Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Healthy hearts prior to pandemic reduced severe COVID-19 risk

Better heart health before the pandemic was linked to a lower risk of severe COVID-19 events, according to research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

27 May 2026

Cells detect and silence invading transposons through abnormal RNA signals

Transposons, DNA sequences that can self-replicate and move (jump) throughout the genome, are widespread and can affect cell survival if left unchecked. Cells control these "jumping genes" by silencing them, but little was known about how cells recognize and defend themselves from invading transposons.

26 May 2026

Researchers trace the origin of blood cells back to possible single-celled ancestors

Almost all animal species -- including humans -- have blood cells, but between different species our blood tells different stories.

25 May 2026

New oral antiviral drug candidate targets measles and Croup syndrome

A new oral antiviral drug candidate has been developed for the treatment of diseases caused by orthoparamyxoviruses, such as measles and Croup syndrome, according to a study published by researchers in the Center for Translational Antiviral Research at Georgia State University.

22 May 2026

New genetic roadmap offers targeted treatment for rare inflammatory disorder

Not all broken genes fail in the same way: some simply stop working, while others interfere with what still works.

22 May 2026

Study finds widespread hantavirus exposure among Pacific Northwest rodent populations

The Sin Nombre virus – a hantavirus that can cause a deadly respiratory disease in humans – may be more widespread among rodent populations in parts of the Pacific Northwest than previously recognized.

21 May 2026

Bacterial sexually transmitted infections reach highest level in a decade

The latest Annual Epidemiological Reports from ECDC indicate a surge in bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across Europe.

21 May 2026

New vaccine approach targets broad protection against arenavirus infections

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have discovered that combining key vaccine ingredients could give the body the tools it needs to fight the entire family of arenaviruses with a single vaccine.

21 May 2026

Minimal exposure to modern medicine rapidly alters the human microbiome

Even minimal exposure to modern medicine can rapidly change the human microbiome. In a new study publishing May 20 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports, researchers reveal that the gut microbes of remote Amazonian Indigenous communities began shifting toward patterns more commonly seen in urban, industrialized populations after only a few medical visits.

20 May 2026

Longevity science and public health must unite for aging populations

A new editorial was published in Volume 18 of Aging-US on May 18, 2026, titled "Public health in the age of longevity interventions: from prevention to system-wide resilience."

20 May 2026

New mRNA vaccine strategy dramatically amplifies cancer-fighting T cells

Engineers from the University of Houston, MIT and Harvard have developed a new mRNA-based strategy that dramatically amplifies the T-cell response to vaccines - an advance that could lead to far more powerful cancer vaccines and stronger protection against infectious diseases.

19 May 2026

Click chemistry advances precision oncology by merging imaging and therapyly

Conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy often struggle with poor targeting, leading to severe systemic toxicity and drug resistance.

19 May 2026

Climate change drives emerging vector-borne diseases in Canada

Climate change is affecting the local ecology in Canada, contributing to emerging tick- and mosquito-borne diseases and infections in humans, argue authors of a commentary published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.260668.

19 May 2026

New TriPcide compounds show promise against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

In a new study, researchers show how so‑called TriPcides can target the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, including antibiotic‑resistant strains such as MRSA.

19 May 2026

Recent advancements in the development of models to study primary sclerosing cholangitis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare non-communicable disorder that affects the liver. Chronic inflammation in and around the bile duct is followed by the development of fibrotic obstructions within the duct, causing bile to accumulate within the liver.

19 May 2026

Health experts outline symptoms and risks of shipboard hantavirus

It's one of the cruisegoer's biggest fears: a contagious disease outbreak at sea.

18 May 2026

Scientists call for innovative strategies to combat tuberculosis superspreaders

Superspreading became a familiar concept to many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior studies examining infectious disease epidemics, including those on COVID-19, have found that some individuals are much more likely to transmit infections to other people. Superspreading, when one person with an infection passes it to an unusually large number of other people, is a key feature of tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology.

15 May 2026

Genetic mapping in wastewater sets a new standard for pathogen surveillance

Tracking the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, rather than just viral abundance, dramatically improves the ability to monitor and predict COVID-19 outbreaks, researchers report. Their study suggests that the new approach to wastewater pathogen surveillance could serve as a powerful predictive tool for public health, providing earlier and more accurate insight into emerging waves of infection.

15 May 2026

New research maps the biological toll of drinking

A new review published in the journal Addiction confirms drinking causes substantial harm to health. Some of those harms may be reversible if the person reduces or stops drinking.

14 May 2026

Turning the flu virus into a powerful tool to fight cancer

A recent Views & Comments article published in Engineering highlights advances in repurposing influenza viruses as flexible therapeutic platforms for infectious diseases and cancer, driven by progress in reverse genetics and viral vector engineering.

14 May 2026