Epigenentics

Dr. Francis discusses whether infectious agents may have contributed to a possible cluster of childhood leukemia cases in Fallon, Nevada. A role for an infectious agent, in this case a virus, is suggested because there was a spike in cases of childhood leukemia in US military dependent populations at around the same time; Fallon had a naval air station that brought military personnel into the town; and the locations where children with the disease lived tended to be in areas where transmission by mosquitoes might occur.