It is well established that infectious diseases exhibit
socioeconomic gradients, and differences by ethnicity (ref
1). The reasons for these differences are not fully
elucidated (ref 2, 3, 4) and evidence is needed to clarify
how this burden is distributed across a range of infections,
and indeed, if some groups are disproportionately
affected by multiple different infectious diseases.
This research project will analyse large-scale electronic
health records include GP, hospitalisation and testing data
to quantify health inequalities across a range of infections
and to delve into the interactions and intersections
between them. We will analyse infection burden by
socioeconomic status and ethnicity, and by severity of
infection, and determine if there have been changes
through time. We will consider the underlying health
status of individuals, such as pre-existing health
conditions, and consider different health-seeking
behavioural modes.

There is scope for part of the project to focus on specific
interests of the candidate in this area, for example
development of dynamic transmission models, health
service utilisation and pathways, prescriptions and
antibiotic use, or health economics.

The principal supervisors will be Dr Daniel Grint (LSHTM)
and Professor Andrew Hayward (UKHSA), aided by
Professor Rosalind Eggo (who will be part of the advisory
team). Dr Grint is a statistician with expertise (amongst
other things) in the design and conduct of observational
studies using electronic health records. Professor Andrew
Hayward is a specialist in health inequalities and electronic
health records research and Lead of Health Equity and
Inclusion Health at UKHSA. The student will also benefit
from supervision from a supervisor at Imperial, who will
be identified based on the focus of the project.

1. UKHSA 2023
   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-
   and-flu-inequalities-in-emergency-hospital-admissionrates/inequalities-in-emergency-hospital-admission-ratesfor-influenza-and-covid-19-england-september-2022-tofebruary-2023
2. Wing et al 2022
   https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/51/6/1745/6665821
3. Watkinson et al 2023
   https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/j
   ournal.pmed.1004289
4. Forbes et al 2021
   https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n628