Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Mature dendritic cell vesicles enhance influenza vaccine effectiveness

Influenza hemagglutinin subunit vaccines are more effective and offer better cross protection against various influenza virus challenges when combined with a mucosal adjuvant that enhances the body's immune response, according to a study by researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

2 Jul 2025

Targeting RAP proteins for next-generation malaria treatments

A University of California, Riverside-led team has made an advance in the basic understanding of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the deadliest form of human malaria, that could make novel, highly targeted anti-malarial therapies possible.

1 Jul 2025

Researchers link genetic ancestry to severity of dengue fever

For the first time, the extreme variability in dengue fever has been linked to a biological mechanism, potentially opening doors to new treatments and vaccines for the most common mosquito-borne disease worldwide.

30 Jun 2025

Gene therapy shows promise for reducing stroke risk in patients with sickle cell disease

Gene therapy for sickle cell disease may help improve a major contributing factor to stroke risk in patients, reports a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

30 Jun 2025

Newly discovered target may re-energize exhausted immune cells in the fight against cancer

Van Andel Institute scientists and collaborators have discovered a potential treatment target that may re-energize dysfunctional or "exhausted" immune cells in their fight against cancer.

27 Jun 2025

Kennedy’s vaccine advisers sow doubts as scientists protest US pivot on shots

As fired and retired scientists rallied outside in the Atlanta heat, an advisory panel that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. handpicked to replace experts he'd fired earlier met inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's headquarters to plan a more skeptical vaccine future.

27 Jun 2025

Fire smoke exposure found to alter immune system at the cellular level

Exposure to fire smoke-which can be composed of particulate matter, gases, materials from buildings such as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), toxic metals, and carcinogenic compounds-may alter the immune system on a cellular level, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

26 Jun 2025

Study finds multimorbidity in nearly half of hospital patients in Malawi and Tanzania

The Multilink Consortium, a NIHR-funded partnership between the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Programme, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, has published the first-of-its-kind research in sub-Saharan Africa to examine the scale and impact of 'multimorbidity' in patients admitted acutely to hospital.

26 Jun 2025

Updated COVID-19 vaccines found effective against severe illness

A new multi-state study led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) VISION Network – including Regenstrief Institute – has provided the most comprehensive assessment to date of the effectiveness of 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccines among adults in the U.S. during the XBB and JN.1 Omicron subvariant waves.

25 Jun 2025

Gut microbe emerges as a promising tool in the fight against COVID-19

Researchers found that Akkermansia muciniphila boosts lung-specific antiviral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in mice by modulating the gut–lung axis. This commensal gut bacterium shows promise as a potential biomarker and biotherapeutic candidate for COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.

25 Jun 2025

Deadly central line-associated bloodstream infections could be prevented using new e-catheter hub

Washington State University and Mayo Clinic researchers have developed an electrochemical catheter hub that could someday help prevent deadly central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) that annually kill thousands of people around the world.

25 Jun 2025

Fructose consumption increases immune cell sensitivity to bacterial toxins

Despite medical advances, infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses are still among the most common causes of death worldwide.

24 Jun 2025

Scaling B-cell cloning workflows for antibody development

Explore the latest tools that boost speed and accuracy in B-cell cloning processes.

From Cellenion 24 Jun 2025

Simpler virus testing approach could reduce unnecessary PCR tests in high-risk settings

The COVID-19 pandemic yielded important advances in testing for respiratory viruses, but it also exposed important unmet needs in screening to prevent the spread of infections in high-risk settings.

24 Jun 2025

Monitoring wastewater proves effective in forecasting COVID trends

Published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, a University of Minnesota research team demonstrated that measuring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater continues to accurately predict COVID-19 infections in a community.

24 Jun 2025

Many older people embrace vaccines. Research is proving them right.

Kim Beckham, an insurance agent in Victoria, Texas, had seen friends suffer so badly from shingles that she wanted to receive the first approved shingles vaccine as soon as it became available, even if she had to pay for it out-of-pocket.

23 Jun 2025

Flies on dairy farms act as hidden carriers of superbugs and zoonotic threats

Researchers used deep metagenomic sequencing to trace zoonotic pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes from cow manure into the guts of muscid flies on a French dairy farm. Findings reveal that flies not only carry but may amplify dangerous microbes, underscoring public health risks.

22 Jun 2025

Cord blood proteins help detect early sepsis in preterm infants

Scientists from Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and colleagues identified several proteins from the umbilical cord blood of preterm newborns that signal acute systemic inflammation as an immune response to infection, providing objective and noninvasive means to diagnose early onset sepsis.

20 Jun 2025

New insights into how inhalational anesthetics induce general anesthesia

Since their anesthetic effects were discovered approximately 180 years ago, inhalational anesthetics have been used for general anesthesia in surgical operations.

18 Jun 2025

New molecular atlas offers unprecedented insight into human kidney function

The kidney, a critical organ for waste filtration and fluid regulation, is the subject of a groundbreaking molecular mapping project that could reshape our understanding of renal health.

18 Jun 2025