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Infectious diseases news

New RNA vaccine strategy aims to build broader immunity against mutating viruses

New research by Malaghan's Connor Laboratory, published in PNAS, shows how directing the immune system toward conserved areas of the COVID virus and its many variants using RNA technology could be a significant step toward ...

Three shifting immune states in sepsis could explain why treatments miss their window

Researchers have mapped how the immune response in people with sepsis changes over time. The work, led by King's College London, could help pave the way for treatments that target the specific parts of the immune system that ...

Early trials for 'common cold' vaccine offer encouraging signs

A vaccine designed to protect against rhinoviruses, which cause the great majority of common colds and exacerbate chronic respiratory illnesses, has shown encouraging early results in a phase 1 clinical trial. Initial findings ...

Egyptian group developing Ebola vaccine

An Egyptian pharmaceutical firm is developing a potential vaccine against the deadly Ebola strain raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it announced Thursday.

WHO declares Uganda Ebola-free

Uganda was declared officially Ebola-free by the World Health Organization on Thursday after 42 days without a new case.

New approach cuts sepsis diagnosis from days to hours

Sepsis, a life-threatening condition that stems from the body trying to fight off an infection, plagues more than 1.5 million patients a year in the U.S. alone, with one in three deaths recorded in hospitals attributed in ...

How pregnancy itself drives deadly hepatitis E outcomes

Researchers have uncovered a biological mechanism that helps explain why hepatitis E virus infections can be especially severe—and often fatal—during pregnancy, finding that normal pregnancy-related hormonal changes inadvertently ...

Wastewater may offer an early warning of pertussis outbreaks

Pertussis, or whooping cough, continues to cause periodic outbreaks worldwide and can be especially dangerous for infants who have not completed vaccination. Yet conventional surveillance depends on people seeking medical ...

HIV-1 proviruses may drive chronic systemic inflammation

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body's immune system and remains a major global health challenge because of persistent viral reservoirs, despite effective treatments. Key factors include around ...

Tips for avoiding potentially serious mosquito-borne illnesses

West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the United States—and this summer, cases are rising unusually early. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country has recorded ...

Contagious measles case reported at California theme park

Recent visitors to the popular Universal Studios theme park in California may have been exposed to measles, the local health department said, as cases of the once-eradicated disease soar in the United States.