Like the recent WannaCry, viruses and other hacker software are now part of our digital lives. How big are the threats? How can we protect ourselves?
Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. Scientists believe flight may influence their immune responses to coronoviruses, which cause fatal diseases such as SARS and MERS in humans.
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Scientific studies show that bats may carry “coronoviruses” causing SARS and MERS - without showing symptoms of disease. Could the bat immune system be key to human survival in future pandemics?
Colleen Burge, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Oysters grow in seawater and filter their food from it, so how do you shield them from waterborne diseases? Scientists are working to develop strains that are resistant to a fast-spreading herpes virus.
When the H3N2 strain dominates, we see bigger flu seasons and cases affecting the elderly more than the young.
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By mid-August, the 2017 year had recorded more flu notifications across Australia than the previous five years. So why is the flu season so bad this time around?
Women’s immune systems mount a significantly stronger response against invaders.
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Gabrielle Belz, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) e Cyril Seillet, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Women have evolved to have stronger immunity than men. But this comes with downsides -
women are more likely to have autoimmune diseases due to their “reactive” immune systems.
A virus like SARS can shut down cytokine production, enabling it to multiply to higher levels and causing significant infection and even death.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Frayer)
We’ve all endured infections. Here’s how it works when our bodies are attacked by viruses, bacteria or parasites, and our innate immune system becomes the first line of defence.
These migratory pied imperial-pigeons in Far North Queensland, like many of Australia’s 22 species of native pigeons and doves, play an important role in our ecosystems but may be at risk from emerging viruses in domestic pigeons.
Dejan Stojanovic
Two recently emerging viruses in domestic pigeons in Australia may pose a significant threat to Australia’s 22 species of native pigeons and doves, many of which have crucial ecosystem roles.
Just as organisms that infect us make changes in us - we too make changes in them and they grow and adapt to their human hosts.
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Humans play host to many little passengers. Right now, you’re incubating, shedding or have already been colonised by viral, bacterial, parasitic or fungal microorganisms - perhaps even all of them.
Modern diets are changing the compositions of our gut microbiota, and with that, our personalities.
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For most of the twentieth century, we were at war with microbes, leading to substantial changes in our body’s ecosystem. This has changed our diets, disease profile, moods and even personalities.
What can a single person’s flu infection tell you about how the virus changes around the world?
Xue and Bloom
What’s on your cash? Studies show our money carries everything from pet DNA and old food to E.coli and traces of cocaine.
Medical workers move a woman, who is suspected of having Ebola, upon her arrival at Meioxeiro Hospital, in Vigo, northwestern Spain, 28 October 2015.
SALVADOR SAS (EPA)/ AAP
This antivirus software protects health, not computers. Researchers are beginning to combat deadly infections using computer-generated antiviral proteins – a valuable tool to fight a future pandemic.
Cybersecurity jargon can be intimidating, but it needn’t be.
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Director, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital and Consultant Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital and Monash University, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity