Word: epidemiologist
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...called depression gene - a variant of a serotonin-transporter gene called 5-HTTLPR - may not be associated with an elevated risk for depression, as many researchers had believed. "Knowing whether or not you have this gene is irrelevant," says the study's co-author Kathleen Merikangas, a genetic epidemiologist at the National Institute of Mental Health, who adds that future studies of genetic risk factors for depression should broaden their scope and consider the interactions of many genes rather than the actions of just...
...virus originated or when it first infected humans, if we had half as clear a picture of the flu viruses circulating in pigs and other animals as we do of human flu viruses, we might have seen H1N1 coming. (When it comes to sniffing out new pathogens, says one epidemiologist, "we're like a drunk looking for his keys.") Faster genetic sequencing and the Internet give us the technological means to create an early-warning system. But we need to spend more on animal health and get doctors talking to their veterinarian counterparts. "For too long, the animal side...
...error on either side, and there are still holes in the epidemiology that need to be filled, but the consensus is that the WHO's handling of H1N1 was reasonable. "Our research indicates that the WHO was justified in its actions in the early days," says Christophe Fraser, an epidemiologist at Imperial College and the lead author of the paper. "There was no overreaction there...
...epidemiologists begin to crunch the data on H1N1, we should have a better idea of how it spreads - and how dangerous it might be. New studies published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine indicate that older people in the U.S. also appear to have escaped the virus - just 5% of U.S. patients with confirmed cases of H1N1 are 51 or older. Still, since health officials have so far focused mostly on outbreaks in schools, it's possible they are simply missing older cases. "This is an evolving outbreak and we're still learning how this virus works," said...
...That's not just hot air. According to Dr. Meirion Evans, an epidemiologist with the U.K.'s Faculty of Public Health, the government body that sets public health standards, "If we start seeing countries reporting contractions from person-to-person, then visiting anywhere in the world would be as risky as visiting Mexico." And despite the high number of swine flu cases reported in Mexico - over 2,000, with more than 150 deaths so far - that number may stabilize or fall, suggesting that Mexico "could be over the worst of its problems, whereas other countries have the worst to come...