Disease and Illnesses

Children ages 5 to 11 could be eligible to get the vaccination as early as October, pending FDA authorization.

Pfizer Says Covid-19 Vaccine Safe and Effective for Kids Ages 5 to 11

FDA authorization could come as early as October

Children head back to school in August even as the Covid-19 delta variant makes its rounds. For reasons that aren’t fully understood, kids do not get as sick from Covid-19 as adults do. The role of schools in fostering spread of the virus is also under study.

Covid-19

Why Don't Kids Tend to Get as Sick From Covid-19?

Some children have been hospitalized and some have died, but at a tiny fraction of the adult rate. Scientists are trying to find out why.

In the televised speech, the president outlined a six-part plan to fight the ongoing pandemic.

Trending Today

Biden Administration Announces Vaccine Mandate That Will Affect More Than 80 Million American Workers

The strict policies have been implemented to combat the resurging Covid-19 pandemic

Antibacterial resistance--considered a major health threat--has been discovered on the teeth of wild brown bears in Sweden.

New Research

Antibiotic Resistance Found Deep in Forests of Scandinavia

A DNA analysis of wild brown bear teeth shows that the global health threat has spread to remote areas of Sweden

Wildlife officials in some states are saying it is okay to feed songbirds again now that the mysterious illness is abating.

As Mysterious Avian Illness Fades, Some States Give All-Clear to Feed Birds Again

It's okay to feed songbirds again in many states, though scientists still don't know what caused this mysterious illness

So far, researchers have discovered 100 plague victims buried in 60 graves.

Construction in Poland Reveals Graves of 18th-Century Plague Victims

The Great Northern War plague outbreak peaked between roughly 1708 and 1712

Individuals wear masks while shopping at a grocery store in Los Angeles. Masks help prevent breakthrough infections.

Covid-19

Six Important Things to Know About Breakthrough Infections

As the Delta variant likely drives more cases of Covid-19 in vaccinated individuals, experts weigh in with helpful information

Were it not for tuberculosis, artist and furniture maker Daniel Mack writes, “It’s unlikely that there would have been an Adirondack chair.”

How the Adirondack Chair Became the Feel-Good Recliner That Cures What Ails You

The furniture piece has gone through countless permutations, but it all started at a time when resting outdoors was thought to be a matter of life or death

A new article suggests that cats have been underutilized in studies of genetic disease and that studying their genomes, which are structured similarly to humans', could yield new treatments.

New Research

Human Genomes Are Surprisingly Cat-Like

Cat genomes are more similar to ours than those of mice and dogs, yet researchers say felines are underutilized in genetic studies of disease

The outbreaks happened earlier in the year between January and April in Washington D.C. and Texas. While both outbreaks were unrelated to each other, they both occurred within long-term care facilities and hospitals where patients had extended stays.

CDC Reports Several Cases of Drug-Resistant Fungal Infection in Two U.S. Cities

In total, five cases of the fungal infection were resistant to three known classes of antifungal medications

Researchers extracting an ice core from the Guliya Ice Cap in the Tibetan Plateau in 2015.

New Research

Scientists Extract 15,000-Year-Old Viruses From Tibetan Glacier

Researchers say the ancient pathogens are unlikely to cause humans any harm, but 28 out of the 33 viruses found are new to science

Via Getty: "A state wildlife veterinarian inspects a European starling carcass before shipping it to the University of Georgias Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS) from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources headquarters on July 2, 2021."

Mysterious Bird-Killing Illness Spreads to More Mid-Atlantic States

Researchers rule out several pathogens but still don’t know what is causing the deaths

The vestiges of two limestone tuberculosis huts can still be seen in Mammoth Cave.

When Tuberculosis Patients Quarantined Inside Kentucky's Mammoth Cave

In the early 1840s, believing the air was therapeutic, Kentucky doctor John Croghan ran a consumption sanatorium deep underground

Nine out of 10 malaria victims live in Africa, most of them children under the age of five.

Innovation for Good

West African Scientists Are Leading the Science Behind a Malaria Vaccine

Researchers in Mali have been working for decades on the treatment that's now in the final phase of clinical trials

A researcher looks at Artemisia annua seedlings. The plant contains malaria-fighting compounds.

World Health Organization Certifies China as Malaria-Free

In the 1940s, the country recorded 30 million cases of malaria each year

Ancient DNA and proteins gathered from the specimen's bones and teeth revealed the presence of Yersinia pestis.

New Research

Oldest Strain of Plague Bacteria Found in 5,000-Year-Old Human Remains

Unlike the 'Black Death' in the 14th century, the ancient infection probably did not spread quickly between people

Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipate that Delta will become the dominant variant in the United States within the next few months.

Covid-19

Covid-19 Delta Variant Emerges as Primary Threat Around the World

A surge of cases in the United Kingdom suggests that Delta is the most transmissible variant yet identified

Scholars used a newly developed technique to test skeletons' teeth for the presence of Yersinia pestis, the pathogen responsible for the plague.

Cool Finds

Why Weren't These Black Death Victims Buried in Mass Graves?

New research suggests some Europeans who died of the bubonic plague were individually interred with care

A blue jay photographed at a bird feeder. Fledgling blue jays and grackles in D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia have been dying of a mysterious ailment since late May.

Mysterious Ailment Blinding and Killing Birds in Washington, D.C. Area

Authorities are urging the public to take down bird feeders and baths in hopes of curbing the spread of what could be a wildlife disease

A Covid-19 restrictions sign hangs outside a supermarket in Austin, Texas. Lauren Ancel Meyers at the University of Texas at Austin has shared her team’s modeling results with city officials who make decisions about Covid-19 measures.

Covid-19

What Data Scientists Learned by Modeling the Spread of Covid-19

Models of the disease have become more complex, but are still only as good as the assumptions at their core and the data that feed them

loading icon