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Historically, disease clusters were predominantly cancer cases or birth
defects. In particular, there was interest in exploring cancer clusters
because there were theories linking certain types of cancer to
infectious disease etiologies. Burkitts lymphoma and Epstein Barr
Virus (EBV) are a classic example. The idea was that if a disease
cluster could be proved, it would show contact between the cases
(ie.shared exposure), suggesting an infectious etiology. In the
literature, there was particular interest using the cluster methodology
to explore fairly frequently reported leukemia clusters among young
children.
Statistical analysis of disease clusters has predominantly focused on
proving the existence of the cluster. In other words, proving that
there has been a “significant” increase in time and space of a
particular disease.
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