Population Mixing and Childhood Leukemia: Is a Mosquito to Blame?
When Pat Buffler co-authors something I take notice. Of the many epidemiologists I've run across her reputation for sound science is perhaps the most unassailable. In "Unusual Space-Time Patterning of the Fallon, Nevada Leukemia Cluster: Evidence of an Infectious Etiology", Francis, Selvin, Yang, Buffler and Wiemels examine the Fallon childhood leukemia cluster and find that most of the cases arose during the early to mid summer. Furthermore, a parallel increase in childhood leukemia was found to exist among the children of the military personnel newly introduced to the area. Together these findings, along with information about the habits of the local mosquitos, suggest an infectious cause for the childhood cancer cases that followed.
Could a single event cause cancer weeks later? Doesn't it take years for cancer to unfold? Make chromothripsis your word of the day.
Finally, you plaintiff's lawyers working on childhood leukemia cases, instead of using experts who can only get their opinions published in low impact journals of which they're among the editors (see e.g. Green v. George's Farms, et al), consider instead the impact of, bah, you figure it out. It's obvious at this point.
