cmriversepi

I’m an epidemiology professor and I write a weekly “weather report” outbreaks [1]. These communication and data blackouts are coming at a bad time. We’re having an unusual flu season—activity has rebounded unexpectedly. I’ve been having to scramble for data, last week by visiting each state health department website. It’s really troubling and consequential.

[1] https://caitlinrivers.substack.com

The first round of test results should come in Friday or this weekend. The longer it goes undiagnosed, the more we tip into categories 2 and 3.

I’m an epi professor and longtime HN lurker. I wrote a short essay yesterday about how to think about these mysterious outbreaks [1]. Briefly, the most common outcome is they are determined to be an endemic disease. Less likely is an emerging infectious disease. The most concerning possibility is something novel or highly unexpected.

[1] https://caitlinrivers.substack.com/p/understanding-mysteriou...