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Failure to adopt covid suppression strategy led to avoidable deaths in the UK

Early in the covid-19 pandemic, the failure of UK government advisers to follow World Health Organization (WHO) advice and emerging evidence from East Asia that suppression could bring the virus under control quickly led to avoidable UK deaths, argues an expert in The BMJ today.

12 May 2025

New model reveals H5N1 is spreading undetected in US dairy herds

Researchers developed a nationwide model to simulate the spread of H5N1 in US dairy cattle, revealing significant under-reporting and predicting continued outbreaks into 2025. Targeted farm-level biosecurity and surveillance are urgently needed to contain the epidemic.

11 May 2025

Scientists link specific gene variants to post-vaccine myocarditis and pericarditis

A genome-wide association study in Sweden identified rare genetic variants near the SCAF11 and LRRC4C genes that may be linked to heart inflammation following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. The findings shed light on potential biological pathways driving vaccine-associated myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly among younger individuals.

11 May 2025

New AI tool predicts viral mutations to help future-proof COVID vaccines

A novel AI-driven method helps scientists stay ahead of viral evolution by engineering synthetic spike proteins that anticipate future SARS-CoV-2 escape mutations, offering a powerful tool to test and strengthen next-generation vaccines.

11 May 2025

Study shows strong COVID immunity from infection and vaccination

A first-of-its-kind study led by the University of Oxford has successfully investigated human immunity against COVID-19 in people who already have antibodies against it.

9 May 2025

Nirsevimab slashes RSV hospitalizations in infants by 78% in real-world study

A Spanish study found that nirsevimab prophylaxis significantly reduced infant hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and severe symptoms linked to RSV and other respiratory viruses. Hospitalizations for RSV dropped by 78% following nirsevimab rollout in Madrid maternity wards.

8 May 2025

Long-acting HIV drug emerges from decades of research and advocacy

In the hunt for a remedy, when the baton is passed from dedicated academic scientists to an innovative company to trusted community advocates, outcomes for society can be especially powerful.

8 May 2025

New evidence shows long COVID’s toll on health across all U.S. states

A nationally representative U.S. study of over 100,000 adults found that post-COVID conditions (PCCs) significantly reduce quality of life. Key risk factors for poor health outcomes include obesity, inactivity, chronic disease, and socioeconomic disadvantage.

8 May 2025

Wildlife trade, not bats, likely moved the ancestors of SARS-CoV-2 to humans

New genetic analyses reveal that the bat virus ancestors of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 likely circulated in Western China or Northern Laos just years before human outbreaks. Their rapid appearance thousands of kilometers away suggests wildlife trade, not bat migration, was the likely transmission path.

8 May 2025

Researchers target weakness in pathogens causing tropical diseases

Researchers are zeroing in on the Achilles’ heel of pathogens that cause Chagas disease, sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis.

8 May 2025

New molecule offers hope for chlamydia treatment

Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, and Michigan State University, USA, have discovered a type of molecule that can kill chlamydia bacteria but spare bacteria that are important for health.

8 May 2025

Monoclonal antibody protects mice from lethal influenza A doses

Scientists have engineered a monoclonal antibody that can protect mice from a lethal dose of influenza A, a new study shows.

8 May 2025

Anti-parasitic drug could accelerate the elimination of infection endemic to Africa

Tens of millions of people in Africa are infected by parasitic worms that cause lymphatic filariasis (also called elephantiasis), a disease that leads to severe swelling and deformities of the limbs and genitals.

7 May 2025

Researchers secure funding to advance Chagas disease research

A team of researchers at Texas A&M University and the University of Georgia (UGA) has received more than $4 million from federal and non-governmental organizations to support research on Chagas disease prevalence, diagnostics and treatment to benefit both dogs and humans.

7 May 2025

Most deadly drug-resistant infections in poorer countries go untreated, study shows

A new modelling study reveals that only 7% of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative (CRGN) bacterial infections in eight LMICs receive effective antibiotic treatment. This stark undertreatment poses a major threat in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

7 May 2025

New AI approach speeds up antiviral discovery for human enterovirus 71

Artificial intelligence algorithms have now been combined with traditional laboratory methods to uncover promising drug leads against human enterovirus 71 (EV71), the pathogen behind most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease.

6 May 2025

A comprehensive review of vaccine approaches for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), caused by the tick-borne severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), is a disease that is endemic to East Asia and has mortality rates reaching 30%.

6 May 2025

Why a major hydroxychloroquine study was retracted over statistical misuse

Researchers reanalyzed a retracted HCQ study that claimed over 16,000 COVID-19 deaths and exposed serious methodological flaws, including inappropriate use of effect sizes and lack of dose-specific analysis. The study calls for urgent reform in peer review and greater transparency in scientific publishing.

6 May 2025

HIV testing and outreach falter as Trump funding cuts sweep the South

Storm clouds hung low above a community center in Jackson, where pastor Andre Devine invited people inside for lunch. Hoagies with smoked turkey and ham drew the crowd, but several people lingered for free preventive health care: tests for HIV and other diseases, flu shots, and blood pressure and glucose monitoring.

6 May 2025

Breakthrough in labeling TB glycans could lead to faster diagnosis

Tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease, is estimated to infect around 10 million people each year, and kills more than 1 million annually. Once established in the lungs, the bacteria's thick cell wall helps it to fight off the host immune system.

5 May 2025