Cold, Flu & Cough

What is the Common Cold?

The common cold, also known as rhinopharyngitis, is a type of respiratory tract infection caused by a virus.

Walking Pneumonia Versus Common Cold

Risk Factors and Walking Pneumonia Prevention

Walking Pneumonia Versus Common Cold

Does the 'Stomach Flu' Vaccine Prevent Type I Diabetes?

Influenza Infection in Animals

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Yale study offers critical clues for future norovirus treatments

As the leading cause of viral gastroenteritis worldwide, norovirus is an all too familiar ailment. Its telltale digestive upset — not to mention its reputation for being notoriously contagious — has earned it the nicknames "winter vomiting bug" and "stomach flu."

26 Jun 2026

Spermidine supplement improves COVID 19 vaccine response in older adults

As we age, the immune system gradually declines and becomes less effective at responding to infections and vaccines.

25 Jun 2026

US study shows updated COVID vaccines cut hospitalization odds by 55%

The 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccines were associated with 50% estimated effectiveness against COVID-19-associated emergency department and urgent care encounters among immunocompetent US adults. They were also linked to an estimated 55% effectiveness against COVID-19-associated hospitalization, providing added protection beyond existing immunity from prior infection or vaccination.

24 Jun 2026

Swedish scientist wins prestigious award for sickness behavior research

David Engblom, Professor of Neurobiology at Linköping University, Sweden, is awarded the 2026 Onkel Adam Prize for outstanding research at the Faculty of Medicine at Linköping University.

24 Jun 2026

Microbes trigger cell death to boost cancer immunotherapy effectiveness

Traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy can induce immunogenic cell death (ICD), but their efficacy is often limited by drug resistance, severe off-target toxicity, and immune-related adverse events.

24 Jun 2026

Cambridge researchers discover three distinct severe pneumonia biological subtypes

Cambridge researchers have shown that severe pneumonia has three different subtypes, helping explain why some patients in intensive care units (ICUs) recover from their illness faster than others, while for other patients the disease can be life-threatening.

23 Jun 2026

50-year review shows global Ebola spread remains rare despite outbreak fears

Researchers reviewed Ebola disease cases outside Africa from 1976 to May 2026 and found only 28 confirmed epidemic-linked cases, most involving medical evacuation or occupational exposure. Only four latent travelers were diagnosed after border screening, suggesting that undetected intercontinental spread remains rare when outbreaks are controlled at source.

23 Jun 2026

Amazon land use patterns reveal where vector-borne diseases collide

Researchers found that malaria-Chagas and dengue-ATL hotspots in the Brazilian Amazon aligned with distinct agrarian, socioeconomic, and environmental landscapes. The findings suggest that disease surveillance should account for land use, poverty, forest structure, mining, and local livelihoods rather than treating each infection in isolation.

22 Jun 2026

Prime and pull vaccine approach prevents genital herpes infection

Genital herpes is a lifelong infection. While available treatments can manage symptoms, they cannot cure the infection or prevent transmission.

22 Jun 2026

Autonomous medical AI outperforms doctors in simulated EHR cases

MIRA, an autonomous AI agent tested in a sandboxed electronic health record, diagnosed 574 real emergency department cases with 88.9% accuracy and outperformed physicians in a matched 311-case comparison. The system ordered tests, generated medication plans, and made admission decisions in simulation, but the authors stress that prospective validation, governance, and physician oversight are still essential.

21 Jun 2026

Scientists find mechanism behind bird flu infections in dairy cattle

When H5N1 bird flu first began infecting U.S. cattle in early 2024, diagnosis was elusive, because in cows, the disease looked completely different.

19 Jun 2026

NYU Langone performs the world's first HIV-positive-to-HIV-positive lung transplant

The world's first HIV-positive-to-HIV-positive lung transplant was performed at NYU Langone Health.

19 Jun 2026

Breast milk nutrient boosts long-term immune system development

Trans-vaccenic acid (TVA), the most abundant trans fatty acid found in human breast milk, helps boost immune system development and has long-lasting effects on immune system health in mice, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Chicago.

18 Jun 2026

New spatial map reveals treatment vulnerabilities in bladder cancer

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a spatial map of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, revealing how tumor cell states, immune environments and therapeutic vulnerabilities are organized within tumors.

18 Jun 2026

Quest Diagnostics study uncovers widespread community reservoirs of deadly gut bacterium

A common bacterial strain that lives naturally in people's guts can cause a dangerous or deadly infection for some, especially when it becomes multidrug-resistant and causes chronic urinary-tract infections (UTIs) in elderly women.

18 Jun 2026

New diagnostic tools aim to bridge long Covid knowledge gap

Five years after the first cases, patients with long Covid continue to go through months or years before receiving a diagnosis.

18 Jun 2026

Emergency departments could help boost annual flu vaccination rates

A University of California, Riverside-led study of more than 3,200 emergency department (ED) patients across the United States found that while awareness of influenza vaccination is widespread, most adults seen in EDs are not up to date on their annual flu vaccine.

17 Jun 2026

Deep learning identifies novel compounds against antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea

With tens of millions of annual cases, gonorrhea is the second most frequently reported sexually transmitted infection (STI). Alone in the U.S., over 600,000 cases are reported each year.

17 Jun 2026

AI diagnostic errors raise hospital blame unless doctors stay deeply involved

A two-study vignette experiment found that people attributed more responsibility to hospitals and were more likely to consider filing a complaint or taking legal action when missed diagnoses involved AI rather than a physician alone. Interactive physician involvement reduced negative reactions, while autonomous or sequential AI-human collaboration did not meaningfully improve responses compared with AI-only diagnosis.

17 Jun 2026

Preoperative radiation boosts immunotherapy response in brain metastases

A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated that pre-operative radiation therapy for brain metastases not only targets tumor cells directly but also can activate immune pathways that can make tumors more receptive to immunotherapy.

17 Jun 2026