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  • Are there early patterns appearing?

    The first half term is down and things are slowly warming up. Already we’ve fallen into what appears to be a similar pattern of background illness levels to last year after very low illness levels at the start of the year. My classes have not yet got onto a microbes or disease topic so things…

  • Missing data – the silent problem that’s finally causing a noise

    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…

  • Flu scientists get colds too!

    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…

  • Watching for flu – we need your data

    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…

  • Consent form sent in finally

    I’ve been so busy with all the usual business at the start of term I nearly forgot to return my consent form. The head was able to OK it on the spot. Now I just need to get it sent back and get our lovely absence officer to send me over the first month’s absence…

  • Flu over the summer

    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…

  • The learning curve with the ‘flu project

    Hi, I’m Declan. I’m a teacher who’s been involved with the ‘flu project from the start. I’m really interested in getting school students involved with current research and learning more about science from inside the process rather than just “How Science Works”. Last year was a massive learning curve for us as no-one has tried…

  • Why season two is important

    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…

  • Detecting the unpredictable: the start of a flu season

    A variety of factors trigger a flu season, making it difficult to predict. We don’t fully understand these factors yet, let alone how they are linked. It’s because we can’t forecast the start of the season that we carry out projects like Decipher my data! Flu! We can at least detect flu and so far…

  • Got something to say about the data? Write a LabLog!

    There is now a new data analysis tool on the site; XY scatter graphs. These graphs will help you examine whether school absence due to flu is linked to variables, including percentage of pupils on free school meals and average age of school buildings. We haven’t seen a peak in national flu, yet. This means school…