Brian and Erika Parker spent a year and a half completing adoption paperwork. They adopted their daughter, Emily, from India. While they waited, the Parkers sent care packages and received reports about her.

When Emily was seven and a half, the Parkers noticed she was losing coordination. ER doctors from India at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania asked if she had measles. They suspected SSPE (subacute sclerosing panencephalitis), a fatal brain disorder linked to measles complications.

A few months later, Emily slipped into a coma. She died a month after her eighth birthday. After Emily’s passing, the Parkers founded Emily’s Hope. The foundation promotes awareness of measles, SSPE, and the safety of the MMR vaccine.

As measles cases in many countries rise, families like the Parkers bear the brunt of international risks. Global disease trends have prompted a new CDC warning. The CDC recommends that all international travelers get fully vaccinated for measles.

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Superbugs are almost like shapeshifters that can live inside your body. As medicines and the immune system try to destroy them, superbugs fight back. They change form, gaining resistance to drugs and defenses.

A new study in Nature Communications shows superbugs evolve during infection. Real-time tracking may help doctors choose more targeted treatments. Researchers focused on Staphylococcus aureus, a common bacterium carried by 30% of people.

S. aureus is usually harmless, but it turns dangerous when it spreads. Once it infects the bloodstream, it can resist several antibiotics. This study shows how tracking its evolution during care may improve treatment.

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The Black Death is often seen as a relic of the past. Many believe plague no longer affects modern people or communities. But plague still causes illness and death around the world today. In July 2025, Coconino County, Arizona reported its first pneumonic plague death in 18 years.

Nearly 1000 years after the first major outbreak, a new vaccine emerged. Researchers have created an mRNA-based vaccine against Yersinia pestis. This bacterium causes both bubonic and pneumonic plague. The vaccine marks the first mRNA vaccine to target a bacterial pathogen. The research was published in Advanced Science.

The vaccine was conceived by Tel Aviv University and Israel’s Biological Research Institute. It uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver modified bacterial protein instructions. These help human cells produce plague antigens to train the immune system. Tests in animal models showed strong protection against deadly plague strains.

This breakthrough offers hope beyond plague prevention. The technology could lead to vaccines for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These bacteria cause hard-to-treat infections and kill thousands each year. Drug-resistant infections are expected to worsen in coming decades.

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A new study in Science identified piperacillin for treating Lyme disease. Researchers tested nearly 500 FDA-approved compounds to find effective drugs. Piperacillin, related to penicillin, best eliminated Lyme-causing bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi.

Doxycycline is currently the main treatment but has significant drawbacks. It harms helpful gut bacteria, causes side effects, and affects children negatively. Doxycycline also leaves 10–20% of Lyme disease cases incompletely treated. Piperacillin provides targeted treatment of Borrelia burgdorferi with fewer side effects.

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If someone leaves their car unlocked, they may face theft. Such an experience often makes them more cautious in the future. Similarly, a common cold infection may prepare the immune system. This preparation can help protect against future threats like COVID-19.

Researchers at National Jewish Health studied this connection. They found prior rhinovirus infection could cut COVID-19 risk nearly in half. This protection may help explain why children have milder COVID-19 symptoms. Children often face more colds than adults, boosting immune readiness.

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One of the most remembered facts from biology class is about mitochondria. They’re called the “powerhouse of the cell” because they help make energy. But new research published in Cell reveals another crucial role. Mitochondria also help your immune system detect and trap harmful bacteria.

Inside neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, mitochondria act as sensors. They detect a chemical called lactate, which is made by bacteria during infection. When mitochondria sense lactate, they send a signal inside the neutrophil. This signal tells the neutrophil to launch a defense called a NET.

NETs, or neutrophil extracellular traps, are sticky webs made of DNA and proteins. These webs trap bacteria and help stop them from spreading. Scientists once thought NETs only formed from stress or damage inside cells. But this study shows NETs can also form in response to bacterial activity.

The discovery shows that mitochondria do more than make energy. They help your immune system respond to threats and fight off infection.

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A new study published in Virulence reveals how lung infections involving more than one type of bacteria suppress the immune system.

Mycobacterium abscessus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa often coinfect patients with chronic lung conditions. People with cystic fibrosis (CF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are especially at risk.

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One of the most unsettling traits of infectious diseases is their stealth. A person can feel healthy while a virus quietly spreads inside them. By the time symptoms appear, it may be too late to act quickly. That delay makes diagnosis and containment much harder.

Understanding incubation periods helps pinpoint where and when infection occurred. A new CDC study sheds light on the timing of Oropouche virus disease. Researchers focused on nearly 100 travel-related cases from 2024 to 2025. They used log-normal survival modeling to analyze 97 confirmed infections.

The goal was to define the window between exposure and symptoms. Their findings can guide outbreak responses and improve clinical decisions. The study found the median incubation period was 3.2 days.

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Ivermectin is a key anti-parasite drug used in humans and animals. Vaccine opponents wrongly promoted the medicine as a COVID-19 cure. While health officials found insufficient support for those claims, ivermectin now shows surprising promise against a different deadly disease: malaria.

A large clinical trial tested ivermectin’s ability to reduce malaria infections. Results found a 26% drop in malaria infections among children.

The study took place in Kwale, a coastal region of Kenya. Malaria is common there, and most people already use insecticide-treated nets. The study aimed to see if ivermectin could offer extra protection.

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Imagine going to the doctor with an open wound needing stitches. Instead of treatment, you are told the wound is imaginary. This experience is similar to what many ME/CFS patients face. Their symptoms are sometimes dismissed as psychosomatic, despite being real and disabling.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a long-term illness. It causes extreme fatigue, post-exertional malaise, pain, and brain fog. Symptoms often begin after an infection and can last for years. The disease affects more women than men and has no known cure.

A large UK preprint study linked eight genetic signals to ME/CFS. It is the largest genetic analysis of the disease ever done. The findings suggest ME/CFS has real biological causes, not just psychological ones. This research gives the illness a stronger scientific foundation and may guide future treatments.

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