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Latest about Viruses, Infections & Disease
'This needs to happen fast': Scientists race to cryopreserve a critically endangered tree before it goes extinct
Less than 400 angle-stemmed myrtle specimens remain in the wild in Australia. Scientists are working on ways to preserve the species so that we can bring it back at any point if it dies out.
'Russian nesting doll' virus hides inside a deadly fungus, making it even more dangerous to people
A virus found lurking inside a deadly fungus may make the microbe even stronger and harder to kill when it infects people.
Diet change could make brain cancer easier to treat, early study hints
A new lab study exploited a unique aspect of metabolism in glioblastoma to boost the effectiveness of chemoradiation, turning the cancer's properties against itself.
'Your fear is well-founded': How human activities have raised the risk of tick-borne diseases like Lyme
Changes to forests, and how close people and their livestock live to them, have changed tick habitats and the risks humans face of Lyme disease and other illnesses.
Have you gotten this year's COVID vaccine?
Federal guidance about the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine has raised questions and confusion around the shots. Have you tried to get one this year?
'We have basically destroyed what capacity we had to respond to a pandemic,' says leading epidemiologist Michael Osterholm
INTERVIEW Live Science spoke with leading epidemiologist Michael Osterholm about his new book, "The Big One," which discusses the next pandemic and how to mitigate its harm.
US reports its first New World parasitic screwworm infection in decades
A person in Maryland has been diagnosed with an infection of the flesh-eating New World screwworm. It's the first case in the U.S. in decades.
Vaccines hold tantalizing promise in the fight against dementia
A prominent Nature study and related research raise the possibility that vaccines may have a broader role in experimental therapeutics outside the realm of infectious diseases.
COVID-19 vaccines for kids are mired in uncertainty amid conflicting federal guidance
Opinion Abrupt policy changes and confusing public messaging have injected confusion in back-to-school vaccine protocols.
Mystery of why sea stars keep turning into goo finally solved — and it's not what scientists thought
A new study has found that the devastating sea star wasting disease is caused by a strain of bacteria from Vibrio pectenicida, which turns the marine creatures into goo.
