Featured
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News |
COVID’s future: mini-waves rather than seasonal surges
Three years after the start of the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 shows no signs of settling into a seasonal pattern of spread, like influenza has.
- Ewen Callaway
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News Feature |
Are repeat COVID infections dangerous? What the science says
Researchers disagree over how bad it is to be reinfected, and whether COVID-19 can cause lasting changes to the immune system.
- Cassandra Willyard
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Editorial |
The WHO at 75: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
The World Health Organization is emerging from the peak of the pandemic bruised. Its member states must get back to prioritizing universal health care.
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News & Views |
When influenza viruses don’t play well with others
Influenza viruses that infect the same host can interfere with each other’s replication. This behaviour seems to result in spatial structuring of infected groups of cells in tissue, with implications for viral evolution.
- Mireille Farjo
- & Christopher B. Brooke
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News |
Viruses in sewage help to pinpoint typhoid hotspots
Targeting the virus that infects the disease-causing bacterium could be a cheap way to prioritize populations for vaccination campaigns.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Research Briefing |
Infection-sensing neurons in the airways trigger sickness behaviours
A group of neuronal cells in the airways have been shown to detect chemicals, called prostaglandins, that are produced by immune cells during infection with a respiratory virus. Once stimulated, the neurons relay this signal to the brain. Mice in which the function of these neurons is impaired show less sickness behaviour after influenza infection than do control animals.
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News |
How the brain senses a flu infection — and orders the body to rest
Scientists trace the neurons in the throat that detect signs of infection and relay this information to the brain.
- Liam Drew
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News Explainer |
How to stop the bird flu outbreak becoming a pandemic
From tracking the disease’s spread in wild birds to updating human vaccines, there are measures that could help keep avian influenza in check.
- Saima May Sidik
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News Q&A |
Girl who died of bird flu did not have widely circulating variant
Scientist who sequenced the virus isolated from a Cambodian girl says it is not the strain causing mass deaths in birds globally.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Did flu come from fish? Genetics points to influenza’s aquatic origin
Corals, sturgeon and other aquatic creatures harbour signs of infection by influenza and its distant relatives.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
One MRI for 4.7 million people: the battle to treat Syria’s earthquake survivors
With only 64 X-ray and 73 kidney-dialysis machines, 7 CT scanners and one MRI machine, doctors in northwest Syria are racing against the clock to treat 8,500 injuries.
- Miryam Naddaf
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News |
Third patient free of HIV after receiving virus-resistant cells
But the risks associated with the procedure mean it is unlikely to be used widely in its current form.
- Sara Reardon
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News |
Eight countries eliminated a neglected tropical disease in 2022
Mass treatment programmes and a focus on hygiene and hand washing helped some nations to banish the illnesses.
- Jude Coleman
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Editorial |
Global pandemic treaty: what we must learn from climate-change errors
The WHO’s draft agreement proposes a COP-like process. That’s unlikely to improve on the world’s disastrous COVID response.
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News |
How quickly does COVID immunity fade? What scientists know
Vaccination, infection with SARS-CoV-2 and a combination of both provide varying degrees of protection.
- Cassandra Willyard
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News Explainer |
Will a new wave of RSV vaccines stop the dangerous virus?
Pfizer, GSK and Moderna are ahead in the race to produce vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus — what will be their impact?
- Liam Drew
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News |
Should COVID vaccines be given yearly? Proposal divides US scientists
Some say the US Food and Drug Administration’s suggestion of updating COVID-19 vaccines each year, as happens with influenza jabs, could boost uptake.
- Max Kozlov
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News |
Bird flu outbreak in mink sparks concern about spread in people
A variant of H5N1 influenza that can spread between mammals could pose an increased risk to people and wild animals.
- Saima May Sidik
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News |
The next worrisome coronavirus variant could come from China — will it get detected?
Genomic surveillance is crucial for tracking the next ‘variant of concern’, but many countries are winding back their monitoring.
- Dyani Lewis
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News |
How antidepressants help bacteria resist antibiotics
A laboratory study unravels ways non-antibiotic drugs can contribute to drug resistance.
- Liam Drew
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News |
China’s COVID wave has probably peaked, model suggests
But a lack of data is obscuring the true impact of the outbreak.
- Dyani Lewis
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News |
Coronavirus variant XBB.1.5 rises in the United States — is it a global threat?
Prevalence of a new subvariant of Omicron is increasing, but whether it will cause a big surge in infections or hospitalizations isn’t clear.
- Ewen Callaway
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Editorial |
There’s no room for COVID complacency in 2023
Stark scenes from China show the pandemic is far from over. One solution is a laser-like focus on strengthening public-health systems.
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News |
Massive measles outbreak threatens India’s goal to eliminate disease by 2023
Many children missed routine vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic and pockets of the country are still struggling to boost immunization rates.
- Gayathri Vaidyanathan
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News |
China COVID wave could kill one million people, models predict
Boosting vaccination rates, widespread mask use and reimposing some restrictions on movement could reduce the number of deaths.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
COVID spurs boom in genome sequencing for infectious diseases
From dengue to Ebola, laboratories in Asia and Africa are using sequencing technology and skills acquired during the pandemic to track endemic diseases quickly.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Article |
SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence in the human body and brain at autopsy
A study reports the distribution, replication and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 throughout the human body including in the brain at autopsy from acute infection to more than seven months following symptom onset.
- Sydney R. Stein
- , Sabrina C. Ramelli
- & Daniel S. Chertow
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News |
China is relaxing its zero-COVID policy — here’s what scientists think
Researchers say the rule changes will lead to a rise in infections that could overwhelm hospitals.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News Explainer |
Why is strep A surging — and how worried are scientists?
The tragic deaths of 13 children in England and an unusual rise in autumn cases have put researchers on alert.
- Heidi Ledford
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Research Briefing |
A liver drug reduces SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells
A widely used drug called UDCA reduces SARS-CoV-2 infection in human organoid structures, animals and human organs maintained outside the body. Individuals using UDCA for liver conditions are less likely to develop severe COVID-19 than are people who did not use it. UDCA treatment could help to protect people with suppressed immune systems and offer protectionagainst vaccine-resistant variants.
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Mosquito blood meals reveal history of human infections
Technique avoids the ethical and practical challenges of testing people directly.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders
Study is one of the few to show the behavioural effects of Toxoplasma gondii in wild animals.
- Emma Marris
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News |
Dengue vaccine poised for roll-out but safety concerns linger
Indonesia will be using the jab from next year, but some scientists say there are insufficient data to rule out that it could make infections worse in some people.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Could a nose spray a day keep COVID away?
Scientists are working on fast-acting nasal sprays to block coronavirus infections — but formulating the sprays is a challenge.
- Max Kozlov
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News |
COVID ‘variant soup’ is making winter surges hard to predict
Descendants of Omicron are proliferating worldwide — and the same mutations are coming up again and again.
- Ewen Callaway
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Outlook |
Preparing the world for the next pandemic
Researchers are clear about what countries need to do to prevent another disease outbreak with pandemic potential.
- Richard Hodson
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Outlook |
On the lookout for viruses that could leap from animals into humans
Virologist Sara Sawyer explains how the ability of an animal virus to infect humans can be tested, and highlights a viral family of concern.
- Simon Makin
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Outlook |
Five ways to prepare for the next pandemic
COVID-19 and other infectious-disease outbreaks can teach us how to respond to future threats.
- Devi Sridhar
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Outlook |
Disinfecting the air with far-ultraviolet light
Devices that use wavelengths of sanitizing ultraviolet light that are safe for people could become a more common sight.
- Eric Bender
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Outlook |
Preparing health-care systems for future pandemics
Increased vigilance in hospitals, better data sharing and training drills can help ready the world to respond to infectious-disease outbreaks.
- Kristina Campbell
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Outlook |
How to eradicate the next pandemic disease
The elimination of smallpox from every region of the world took a huge effort. Getting rid of other infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, will be even more difficult.
- Sam Jones
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News Explainer |
Why is bird flu so bad right now?
The virus is running amok around the world. Possible explanations include an enhanced ability to replicate or infect more bird species.
- Saima May Sidik
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News |
Bubonic plague left lingering scars on the human genome
Genes that might have aided survival during the Black Death are now linked to autoimmune disorders.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Omicron boosters could arm you against variants that don’t yet exist
Worries that the immune system would get ‘stuck’ on the original SARS-CoV-2 strain are dispelled by laboratory experiments.
- Sara Reardon
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News |
Lifesaving fund to fight AIDS, malaria and TB falls short of $18-billion target
Pledges are ‘a drop in the ocean of needs’, says TB charity.
- T. V. Padma
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News Explainer |
Will there be a COVID winter wave? What scientists say
Emerging variants and waning immunity are likely to push infection rates higher in the Northern Hemisphere as influenza also makes a comeback.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
100,000 coronavirus genomes reveal COVID’s evolution in Africa
Massive SARS-CoV-2 sequencing project in Africa brings global benefits.
- Diana Kwon
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News |
Why scientists fear monkeypox spreading in wild animals
Monkeypox rampant in wildlife would make the virus impossible to control, warn scientists.
- Emiliano Rodríguez Mega