Epidemiology News and Research

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Study Explores How Highly Infectious TB Cases Drive Transmission

Superspreading became a familiar concept to many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior studies examining infectious disease epidemics, including those on COVID-19, have found that some individuals are much more likely to transmit infections to other people.

15 May 2026

Study Reveals Asymptomatic Mpox Infections Drive Transmission Among Men

A Kaiser Permanente study of nearly 8,000 men shows that in mid- to late 2024, mpox was far more common among men who have sex with men than previously thought.

15 May 2026

AI Eye Scan Detects Diabetes And Chronic Diseases In 30 Seconds

Reti-Pioneer is an AI system that analyzes retinal images for rapid detection of chronic diseases, enhancing early diagnosis and healthcare accessibility.

13 May 2026

New Epigenetic Marker Reveals Lasting Impact of Arsenic Exposure

Public health experts estimate that more than 200 million people worldwide are exposed to arsenic through contaminated drinking water.

5 May 2026

Largest Genetic Study Reveals New Biological Clues for Severe Pregnancy Sickness

The USC research team that recently identified the hormone-encoding gene GDF15 as a key driver of pregnancy sickness has identified 9 additional genes linked to its most severe form, hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

15 Apr 2026

Certain Antibiotics Leave Lasting Footprints on Human Gut Microbiome

Antibiotic treatments can affect the composition of the community of bacteria living in the gut, known as the gut microbiome, for a long time.

13 Mar 2026

Eleven Genetic Regions Shape the Human Gut Microbiome

In two new studies on 28,000 individuals, researchers are able to show that genetic variants in 11 regions of the human genome have a clear influence on which bacteria are in the gut and what they do there.

16 Feb 2026

Old Blood Stem Cells Regain Regenerative Capacity Through Lysosomal Intervention

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered how to reverse aging in blood-forming stem cells in mice by correcting defects in the stem cell's lysosomes.

25 Nov 2025

New Polygenic Risk Scores Transform Disease Prediction for Han Chinese Populations

Researchers at Academia Sinica have developed the first population-specific polygenic risk score (PRS) models for people of Han Chinese ancestry, achieving unprecedented accuracy in predicting risks for common diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders.

22 Nov 2025

Genetic Variants Reveal Unexpected Link Between Obesity Risk and Cholesterol Levels

Individuals with a genetic profile that puts them at risk of obesity may not necessarily be at risk of having high cholesterol, UTHealth Houston researchers discovered.

31 Oct 2025

New Genomic Analysis Platform Launched for Tracking for Zoonotic Pathogens

Zoonotic pathogens, capable of crossing between animals and humans, pose escalating threats due to antimicrobial resistance, genetic diversification, and complex transmission patterns.

11 Sep 2025

Blocking Viral Enzyme Boosts Brain Immunity Against HSV-1

Infections caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can lead to HSV-1 encephalitis-a rare but deadly condition that inflames the brain.

4 Jun 2025

Advanced Molecular Tools Help Wildlife Researchers Assess Bat Health

How do wildlife researchers know when an endangered population is sick? They can detect infectious microbes in animal waste, but the presence of a microbe doesn't always equate to impactful symptomatic infections.

27 Feb 2025

Genetic Sequencing Breakthrough Reveals Rapid Spread of New Pathogens

Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans - including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and tuberculosis.

2 Jan 2025

Genetic Signatures Driving Early Type 2 Diabetes in South Asians Revealed

A genetic predisposition to having lower insulin production and less healthy fat distribution are major causes of early-onset type 2 diabetes in British Asian people.

28 Nov 2024

Genome-Scale Analysis Reveals Cholera's Evolution

The genetic components that make the cholera-causing bacterium so lethal have been identified by experts using a state-of-the-art computational method, and this information may be crucial to averting the terrible illness.

24 Sep 2024

Study Reveals Genes Influencing Menopause and Cancer Risk

New research has found four genes with some of the largest known effects on the timing of menopause discovered to date, providing new insight into links between menopause timing and cancer risk.

12 Sep 2024

Study Uncovers Biomarkers for Low Muscle Mass, Offering Insights for Personalized Prevention

Machine learning models to analyze computed tomography (CT) images of the chest and a proteomics approach to determine blood protein biomarkers.

15 Aug 2024

Utah Scientists Begin New Project to Map Epigenetic Changes Across the Human Genome

The Human Genome Project changed everything. A map of the entire human sequence of DNA was the starting point for an enormous number of discoveries, from disease genes to how humans evolved.

12 Aug 2024

UNC Charlotte Study: SARS-CoV-2 Variants BA.2.86 and JN.1 Show Minimal Immune Evasion

New research from UNC Charlotte's Center for Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER) has found that the two recent and prevalent strains of the virus that cause COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 variants BA.2.86 and JN.1, are not significantly better than their predecessor Omicron at evading immune responses and causing infections despite having a high number of mutations compared to Omicron.

22 Jul 2024