cathillOct 18
Did the people of Afro-Eurasia have a higher disease load than native Americans during the pre-modern era?
#history #worldhistory #diseases #epidemics #epidemology #humanhistory #immunesystem #afroeurasia #nativeamericans #illness #premodernity
SPQRSep 13, 2025
The child had been infected with measles as an infant before being eligible to receive the vaccine, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Thursday. Despite an initial recovery, the child developed subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a “rare but universally fatal complication that can occur in individuals who had measles early in life,” the health department said.
#publichealth #diseases #pathology #virology #epidemology #measles #USA
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/09/12/los-angeles-measles-complication-vaccination-sspe/
L.A. County child dies of rare measles complication years after infection

The child contracted measles before being old enough to vaccinate, officials said — adding that the case highlights the importance of community immunity.

The Washington Post
SPQRAug 20, 2025
“You have people who were working, with no disabilities, and from one day to the next, they cannot even type on a phone, they can’t hold a pen, a woman cannot even hold a knife to be able to cook for her family,” said Dr. Diana Rojas Alvarez, who leads chikungunya work at the W.H.O. “It really impacts quality of life and also the economy of the country.”
#PublicHealth #virology #pathology #LatinAmerica #China #epidemology #healthcare
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/health/chikungunya-virus-mosquitoes-what-to-know.html
Cases of Mosquito-Borne Chikungunya Virus Are Surging Globally: What to Know

Chikungunya, which can disable victims for years, is spreading rapidly, including in China and other places that have not seen it before.

The New York Times
SPQRJul 31, 2025
Well done dumbasses: "Measles cases in Canada have far surpassed those in the United States as health officials in Alberta, a western province that has become a hot spot for the outbreak, have urged the provincial leader to declare a public health emergency to stave off infections."
#pathology #epidemology #Alberta #disease #virology #Canada #health #healthcare
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/world/canada/canada-alberta-measles-outbreak.html
Canada’s Measles Cases Surpass U.S., Alberta Officials Push for State of Emergency

Some doctors in Alberta have criticized officials for not declaring a health emergency in the western province where measles infections are surging.

The New York Times
CellBioNewsMay 14, 2024

Why #climate_change is making #parasitic #diseases harder to predict.

#epidemology #zoonotics

https://theconversation.com/why-climate-change-is-making-parasitic-diseases-harder-to-predict-229575

Why climate change is making parasitic diseases harder to predict

If the needs of both parasites and hosts are met by the niche, they can move in. Increasing biodiversity may therefore be a double-edged sword.

The Conversation
SPQRJan 21, 2024

'Alas poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio'

"A group of Danish and American social scientists announced that with artificial intelligence and a huge data set, they were able to predict the likelihood of a person’s death within the next four years with startling accuracy. “Using Sequences of Life-Events to Predict Human Lives,” published in Nature Computational Science in December
#statistics #prediction #analytics #epidemology #AI #models
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/artificial-intelligence-death-calculator/

A new AI predicts when we’ll die. It says even more about how we live.

The research packs an existential punch.

The Washington Post
Jonatan HildénMay 24, 2023

Mini book review:
Johnson’s The Ghost Map, 2006.
A terse and lively account of the cholera epidemic, London at the time, and John Snow’s work together with Henry Whitehead and others. The grander arc on city development is a bit more tenuous and feels like overplaying Snow’s legacy.

Apparently gets the historical details right (unlike e.g. Tufte). Good pointers to further reading. Minus for not including a good reproduction of the maps.

#history #epidemology #visualization #maps