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Disease and Illnesses

Now that several Covid-19 vaccines have been shown safe and effective in adults, the producers can begin clinical trials in adolescents.

Covid-19

Why the Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Will Be Different for Kids

Pfizer expects to release the first data about vaccine efficacy and safety in adolescents by this summer

Covid-19

The Fever That Struck New York

The front lines of a terrible epidemic, through the eyes of a young doctor profoundly touched by tragedy

An analysis of the genome of the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus overlaid on the CDC's map of different states' genome sequencing rates. Darker-shaded states have processed more genomes (relative to their total case count) than lighter, greener states.

Covid-19

Why the U.S. Is Struggling to Track Coronavirus Variants

A scattered and underfunded effort at genomic sequencing has hindered the country’s ability to detect different forms of the virus

If approved, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could become available as soon as March.

Johnson & Johnson Applies for FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for Covid-19 Vaccine—Here’s Why That Takes Time

Independent experts will review data from over 40,000 trial participants and meet on February 26 to make a recommendation

A patient holds a sample test tube for Chlamydia testing.

Covid-19

How Covid-19 Has Hurt the Effort to Track STDs

As gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia have hit their highest marks in decades, many STD contact tracers have shifted to work on the pandemic

Passengers need to eat and drink on a long-haul flight, which means they remove their masks and risk spreading or catching Covid-19.

New Research

What One Covid-19 Cluster on an Airplane Tells Experts About Risk Factors While Flying

When one person with Covid-19 took an 18-hour flight from Dubai to New Zealand, several people got sick

Currently accessible Covid-19 vaccines seem to protect people against the emerging variants so far.

What Experts Know About the Current Coronavirus Variants

The appearance of highly transmissible versions of the pandemic coronavirus has the world’s medical community on high alert

A volunteer donates blood during an event at the Field Museum in Chicago in May, 2020.

What Scientists Are Learning About Covid-19 Using the Nation’s Blood Supply

Labs and blood banks collect millions of blood samples each month, offering a distinctive source of data on the disease

Mask wearing and other behaviors developed during the Covid-19 pandemic are largely keeping flu cases low this year.

How Covid-19 Precautions Have Kept Flu Cases Low

By this time last year, the U.S. had recorded over 65,000 cases of influenza

Toxoplasma gondii grows in tissue cysts which can stick around in the body after illness has passed

New Research

Parasite Found in Undercooked Meat and Cat Poop May Be Linked to Rare Brain Cancer

The U.S. sees about 24,000 brain cancer cases annually, compared to 30 million cases of Toxoplasma gondii, so an individual’s cancer risk is low

(Top row) Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg, Barron Ryan, Arturo Elizondo, (middle row) Samantha Pratt, Gitanjali Rao, Anitra Belle Henderson, (bottom row) Kennyjie, Andrea Ponti and Brett Phaneuf

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

Ten Innovators to Watch in 2021

These visionaries are imagining an exciting future with chicken-less eggs, self-piloting ships and more

A COVID testing site at Echo Park Stadium on December 30, 2020 in Parker, Colorado. This site is nearby Ebert County, where the first case of a COVID-19 variant that is thought to be more contagious was detected in the United States.

Colorado and California Report First U.S. Cases of Highly Contagious Covid-19 Variant

First discovered in England, the variant appears to be more transmissible but does not cause a more severe case of the disease

An RN administers the Covid-19 vaccine to a nurse at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia.

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2020

From the rapid development of vaccines for Covid-19 to the stunning collection of an asteroid sample, these were the biggest science moments of the year

“He is setting a fine example for the youth of the country,” said a public health official after the King of Rock 'n' Roll received a vaccine on the set of “The Ed Sullivan Show” in October 1956.

Covid-19

How Elvis Helped America Eliminate Polio

The rock star’s much-publicized vaccination inspired reluctant U.S. teens to get inoculated

The survey did not conclude how the wild mink became infected with the virus, but it’s not unusual for captive minks to escape fur farms. (Infected mink not pictured.)

First Case of Covid-19 in a Wild Animal Found in a Utah Mink

The U.S. Department of Agriculture detected the infection while testing wild animals around a mink farm with a Covid-19 outbreak

A nurse administers the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a patient in London on December 8. Some experts say the fastest way to test second-generation COVID-19 vaccines is through human challenge trials.

A Brief History of Human Challenge Trials

For more than two centuries, scientists have been intentionally infecting patients with dangerous diseases in order to learn more

Chimps relax at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Humans can transmit many diseases to chimps, orangutans and their kin.

How Researchers Are Protecting Great Apes From Covid-19

Humans who study and care for the primates are taking precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and its unknown effects

Henry Bergh (in top hat) stopping an overcrowded horsecar, from Harper’s Weekly, Sept. 21, 1872.

The Horse Flu Epidemic That Brought 19th-Century America to a Stop

An equine influenza in 1872 laid bare how essential horses were to the economy

Trench fever came to prominence during World War I, but new research suggests that the disease afflicted people long before the 20th century.

Before WWI, Trench Fever Plagued the Ancient Romans and Napoleonic Soldiers

Long associated with the Great War, the disease actually dates back at least 2,000 years, a new study suggests

In February, the Covid-19 pandemic halted polio immunization campaigns across Afghanistan and Pakistan, fueling a new resurgence of polio in children. Here, a young girl is given the polio vaccine in the Kabul Province in October after campaigns were resumed.

Covid-19

How Covid-19 Drove New Polio Cases in Afghanistan

Due to the pandemic, a total of 50 million children did not receive the polio vaccine in Afghanistan and Pakistan

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