Top all-time · #14500
Caitlin Rivers
Personal blog · caitlinrivers.substack.comhealthscience
Caitlin Rivers writes Force of Infection, a personal blog at caitlinrivers.substack.com about health and science. Since 2022, 5 different Hacker News readers have linked it 10 times, most often “Where are we with the hygiene hypothesis?”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-03-29, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (2) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiology professor, writes a weekly outbreak "weather report" and essays on interpreting mysterious outbreaks. Comments cite her for flu-season activity and gaps in CDC data.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 2 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Weekly updates on what's going around. Tracking COVID-19, influenza, RSV, food recalls, and more. Helpful for anyone looking to stay well.
Most-linked posts?
- Where are we with the hygiene hypothesis?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-10-13
- Understanding Mysterious Outbreaks2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-12-04
What Hacker News says?
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
Comment linking /
on “CDC data are disappearing”Submitted Vaccine committee's entire membership dismissed as a story · 36 points
HN discussionI’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...
Comment linking /p/understanding-mysterious-outbreaks
on “Congo gov. says it's 'on alert' over mystery flu-like disease that killed dozens”Submitted Tribute to Carter's public health work as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Beyond the Pandemic Origins Debate as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Flu season is back with a vengeance as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Understanding Mysterious Outbreaks as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The latest in outbreaks of note as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Where are we with the hygiene hypothesis? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Where are we with the hygiene hypothesis? as a story · 2 points
HN discussion