Publications by authors named "M Briers"
Article Synopsis
- Carcinocythemia is the presence of tumor cells in the blood, making it challenging to detect, especially when the cells are present in low numbers.
- In a case study, a 56-year-old patient was initially suspected of having sepsis but was later diagnosed with carcinocythemia after atypical cells were found in a blood smear, and further tests confirmed the presence of carcinoma cells.
- The patient sadly passed away shortly after diagnosis, revealing that the underlying cause was a form of breast cancer; this highlights the need for improved detection methods for carcinocythemia in patients with symptoms like disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).
Article Synopsis
- A study analyzed 7 million contacts recorded by the National Health Service COVID-19 app in England and Wales to evaluate the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 transmission after exposure.
- The research found that longer exposures at greater distances had similar risk levels to shorter exposures at closer distances, and the chance of transmission increased steadily with longer exposure duration.
- Households, though representing only 6% of contacts, were responsible for 40% of transmissions, suggesting that tailored public health strategies based on digital contact tracing could effectively manage outbreaks.
We present as a guiding framework for statistical modelling to assist policy makers asking multiple questions using diverse datasets in the face of an evolving pandemic response. Interoperability provides an important set of principles for future pandemic preparedness, through the joint design and deployment of adaptable systems of statistical models for disease surveillance using probabilistic reasoning. We illustrate this through case studies for inferring and characterising spatial-temporal prevalence and reproduction numbers of SARS-CoV-2 infections in England.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBayesian imputation of COVID-19 positive test counts for nowcasting under reporting lag.
J R Stat Soc Ser C Appl Stat
April 2022
Obtaining up to date information on the number of UK COVID-19 regional infections is hampered by the reporting lag in positive test results for people with COVID-19 symptoms. In the UK, for 'Pillar 2' swab tests for those showing symptoms, it can take up to five days for results to be collated. We make use of the stability of the under reporting process over time to motivate a statistical temporal model that infers the final total count given the partial count information as it arrives.
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