Although testing for CMV during pregnancy isn’t routine and there isn’t universal screening for infants, there are steps pregnant people can take to protect themselves and their newborns.
Micrograph of RSV virions.
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Babies guts found to have ten times as many viral species as bacterial species.
Certain factors can disrupt the gut microbiota. These include our diet, alcohol consumption, antibiotics and inflammatory bowel disease.
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Your mobile phone is 10 times dirtier than a toilet seat. Here’s what to do about it.
Avian influenza (‘bird flu’) is a highly transmissible and usually mild disease that affects wild birds such as geese, swans, seagulls, shorebirds, and also domestic birds such as chickens and turkeys.
(CDC and NIAID)
Avian influenza viruses have evolved to infect birds, but the current H5N1 outbreak is also infecting a wide range of mammals. This suggests that it could mutate into forms that threaten humans.
The Marburg virus, a close cousin of Ebola, currently has no approved treatments or vaccines to protect against it.
Wild birds like pelicans and ducks are getting infected with – and dying from – a new strain of avian influenza and have spread it to farm animals around the world.
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A biologist who studies how viruses spread from animals to people explains the process of spillover and the risks posed by the new bird flu that has spread across the globe.
Fossil evidence of how the earliest life on Earth came to be is hard to come by. But scientists have come up with a few theories based on the microbes, viruses and prions existing today.
Communal bathing can get pretty disgusting.
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Relaxing in filth – you may never want to use a hot tub again after reading this.
Many viruses interact with the olfactory system, and can damage other areas of the brain through it.
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Andrew Bubak, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Diego Restrepo, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and Maria Nagel, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Inflammation and damage to the olfactory system from shingles, COVID-19 and herpes infections may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
Cells secrete exosomes carrying molecules that play a critical role in both health and disease.
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Andrew Bubak, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
People with an active case of shingles have up to an 80% higher risk of stroke than those without. The increased risk is highest for patients under 40.
Masks are an easy and low-cost way to reduce the amount of virus entering the air and spreading to others.
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As visits to emergency departments surge — and in some cases overwhelm hospitals — here are answers to frequently asked questions about Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Over the past month, clinics have seen a surge of sick children presenting with RSV, the flu and other viruses.
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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