Scientists are sounding the alarm: this winter’s upcoming flu season in North America could be a real nightmare, thanks to the rapid arrival of a variant that doesn’t match well with the seasonal flu vaccine. Health officials in Canada issued the warning in a paper late last month. An unexpected variant of the H3N2 flu, […]
DNA From Dead Soldiers Sheds New Light on Napoleon’s Russian Nightmare
Napoleon’s withdrawal from Russia in 1812 was one of history’s most disastrous retreats. New research bolsters the theory that diseases made the calamitous situation even worse. Researchers in France and Estonia have identified pathogens in the remains of soldiers who retreated from Russia that cause paratyphoid fever and relapsing fever. While the study doesn’t determine […]
Scientists Are Testing a Vaccine for Food Poisoning. It Can’t Come Soon Enough
Few things in this world are more miserable than food poisoning. You go out to eat some delicious foods, or cook at home. You’re happy, full, and then… everything goes south. Sometimes literally. But hark! This torturous fate may soon be vanquished, thanks to some scientists at the University of Maryland who might just have […]
The Ongoing Measles Outbreak Has Reached a New Peak
America’s terrible year of measles is far from over. Several states have reported more cases of the vaccine-preventable viral disease as of late, while the country as a whole has hit a new record high. Health officials in Michigan, California, and Illinois confirmed new cases of measles this week. According to the Centers for Disease […]
Some Heart Attacks Might Be Triggered by Germs
Germs might be even worse for us than we thought. New research suggests that certain infections could be a contributing factor to heart attacks. Scientists in Finland and the UK conducted the study, which examined arterial plaques taken from people who died from heart disease and others. They found these plaques often contained a dormant […]
The Kissing Bug Disease Has Permanently Moved Into the U.S.
A dangerous, sometimes deadly, infection spread by kissing bugs is regularly spreading within America. In a recent paper, researchers are claiming that Chagas disease is endemic to parts of the southern U.S. and is probably here to stay. Scientists in Florida, Texas, and California made the case in a paper published last month in the […]
Most Air Purifiers Haven’t Been Tested on Humans. That’s a Problem
Portable air cleaners aimed at curbing indoor spread of infections are rarely tested for how well they protect people—and very few studies evaluate their potentially harmful effects. That’s the upshot of a detailed review of nearly 700 studies that we co-authored in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Many respiratory viruses, such as covid-19 and […]
Possible Local Malaria Case Found in New Jersey. Here’s What to Know
A once-vanquished disease spread by mosquitoes may be making inroads into the United States. New Jersey officials are now investigating whether a resident’s malaria infection was locally acquired. The New Jersey Departments of Health (NJDOH) and Environmental Protection reported on the case Monday. The resident hadn’t recently traveled, suggesting they likely caught it from homegrown […]
Colorado Residents Are Spotting Weird-Looking Rabbits With Black Horns and Mouth Tentacles
People in Fort Collins, Colorado, are seeing rabbits with black horns and tentacles that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror movie. Though frightening, their appearance is caused by a known virus that’s harmless to humans. Journalist Amanda Gilbert documented the town sightings in an article for local outlet 9NEWS last Friday. Colorado Parks […]
A ‘Flesh-Eating’ Germ Is on the Rise This Summer
A bacterial infection that can cause “flesh-eating” disease is becoming a bigger problem in the U.S.—and climate change is at least partly to blame. Several states along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard have already reported a higher than usual tally of Vibrio vulnificus cases and deaths this summer. Last week, for instance, the Louisiana […]