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 study demonstrates that a gut microbiome-derived risk score, based on 28 microbial species, can predict the future development of cancer up to a decade before diagnosis, highlighting the microbiome's potential as a novel biomarker for early cancer risk stratification.
This cross-sectional analysis of U.S. adults reveals that the modifying effect of sedentary time on the positive association between leg lean mass and bone mineral density varies significantly by sex and age, with the divergence between men and women becoming more pronounced in older age groups.
This study demonstrates that while a previously developed metabolite-based distress score (MDS) effectively predicts depression in White populations, its utility is enhanced for Black individuals and generalizability across diverse groups by deriving a multi-ethnic version (MDS-ME) that incorporates additional metabolites identified specifically within Black cohorts.
A simulation-based decision analysis modeling US influenza surveillance data from 2010 to 2026 suggests that vaccinating in late November or early December (MMWR weeks 47–48) optimally balances waning immunity and epidemic timing to reduce outpatient influenza burden more effectively than current September–October guidance.
This study analyzes 2013–2024 data to reveal that while laboratory-confirmed Lyme disease cases in England remained stable, primary care diagnoses increased significantly, necessitating an update to the multiplication factor for estimating total annual cases from 2.35 to 6.20.
This study establishes a rigorous, reproducible framework for creating longitudinal, linked maternal-infant cohorts within the Epic Cosmos dataset, demonstrating that the resulting data is highly complete, representative of the US birth population, and suitable for epidemiologic research despite significant attrition when enforcing strict longitudinal follow-up criteria.
This study demonstrates that clonal haematopoiesis burden in cognitively healthy older adults is longitudinally associated with progressive, Alzheimer's-like cortical atrophy, suggesting it may serve as a marker for adverse brain ageing.
This paper proposes and validates a two-step framework that integrates short-term dietary randomised controlled trials with Mendelian randomisation to identify molecular mediators and infer the long-term causal effects of dietary interventions on disease risk, demonstrating its utility through the DiRECT diabetes remission study.
An analysis of over 5,000 wastewater metagenomic samples from 17 Texas cities spanning the 2026 World Cup period found no evidence that the mass gathering significantly altered viral community composition, respiratory virus trends, or the prevalence of rare taxa compared to historical baselines, suggesting that continuous surveillance is more effective than event-triggered monitoring.
This longitudinal study of 4,090 older adults reveals that chronic loneliness and isolation are significantly associated with a wide range of adverse physical, mental, and behavioral health outcomes, underscoring the critical impact of persistent social deficits on healthy aging.