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Articles on Virology

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SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (pink dots) on a dying cell. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

What the coronavirus does to your body that makes it so deadly

The new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, spreads faster than the H1N1 influenza virus and is much deadlier. SARS-CoV-2 is particularly skilled at keeping cells from calling out for help.
Monitoring sewage for virus allows for a quick public health response if any polio is detected. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Sewage surveillance is the next frontier in the fight against polio

Polio can be circulating through a community long before anyone is paralyzed. Monitoring sewage for the virus lets public health officials short-circuit this ‘silent transmission.’
Ebola vaccination team member administering Ebola vaccine in Beni, North Kivu, DRC. UNICEF/MARK NAFTALIN HANDOUT

DRC may provide model for containing future Ebola outbreaks

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been hit with another Ebola outbreak. This may be the test case for how to deal with future outbreaks.
People and animals live side by side – and can have pathogens in common. Nichola Hill

Influenza’s wild origins in the animals around us

No one then knew a virus caused the 1918 flu pandemic, much less that animals can be a reservoir for human illnesses. Now virus ecology research and surveillance are key for public health efforts.
‘Leaky vaccines’ don’t affect the ability of the virus to reproduce and spread to others; they simply prevent it from causing disease. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District/Flickr

Are vaccines making viruses more dangerous?

Media coverage of a recent study involving a “leaky” vaccine raised questions about the possibility that they could make viruses more dangerous.
Try to predict the outcome of a single coin toss and you’ll have only a 50-50 chance of being correct. Pauli Antero/Flickr

Why predicting a flu outbreak is like betting on football or flipping a coin

Predicting infectious disease outbreaks is a tricky task to begin with. And it’s made harder still by the fact that any individual outcome is subject to unpredictable – or stochastic – effects.

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