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.

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

Walking Pneumonia Versus Common Cold

Influenza Infection in Animals

Walking Pneumonia Versus Common Cold

Risk Factors and Walking Pneumonia Prevention

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Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Breast cancer disrupts stress hormone rhythms in the brain

"The brain is an exquisite sensor of what's going on in your body," says Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Jeremy Borniger. "But it requires balance. Neurons need to be active or inactive at the right times. If that rhythm goes out of sync even a little bit, it can change the function of the entire brain."

15 Dec 2025

Novel diagnostic approach enables detection of antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity in Klebsiella strains

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing—and quietly advancing—challenges facing modern medicine. Among the most dangerous bacterial pathogens driving this crisis is Klebsiella pneumoniae, a microorganism capable of causing severe infections while evading both antibiotics and the human immune system.

15 Dec 2025

Researchers develop nasal antiviral platform using AI technology to block flu and COVID-19

Respiratory viruses that have diverse strains and mutate rapidly, such as influenza and COVID-19, are difficult to block perfectly with vaccines alone.

15 Dec 2025

Climate shocks creating new pathways for disease across Africa

Climate shocks are reshaping ecosystems, creating new pathways for disease across Africa, writes Albert Ansah.

15 Dec 2025

Half of hospitalized COVID-19 patients developed long COVID

Research from Thailand shows high long COVID prevalence in hospitalized patients, with severe illness increasing risk and vaccination offering protection.

15 Dec 2025

Atelerix enters agreement with Cherry Biotech to integrate non-cryogenic transport solutions with advanced organoid models

Atelerix, a biotech company revolutionizing cell preservation and biological transport with its pioneering hydrogel encapsulation technology, today announced it has entered a partnership with Cherry Biotech, a French company specializing in organ-on-chip and organoid technologies for biomedical research.

15 Dec 2025

Virus shells use asymmetry to control RNA release and infection

Viruses are typically described as tiny, perfectly geometric shells that pack genetic material with mathematical precision, but new research led by scientists at Penn State reveals a deliberate imbalance in their shape that helps them infect their hosts.

12 Dec 2025

Exclusive licensing agreement accelerates PHD inhibitor development for anemia in CKD patients

Insilico Medicine ("Insilico"), a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, and TaiGen Biotechnology, a listed discovery-based and market-focused pharmaceutical company, as well as TaiGen Biopharmaceuticals, its wholly-owned Beijing subsidiary (both referred to as "TaiGen"), today announced an exclusive pipeline out-licensing collaboration.

12 Dec 2025

RSV can have profound, long-lasting effects in hospitalized adults

Respiratory syncytial virus, commonly known as RSV, is often associated with cold-like symptoms in young children.

11 Dec 2025

Researchers unravel why mRNA-based vaccines for COVID-19 can cause heart damage

Stanford Medicine investigators have unearthed the biological process by which mRNA-based vaccines for COVID-19 can cause heart damage in some young men and adolescents - and they've shown a possible route to reducing its likelihood.

10 Dec 2025

Surprising new function of immune cells uncovered: Excess weight loss prevention

Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a surprising new function for immune cells: preventing excess weight loss.

10 Dec 2025

Triaptosis could be a promising strategy in the fight against cancer

Cancer remains one of the most critical global public health challenges, exerting profound social, economic, and clinical burdens while limiting gains in human life expectancy.

10 Dec 2025

Mammary glands of domesticated livestock and humans could harbor avian influenza

An ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has affected more than 184 million domestic poultry since 2022 and, since making the leap to dairy cattle in spring 2024, more than 1,000 milking cow herds.

9 Dec 2025

A massive mid-14th-century volcanic eruption likely triggered the spread of the "Black Death"

A large volcanic eruption or cluster of eruptions in the mid-1340s triggered severe climate anomalies that drove harvest failures across parts of Europe. These shocks reshaped Mediterranean grain trade routes, likely introducing plague-infected fleas into Italian ports and helping ignite the Black Death.

9 Dec 2025

How delays and bankruptcy let a nursing home chain avoid paying settlements for injuries and deaths

Nancy Hunt arrived at an emergency room from a Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Pennsylvania in such dreadful shape, including maggots infesting her gangrened foot, that the hospital called an elder abuse hotline and then the police, her son alleged in a lawsuit.

9 Dec 2025

Disinfectant used in water treatment may impact the incidence of Legionnaire's disease

Preliminary results of a nationwide study suggest that the disinfectant used to treat water before it is distributed through pipes may impact the incidence of Legionnaire's disease in certain parts of the country.

9 Dec 2025

High BMI and poor physical fitness in adolescence linked to severe bacterial infections in adulthood

High BMI and poor physical fitness during later adolescence increase the risk of both contracting and dying from sepsis and other severe bacterial infections in adulthood, according to a study from the University of Gothenburg.

9 Dec 2025

Hotter days and nights are already stealing sleep across the U.S.

Rising nighttime and daytime temperatures are associated with reduced sleep duration, poorer sleep continuity, delayed sleep onset, and altered sleep stages in a large U.S. cohort tracked with wearable devices. Vulnerability is greatest among adults aged 40–50 years, females, people with lower socioeconomic status, chronic conditions, and those living in marine climate zones, with climate change projected to further magnify sleep loss.

8 Dec 2025

Early RSV infection turns maternal allergy into a powerful driver of childhood asthma

Early-life RSV infection and parental allergy interact to substantially increase childhood asthma risk, supported by population data from more than 1.5 million children and mechanistic mouse experiments. The study shows that viral infection reprograms neonatal immune responses by altering how maternally transferred allergen-specific antibodies are handled, driving long-term allergic airway disease.

8 Dec 2025

Poor dietary iron weakens lung memory T cells after flu infection

Dietary iron deficiency in mice alters lung T cell activation during influenza infection and leads to memory T cells that are present in normal or increased numbers but have impaired antiviral cytokine responses. These functional deficits are most pronounced in lung CD8-positive memory T cells and persist even under optimal recall conditions.

8 Dec 2025