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Infectious diseases news

A routine virus can slow breast cancer spread to the lungs, offering hidden protective power

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), mostly infects the lungs, nose, throat, and respiratory tract, and can cause illness ranging from mild cold and fever-like symptoms to severe pneumonia and bronchitis. A recent study has ...

Handheld TB test delivers lab-level accuracy in under 30 minutes

Drugs to treat tuberculosis have been around for more than 75 years, yet it remains the world's top infectious disease killer. A big obstacle has been testing. It's either inaccurate—missing up to half of all cases—or requires ...

Your nose may be the gateway to a stronger immune system

At the moment, an influenza vaccine called FluMist is the only licensed intranasal vaccine approved for use in humans. The vaccine is administered through a spray of fluid in the nose, rather than with an injection.

Bacteriophages: Meet the viruses that hunt superbugs

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. These microscopic predators are found everywhere, from soil and water to food and the human gut. Because they attack only specific bacteria, researchers ...

Koala vaccine offers clues to solving human health challenge

A vaccine first developed to protect koalas from a devastating disease is now offering rare insights that could help accelerate human vaccine development for one of the world's most common sexually transmitted infections.

World going too slow on eliminating hepatitis: WHO

The World Health Organization on Tuesday said progress in eliminating hepatitis was too slow, with tools available to eliminate the disease that kills more than one million people annually.

HIV disrupts lung 'clock,' raising COPD and emphysema risk

People living with HIV face a greater risk of developing lung diseases at a much younger age, even if they have never smoked. FIU researchers have now uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that helps explain how HIV causes ...

Immune cells in the nose slow influenza virus, study finds

A new study from the University of Gothenburg may help guide the development of better influenza vaccines. Memory cells in the nose slow the influenza virus as soon as it enters the body. They reduce viral levels and may ...

Gut bacteria linked to levels of latent HIV

The composition of gut bacteria appears to be associated with how much latent HIV remains in the blood of people receiving antiretroviral therapy. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Gut ...

Who should get the vaccine first? Lessons from the pandemic

It has been six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but one question remains relevant: Who should be first in line when vaccines are scarce? When COVID-19 vaccines first became available, supply was limited and ...

Influenza frequently missed in winter deaths, new study finds

A population-based study, published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection and due to be presented next week at ESCMID Global 2026, has found that influenza was detected in 11% of winter deaths, yet only 17% of these infections ...

Flu treatment shields lungs, cuts pneumonia risk

A new flu treatment could drastically reduce one of flu's deadliest complications—bacterial pneumonia—by helping the lungs defend themselves, rather than targeting the virus directly. Influenza specialist Associate Professor ...

Drones and AI take flight to combat mosquito-borne disease

As warming temperatures spread dengue to new regions, Stanford researchers are using AI-powered drones to hunt down hidden mosquito breeding sites. Anyone who has left water standing in a wading pool or empty flower pot knows ...