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

Nov 30, 2015

Shingles Linked to Increased Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke

A bout of shingles may increase your risk for other serious health conditions — namely, a stroke or a heart attack — a new study finds. People in the study who had shingles, a disease caused by the herpes zoster virus, faced a 2.4-fold increased risk of stroke, and a...

Nov 30, 2015

MERS Vaccine Protects Camels, Which Is Good for People

A vaccine that protects against the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) has been shown to be effective in camels, a new study finds. The vaccine, which was developed by German scientists, reduces the amount of the virus found in the camels infected with the disease, according to...

Nov 30, 2015

Ingredients of Plague Risk in Western US Identified

Small outbreaks of the plague still occur in the western United States, and now new research shows these clusters don't happen at random. Instead, they tend to pop up in areas that have certain mix of climates, animals and elevation, a new study finds. Every year, an average of seven...

Oct 31, 2015

Man Dies After Tapeworm Inside Him Gets Cancer

A Colombian man's lung tumors turned out to have an extremely unusual cause: The rapidly growing masses weren't actually made of human cells, but were from a tapeworm living inside him, according to a report of the case. This is the first known report of a person becoming sick from...

Oct 31, 2015

Costco Chicken Salad Linked to E. Coli Outbreak in 7 States

An outbreak of E. coli bacteria tied to chicken salad sold at Costco has sickened 19 people in seven states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the E. coli-related illnesses have occurred in Western states — including Utah, Colorado, Washington and California — and there...

Oct 31, 2015

Eyes May Offer Window into Cardiovascular Disease

Vision problems may sometimes be the only symptom a person has of a serious cardiovascular condition, a new case report suggests. In the case, a 77-year-old man in Greece experienced three short episodes of blurred vision in his right eye. The five-minute episodes stretched over an hour in total, and...

Oct 31, 2015

'Last-Resort' Antibiotics Fail Against New Superbugs

Some bacteria have finally breached the last wall of humans' antibiotic stronghold, according to a new study from China. In the study, researchers found a gene in one strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) that protects these bacteria against one of the antibiotics considered to be a last resort. Moreover,...

Sep 30, 2015

Many Americans Don't Get Recommended Vaccines Before Travel

Americans who travel abroad often do not receive the recommended vaccines that would protect them from certain illnesses, new research suggests. One study of Americans visiting travel clinics found that more than half of those who were recommended to get a measles vaccination did not do so before traveling. Another...

Sep 30, 2015

Daniel Fells' Infection: How Often Does MRSA Lead to Amputation?

The nasty superbug MRSA has been linked to life-threatening conditions such as body-wide inflammation and organ failure, and now the NFL reports that New York Giants player Daniel Fells may lose his foot due to complications from an MRSA infection. Fells was taken to the emergency room with a high...

Sep 30, 2015

Plague Began Infecting Humans Much Earlier Than Thought

The germ that causes the plague began infecting humans thousands of years earlier than scientists had previously thought. Researchers analyzed teeth from the remains of 101 individuals that were collected from a variety of museums and archaeological excavations. They found DNA of the bacterium that causes plague, called Yersinia pestis,...

Aug 31, 2015

Spacing Out Vaccines? No Evidence Supports Candidates' Ideas

There is no evidence that supports spacing out childhood vaccines — which two Republican candidates for president suggested in last night's presidential debate — instead of following the recommended schedule, experts say. I am totally in favor of vaccines, but I want smaller doses over a longer period of time,...

Aug 31, 2015

Vaccines May Protect Kids Against Strokes, Too

Parents have yet one more reason to vaccinate their children: Routine immunizations may reduce the risk of childhood stroke, according to a new study. Childhood strokes are rare, estimated to affect between three and 13 children per 100,000. Yet unlike adult strokes, in which environmental factors such as smoking and...

Jul 31, 2015

Why Does Plague Still Occur in the Western US?

Three cases of plague have occurred in the United States in recent months, and although the illness is rare, it's not uncommon to have a few cases here each year. Most recently, a girl in California became sickened with plague after visiting Yosemite National Park and the nearby Stanislaus National...

Jul 31, 2015

Jimmy Carter's Cancer: How Doctors May Find Where It Started

Former President Jimmy Carter has not revealed much about his recent cancer diagnosis, but an important part of caring for anyone with cancer is finding out where the disease started, so that doctors can best treat it, experts say. Yesterday, Carter released a statement saying that during a recent liver...

Jul 31, 2015

Plague Cases in US Are Unusually High This Year

There's been an unusually high number of plague cases in the United States this year, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since April 1, there have been 11 cases of plague in six states, the report said. That's higher than usual —...