Educational Science

Paul Alexander, polio survivor who lived in iron lung for 70 years, dies age 78

Paul Alexander, an American man who lived in an iron lung for more than 70 years after catching polio, has died at age 78. Alexander caught the viral disease when he was 6 years old, in the summer of 1952 when he was living in Texas. The first effective polio...

Parasitic worms found in man's brain after he likely ate undercooked bacon

Doctors in the U.S. got a nasty surprise when they discovered that a man visiting a clinic for migraines had parasitic worms growing in his brain. The 52-year-old man was infected with the larvae of Taenia solium, a tapeworm that normally infects pigs. This parasite can infect humans who inadvertently...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new report that highlights a potential danger of nasal rinsing with unsterile tap water: amoeba infections of the skin, eyes, lungs or brain. In the report, published Tuesday (March 12) in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the agency detailed...

Oregon's 1st bubonic plague case in 8 years tied to patient's pet cat

A person in Oregon has been diagnosed with bubonic plague — the first case of the illness reported in the state since 2015. The patient, in Deschutes County, likely caught the infection from their pet cat, which was showing signs of the illness, health officials said in a statement on...

'It took the rug right out from under my life': Milestone ME/CFS study begins to explain disease, but will it lead to treatments?

It took the rug right out from under my life. I went to work that Friday in August; I never went to work a day since, and it'll be 10 years this August. Those are the words of Jennifer Caldwell, whose life suddenly changed trajectory on an autumn weekend in...

Scientists reveal rare antibodies that target 'dark side' of flu virus

Scientists have uncovered antibodies that target the dark side of the flu virus. Influenza viruses have a mushroom-shaped protein known as neuraminidase (NA) that is said to have a dark side because the structure beneath its mushroom cap has been largely unexplored by science. Antibodies that latch onto this dark...

'Superbugs' can linger in the body for years, potentially spreading antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria that pose a critical threat to public health can remain in the body for nearly a decade. That's according to a new analysis of two antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli sampled from more than 70 hospital patients in Basel, Switzerland. The patients were...

300 people possibly exposed to measles at California hospital

Around 300 people may have been exposed to measles at a hospital in California after an infected child was seen by doctors there last week, public officials say. In a statement released March 8, Sacramento County Public Health representatives (SCPH) announced that a child with measles, also known as rubeola,...

More Kids Are Getting Ear Surgery to Avoid Being Bullied

A 6-year-old boy in Salt Lake City, Utah, recently had plastic surgery to make his ears stick out less, and parents everywhere weighed in on the family's decision, perhaps without knowing all of the facts about this operation. The young boy had been bullied because of his ears — his...

Leprosy is rare but on the rise in Florida — here's what to know

The word leprosy conjures images of biblical plagues, but the disease is still with us today. Caused by infectious bacteria, some 200,000 new cases are reported each year, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, leprosy has been entrenched for more than a century in parts of...