Epi Explained: Understanding Incidence Rate In epidemiology, the incidence rate is one of the most important measures for understanding the occurrence of new cases of a disease or condition over
Author: Cody Micah Carmichael MPH, CPH
Epi Explained: What are Sensitivity and Specificity in Epidemiology? Quick Takeaways Sensitivity measures a test’s ability to correctly identify individuals with the disease. Specificity measures how well a test correctly
Top 5 Takeaways Preferential Recommendation: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) now recommends mRNA COVID-19 vaccines over the Janssen vaccine for all persons aged ≥18 years. Safety Concerns: Cases
Top 5 Takeaways Omicron Detection: The Omicron variant was first detected in U.S. community wastewater in late November 2021. Early Surveillance: Wastewater surveillance provided early evidence of Omicron, ahead of
Top 5 Takeaways Significant Decrease in WPV1 Cases: The number of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Afghanistan decreased by 93% from 2020 to 2021. Reduction in Positive Sewage
Top 5 Takeaways Expanded Indication: The FDA expanded the use of recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) to include immunocompromised adults aged ≥19 years. ACIP Recommendation: ACIP recommends two doses of RZV
Top 5 Takeaways Prevalence of Birth Defects: Approximately 5% of infants in the U.S. Zika Pregnancy and Infant Registry (USZPIR) had Zika-associated brain or eye defects. Common Defects: Frequently reported
Top 5 Takeaways Significant Increase in Overdose Deaths: Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. increased by 28.5% from April 2020 to April 2021. Emergence of Para-fluorofentanyl: Para-fluorofentanyl, a substance from
Top 5 Takeaways Third Dose Effectiveness: A third dose of mRNA vaccines was highly effective at preventing COVID-19–associated emergency department (ED) and urgent care (UC) encounters and hospitalizations during both
Epi Explained: Understanding Biases and Errors in Epidemiology Quick Takeaways What is the difference between bias and random error in epidemiology? Bias is a systematic deviation from the truth,