Viruses, Infections & Disease, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 22, 2018

Why Flesh-Eating Bacteria Can Look Like the Flu

An Arizona woman who was initially diagnosed with the flu turned out to have a life-threating infection with flesh-eating bacteria, according to news reports. The woman, Christin Lipinski, visited her doctor with flu-like symptoms and pain under her arm, according to ABC15 Arizona. She was diagnosed with the flu on...

Feb 2, 2018

Can You Get the Flu Twice in One Season?

This flu season is a particularly severe one, and it's not over yet — health officials say flu activity will likely remain elevated for at least several more weeks. But if you already caught the flu, are you in the clear for the rest of the season? Unfortunately, no. Experts...

Feb 5, 2018

If You Get the Flu, When Should You Go to the ER?

Emergency rooms around the U.S. are crowded with flu patients as the country experiences one of the most intense flu seasons in years, according to news reports. But if you do catch the flu, how do you know if you need to go to the ER? Most patients with the...

Feb 9, 2018

3 Ways the US Should Prepare for the Next Flu Pandemic

This article was originally published at The Conversation.The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The flu is wreaking havoc globally this year. Influenza infections are on the rise, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicting that this year's strain will cause the...

Feb 9, 2018

This Special UV Light Could Zap Flu Germs from the Air

A special type of ultraviolet (UV) light may be able to zap flu germs right out of the air, a new study suggests. The study found that far ultraviolet C (far-UVC) light could kill airborne flu virus particles in a lab setting that was designed to be similar to a...

Feb 12, 2018

Is This Experimental Japanese Drug the Secret to Stopping the Flu?

A Japanese drug company is offering up a big claim: Shionogi & Co. says it has an experimental pill that can kill the flu virus within a single day, according to news reports. In a clinical trial, a single dose of the drug made by the pharmaceutical company eliminated the...

Feb 15, 2018

The Flu Shot Is More Effective Than We Thought This Year

It's been a bad flu season, but this year's vaccine does offer some protection against the nasty bug, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC researchers estimate that this year's flu shot reduced people's risk of going to the doctor for flu-related...

Jun 8, 2018

Would You Stay at 'Hotel Influenza'?

If you think getting paid more than $3,000 to stay at a hotel sounds too good to be true, well, there's a catch: You might get the flu. To better study flu vaccines, researchers at Saint Louis University (SLU) created the Extended Stay Research Unit, aka Hotel Influenza. The facility...

Jun 14, 2018

Will You Catch the Flu? The Answer Could Be in Your Blood

During last winter's severe flu season, you may have found yourself worrying about whether you'd catch the notorious virus. But what if there was a way to predict whether you'd get the flu or whether you'd make it through the season scot-free? Early research suggests that this may indeed be...

Aug 28, 2018

China Won't Share Its Samples of a Deadly Flu Virus. Here's Why That's a Problem.

To protect people against the next flu pandemic, scientists need to know what flu strains are circulating and how they are changing. But such efforts can be stymied if countries don't share flu samples, and now, the Chinese government appears to be withholding samples of the dangerous bird flu virus...

Sep 7, 2018

How a Cream for Genital Warts Might Also Help with Flu Pandemics

Genital warts and the flu don't seem to have much in common, other than that they are both caused by viruses. But now, researchers are testing whether a cream that's commonly used to treat genital warts could also help boost the protection of flu vaccines in the event of a...

Sep 27, 2018

What Can Be Done to Prevent Another Rise in Flu Deaths This Year

The 2017 to 2018 flu season in the U.S. was the worst in at least four decades, with around 80,000 deaths and 900,000 hospitalizations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those figures include a record-breaking number of deaths in children. Some of the lethality of last...

Oct 5, 2018

Why Flu Epidemics Work Differently in Big American Cities

Flu epidemics in small towns are bad, but at least researchers understand them. A new paper published today (Oct. 5) in the journal Science shows that dense urban centers in the United States have lost a lot of the natural defenses that keep the flu from rampaging year-round through the...

Oct 24, 2018

A New Flu Drug Was Just Approved by the FDA. It's the First in Nearly 20 Years.

As flu season descends on the country, U.S. officials have announced the approval of a new drug to treat influenza — the first new flu drug in nearly two decades. The drug, called Xofluza (generic name baloxavir marboxil), was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of...

Nov 8, 2018

Not Just the Flu: Gonorrhea, Chicken Pox Also Go Through Seasons

You probably know when flu season happens, but what about chicken-pox season or gonorrhea season? Well, according to a new review study, a whole host of infectious diseases have seasons during which their activity peaks. The study, which reviewed information from dozens of scientific papers, found evidence of seasonality in...