Infectious Diseases News and Research

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How the nutrient cysteine controls cancer-fighting power of T cells

A research team from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have discovered how the immune system's CD8+ T cells use the nutrient cysteine to control two essential functions that compete for this resource - the immune cell's ability to multiply and its ability to kill cancer cells.

31 Mar 2026

New T cell mechanism could lead to longer-lasting vaccines

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a possible way to make longer lasting vaccines for respiratory viruses like influenza and the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

31 Mar 2026

DNASE1L2 identified as a dynamic biomarker for TB progression

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world's most serious public health threats, with approximately one-quarter of the global population infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. While most infections remain latent (LTBI), individuals with LTBI are at risk of progressing to active TB and potentially becoming new sources of transmission.

31 Mar 2026

Armed conflict in Colombia significantly impacts tuberculosis incidence and mortality rates

The prolonged armed conflict in Colombia has had a significant impact on tuberculosis (TB) incidence and mortality.

30 Mar 2026

New AI tool assesses the potential threat posed by new bacteria

Researchers have developed an AI tool that can help determine whether unfamiliar bacteria carry genetic features linked to disease.

27 Mar 2026

Study reveals genetic evolution of major malaria vector species in South America

Anopheles darlingi mosquitoes-a major vector of malaria in South America-are evolving in response to insecticides, which may make them harder to kill and malaria more difficult to control, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

27 Mar 2026

Obesity-driven organ enlargement may boost cancer risk

Scientists at City of Hope® and TGen (part of City of Hope) are the first to explain a major mechanism for why gaining excess weight increases your risk of cancer.

26 Mar 2026

Immune cells use neurotransmitters to regulate health and disease

The article, titled "Emerging roles of immune cell-derived neurotransmitters in immunity and disease," published on March 17, 2026, in Immunity & Inflammation, provides a timely and authoritative review of how innate and adaptive immune cells-including macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, T cells, and B cells-produce and respond to classic neurotransmitters.

25 Mar 2026

Severe infections linked to higher dementia risk independent of coexisting illnesses

Severe infections increase the risk of dementia independently of other coexisting illnesses, according to a new study published March 24th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Pyry Sipilä of the University of Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues.

24 Mar 2026

Nepal and Afghanistan show how abrupt aid cuts can unravel essential care

Abrupt cuts to external health aid can destabilize multiple essential services simultaneously in fragile, donor-dependent settings, as illustrated by Nepal and Afghanistan. The paper argues that donor withdrawal is not just a resilience test, but also an ethical and governance issue that should be managed through “transition discipline.”

24 Mar 2026

WHO urges faster TB detection with new point-of-care tests

On World TB Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging countries to accelerate action to end tuberculosis (TB) and expand access to lifesaving services by using new innovations such as diagnostic tests that can be used near the point-of-care and tongue swabs that can help detect the disease faster reaching more people.

24 Mar 2026

Study revises the understanding of neutrophil dynamics during respiratory viral infection

Neutrophil infiltration is a hallmark of pulmonary inflammation during respiratory viral infections, yet the origin of these cells has been a subject of debate.

23 Mar 2026

New protein atlas identifies distinct subtypes of neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases form a tangled biological web with overlapping molecular signatures and symptoms. To decode this complexity, a multi-institute collaboration led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists developed the pan-neurodegeneration atlas (PanNDA).

23 Mar 2026

New report provides the most detailed picture of preventable child deaths worldwide

An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new estimates released today.

18 Mar 2026

New breath test could quickly diagnose bacterial infections

Infectious diseases are a major cause of death worldwide, and diagnosing bacterial infections remains a challenge in medicine.

18 Mar 2026

Protein targeted by cancer drugs may help the body fight influenza

A protein already targeted by FDA-approved cancer drugs may also help the body fight influenza, according to new research from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX).

18 Mar 2026

Climate change drives dengue outbreaks through extreme weather events

Diseases historically absent from the United States have been showing up in Florida, Texas, California and other U.S. states in recent years.

17 Mar 2026

One-dose oral treatment may be the simplest weapon against sleeping sickness

Sleeping sickness has been killing people across Africa for generations. A disease with no vaccine, spread by the bite of a tsetse fly, it was once treated with injections of an arsenic derivative, a cure that could be as dangerous as the illness itself.

17 Mar 2026

Blocking fructose metabolism may improve brain tumor immunotherapy response

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that specialized immune cells within the glioblastoma tumor metabolize fructose to suppress immune responses and promote tumor growth, reports a study published on March 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

17 Mar 2026

Study uncovers how tuberculosis bacteria fuel themselves during infection

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have uncovered how the bacteria that causes tuberculosis fuels itself during infection, providing new insights into one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases.

17 Mar 2026