The statement "Childhood leukaemia is probably an infectious disease" above your article about childhood leukaemia, population mixing and infections was incorrect and likely to cause distress to children with leukaemia and their families.
Leo Kinlen's theory, which our research supports, is that childhood leukaemia might result from a rare response to a common but unidentified infection, and that there is an increased risk of such infections when previously separate populations mix. This is very different from saying that childhood leukaemia itself is an infectious disease.
If people are led to believe that childhood leukaemia is an infectious disease, they are likely to avoid contact with children suffering from leukaemia, which could increase the isolation, suffering and distress of these children and their families. I cannot emphasise strongly enough that there is no evidence whatsoever that childhood leukaemia is infectious.
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