Viruses, Infections & Disease, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2019

These Two Drug-Resistant Microbes Are New 'Urgent Threats' to Americans' Health

The U.S. faces two new urgent threats to public health: a couple of drug-resistant germs called Candida auris and Acinetobacter, health officials announced today. These microbes have built up resilience against the drugs designed to kill them, meaning they can be incredibly dangerous and difficult to treat. In fact, drug-resistant...

Oct 31, 2019

Malaria: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that gets passed into the bloodstream of humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. Only the Anopheles species of mosquito can transmit malaria, and mosquitoes pick up the parasite from biting a person already infected with the illness. People with malaria...

Sep 30, 2019

Girl Diagnosed with Fatal Brain Disease Gets a Tailor-Made Drug within a Year

When Mila Makovec was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition at age 6, her prognosis was grim. The condition, known as Batten disease, is fatal, with death usually occurring in late childhood or the early teen years. There is no cure, and at the time of Mila's diagnosis, in 2016,...

Sep 30, 2019

Measles Wipes Your Immune System's 'Memory,' So It Can't Fight Other Infections

The notorious measles virus not only makes people sick, it also sneaks inside important immune cells in the body and wipes their memories, new research suggests. Once infected, the amnesic immune system no longer recognizes the harmful pathogens that it has fought off in the past. This means measles survivors...

Aug 31, 2019

Woman's Rare Blood Disease Triggered by Cold Weather

Cold winter temperatures are uncomfortable for most, but for one New York woman, frigid weather triggered a rare immune condition, according to a new report of the case. The 70-year-old woman lived in upstate New York, which is known for its cold and snowy winters. She went to the doctor...

Jul 31, 2019

A Doctor Tested a New Treatment on Himself. Now, It May Help Others with This Rare Disease.

A doctor's quest to understand his own rare disease led him to test an experimental treatment on himself, and it may have worked. The physician, Dr. David Fajgenbaum, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, has been in remission ever since he first used himself...

Jul 31, 2019

What Is HPV?

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 80 million people — about 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. — are currently infected with HPV, and 14 million people become newly...

Jun 30, 2019

Woman Contracts Horrifying Leg Infection from a Hot Tub

An Indiana woman's vacation took a grim turn when she developed a serious leg infection after spending time in the hotel's hot tub, according to news reports. The woman, 26-year-old Taylor Bryant, went on vacation with her family to Tennessee over spring break, according to local news outlet RTV6. After...

May 31, 2019

Woman Had a Huge Tapeworm 'Egg' Encased in Her Brain. Why She's Super Happy About It.

When is it a huge relief to hear you have a parasite lurking in your brain? When it's not a cancerous brain tumor. That was the recent experience of a woman in New York, 42-year-old Rachel Palma, who had gone to the doctor's office for some odd symptoms. For example,...

May 31, 2019

Dirty Surgical Instruments Tied to Hundreds of Infections at Colorado Hospital, Lawsuit Alleges

Dozens of people are suing a hospital in Colorado, alleging that improper cleaning and sterilization of surgical instruments at the facility led to hundreds of infections, according to news reports. The lawsuit was filed this week by 67 patients who underwent surgery at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver between 2015...

Apr 30, 2019

Mongolian Couple Died of Plague After Eating Raw Marmot

A couple in Mongolia who consumed raw marmot meat as a folk remedy ended up contracting the plague, according to news reports. The husband and wife ate raw marmot meat and organs, which they believed to be good for health, according to The Washington Post. But they soon developed serious...

Mar 31, 2019

The Source of That Mysterious E. Coli Outbreak Has Likely Been Found

The mystery behind what's causing the Escherichia coli outbreak that's sickened more than 100 Americans in the past month may finally be solved: Officials have linked the outbreak to ground beef. In a statement released today (April 12), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that, based on...

Mar 31, 2019

Smallpox: The World's First Eradicated Disease

Smallpox is a debilitating and occasionally fatal disease that's highly contagious. Prior to 1980, the disease killed 3 out of every 10 people who became infected, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Overall, smallpox caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of people before it was...

Feb 28, 2019

Unvaccinated Oregon Boy Is Diagnosed with Tetanus, the State's 1st Child Case in 30 Years

While playing outside on a farm in Oregon, a 6-year-old boy fell down and cut his forehead. His parents cleaned and sutured his wound at home, and for a few days, everything seemed all right, according to a new report of his case. But six days after his fall, the...

Feb 28, 2019

What Caused All These Spots on This Man's Brain?

When a young man in India started having seizures, doctors scanned his brain and found a grim image: His brain was dotted with parasitic cysts — the result of a severe and ultimately fatal tapeworm infection. The 18-year-old man was taken to the emergency room after having so-called tonic-clonic seizures,...