data with pathogen genome sequences

The authors present SecureEpiLink, a privacy-preserving distributed platform that uses cryptographic hashing to automatically and securely link epidemiological data with pathogen genome sequences across different organizations, enabling real-time outbreak detection without exposing personal identifying information.

Langevin, J., Featherstone, L., Di Giallonardo, F., Horsburgh, B. A., Lloyd, A., Rawlinson, W., Bull, R., Kelleher, A. (…)2026-01-21
📊 epidemiology

Drastic changes in collaboration networks and publication patterns in research using the CDC WONDER dataset

This study reveals a dramatic surge in CDC WONDER dataset publications driven by a network of researchers, primarily from Pakistan, who are likely producing low-quality, template-based papers to meet medical residency demands, highlighting the urgent need for proactive editorial screening and improved critical appraisal skills to safeguard scientific integrity against mass-produced research.

Maupin, D., Suchak, T., Sengupta, A., Marra, M., Geifman, N., Spick, M.2026-01-15