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Articles on Infection

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Bacteria (clusters of light pink, surrounded by larger magenta blood cells) can cause deadly infections, but overreactive immune responses can deliver the lethal blow. Scharvik/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Sepsis is one of the most expensive medical conditions in the world – new research clarifies how it can lead to cell death

An overactive immune response to infection can be deadly. Studying how one key player called tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, induces lethal immune responses could provide new treatment targets.
Insect bites or stings, like the one on this person’s hand, are a manifestation of inflammation. Suthep Wongkhad/EyeEm via Getty Images

What is inflammation? Two immunologists explain how the body responds to everything from stings to vaccination and why it sometimes goes wrong

Inflammation is a complicated and important part of how the immune system responds to threats to the body. But when the inflammatory response goes awry, it can lead to serious problems.
Sepsis begins with infection by bacteria or a virus. This panoramic ilustration inside a blood vessel shows rod-shaped bacteria, red blood cells and immune cells called leukocytes. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Sepsis still kills 1 in 5 people worldwide – two ICU physicians offer a new approach to stopping it

Sepsis onset can be difficult to recognize, in part because its symptoms can mimic those of many other conditions. A treatment delay of even a few hours can make the difference between life and death.
Researchers can test blood samples taken for other reasons to see if patients have previously had COVID-19. Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

COVID-19 official counts can miss mild cases – here’s how serosurveys that analyze blood for signs of past infection can help

Your blood can hold a record of past illnesses. That information can reveal how many people have had a certain infection – like 58% of Americans having had COVID-19 by the end of February 2022.
People suffering from long-term effects of COVID-19 face uncertainty about the nature of their symptoms and how long they might last. Halfpoint Images/Moment via Getty Images

Deciphering the symptoms of long COVID-19 is slow and painstaking – for both sufferers and their physicians

Researchers are piecing together clues to better understand the puzzling array of symptoms in those who never seem to fully recover from COVID-19.
Vaccinated people are well protected from getting sick, but could they inadvertently transmit the coronavirus? Noam Galai/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Can people vaccinated against COVID-19 still spread the coronavirus?

The COVID-19 vaccines are a smash success. But that doesn’t mean they keep every vaccinated person completely free of the coronavirus.
We need a toilet design solution that suits local people’s needs. Hafidz Alifuddin/Pexels.com

We should talk more about toilets

Communication between programmers and local communities can provide good opportunities in the toilet prototyping process from the beginning of the design process.
Antibiotics do not shorten or reduce the severity of colds or flu, but they could produce adverse effects that make you feel even worse. (Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

Antibiotics in cold and flu season: Potentially harmful and seldom helpful

Resistant bacteria aren’t the only risk posed by overprescribing antibiotics. A more immediate risk is side-effects and reactions, which a new review shows are surprisingly frequent and often severe.

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