Dr Rob says

Now that we’ve entered the summer term it’s time to stop collecting the weekly school absence data. Did I just hear a sigh of relief? The national data suggest that whilst there is still small amounts of flu circulating, levels are low, so it’s a good time to end this part of the project. To…

In these LabLogs I’ve talked endlessly about how we can’t predict the start of an influenza outbreak. Despite this, you might be surprised to learn that there are many things still to learn about how influenza is transmitted from one person to another. When someone with influenza sneezes they produce big bits of snot that…

The flu season has been as unpredictable as ever this year; in this blog Dr Rob looks at data from the UK and across Europe to try and understand the bigger. I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but flu seasons are unpredictable. This year has been no exception: there was…

In week four there was an increase in the number of school absences, similar to a peak just before the Christmas holiday. Was this due to flu, or are there other possible explanations? It would be fair to say that Shane and I had a fairly nervous but exciting telephone conversation last week. Our absence…

The way a graph is drawn can have a big influence on how the results are interpreted. In this lab log Dr Rob discusses some of the dangers in drawing graphs with DecipherMyData . Most of the analyses we’ll be doing in DecipherMyData involves drawing graphs as there aren’t many statistical tests we can perform to…

Infections other than flu could influence the school absence data. In this post, Dr Rob looks at whether two other common viruses influence DecipherMyData’s results. As some of you highlighted in the LabLogs, a big limitation with our school absence data is that we don’t collect information on the reason for school absence. So an…

Systematic reviews of research give more reliable evidence of the benefits and risks of treatments, yet they are often hampered by missing data. Dr Rob joins others in calling on drug companies to publish all their data and reassures that this project will too. I recently wrote about the fact that some of my colleagues…

A few people at work have come down with colds over the last couple of weeks. So far I’ve managed to avoid getting unwell, possibly because my years of working on a hospital ward have left their mark in the form of a reflex washing of my hands whenever I’m near a sink….. It’s unlikely…

The big news keeping us flu watchers busy this week is the new coronavirus contracted by a patient from the Middle East who recently arrived in the UK. We’re interested because it is new and the only other person known to have been infected with it died, so it’s not something to be taken lightly. Improvements in…

Decipher my data wasn’t collecting absence levels over the summer as schools were on holiday and there typically isn’t much flu around during this time. However, research and public health work preparing for the flu season goes on, so what have you missed? Two important stories emerged during the break: the first around vaccinating school…

Hi! I’m Dr Rob, and I’m helping to run the flu project again this year. Just like last year, we can’t be sure what we will find, but we do think that it is important. Why flu is important In the majority of people influenza (or flu as most of us call it) causes a…