A group of common cold viruses may be able to cause a life-threatening, if rare, blood clotting condition, recent research suggests. A team of scientists in the U.S. and Canada have recently found evidence linking the viruses to two cases of the condition, in a child and an adult. At this point, however, much remains…
Here’s some extra material for your nightmares: In a case report out this week, a group of scientists say they’ve found a new species of roundworm that’s capable of infesting our brains—one that normally plagues snakes. The discovery was made when they extracted a living worm from an Australian woman’s head during…
A disease spread by fleas is becoming more common and deadlier in Los Angeles, California. In a new report this week, health officials say that recorded cases of flea-borne typhus have steadily risen in LA since 2010, with the highest tally seen last year.
A man in the UK has become a medical first, though not in a great way. In a recent paper, scientists say he’s the first known person to have caught a newly discovered bacteria from a stray cat’s bite. Though the feline encounter resulted in a gnarly infection of his hands, the man was eventually treated successfully…
There’s no shortage of nasty germs in the world that can make us sick. The most common ones tend to be those passed on from person to person through methods such as respiratory droplets and aerosols, fecal-oral contamination (touching traces of poo from someone’s unwashed hands), or even sex. But there are other…
A new outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus has infected a suspected 25 people and potentially killed nine in the Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, the World Health Organization announced this week.
