Infectious Diseases

A monstrous discovery suggests that viruses, long regarded as lowly evolutionary latecomers, may have been the precursors of all life on Earth 03.15.2006

Megadeath in Mexico

Epidemics followed the Spanish arrival in the New World, but the worst killer may have been a shadowy native—a killer that could still be out there. 02.21.2006

The Science of Avian Flu

Answers to frequently asked questions 02.20.2006

Who Gets the Flu?

Genetics increases susceptibility. 01.31.2006

The Year in Science: Epidemiology

Problems with the new flu vaccine, and the American robin harbors the West Nile virus. 01.08.2006

Vital Signs: Struggling to Inhale

The same symptoms for an infant and an older man have separate causes and different consequences 12.01.2005

Genomics

Researchers focus on differences between groups to find bad DNA 10.24.2005

The race is on to develop medicines faster and keep ahead of bacteria and viruses. 10.24.2005

Are Antibiotics Killing Us?

For every cell in your body, you support 10 mostly beneficial bacterial cells. 10.19.2005

Bite of the Hobo Spider

Is it arachnophobia or are people dying? 09.08.2005

Vital Signs

Appendicitis? Or something else? 07.24.2005

Vital Signs

A swollen area grows larger and larger 06.05.2005

Vital Signs

The cause of a teenage athlete's fever and pain takes a doctor by surprise 02.06.2005

Worrying About Killer Flu

Asia is brewing a deadly virus, but only with the right ingredients can it morph into an epidemic 02.06.2005

69: Prionlike Proteins Help Form Memories

01.03.2005

70: New Strains of Mad Cow Materialize

01.03.2005

96: Report: Syphilis Killed Lenin

01.03.2005

32: These Parasites Really Get Under Your Skin

01.03.2005

24: Polio Resurfaces In West Africa

01.03.2005

5: Killer Flu Incubates in Asia

01.03.2005

The Antibiotic Fox in the Henhouse

08.02.2004

Forbidden Science

What can studies of pornography, prostitutes, and seedy truck stops contribute to society? 08.02.2004

Are Animal Viruses Even More Dangerous Than We Thought?

05.29.2004

Vital Signs

A young athlete stumbles around the emergency room like an old man 05.29.2004

Did West Nile Kill Alexander the Great?

03.28.2004

Vital Signs

A young man in perfect health lies paralyzed by an unknown pathogen 12.03.2003

The Greatest Unanswered Questions of Medical Science

Where the money and brainpower will go in the next decade 12.03.2003

The Virus, the Manatee, and the Biologist

For once, saving an endangered species could save us too 08.01.2003

Discover Dialogue: Virologist David Baltimore

The danger of getting sick from this disease in the United States is trivial 08.01.2003

Vital Signs

An unfamiliar pathogen attacks unsuspecting passengers on a jetliner 07.01.2003

How Nature Brews a New Strain of Flu

07.01.2003

Vital Signs

I could tell from the infant's unusually high-pitched cry and disturbed vision that he needed immediate attention and treatment to survive 04.01.2003

Vital Signs

Did this writhing, choking child really have to die? 03.01.2003

Vital Signs

Why can't this baby hold down her formula? 12.01.2002

Curb your Cat, Save a Sea Otter

10.01.2002

Vital Signs

A sore marks the telltale path of a troublesome parasite 09.01.2002

Vital Signs

A fearsome infection spoils a honeymoon 06.01.2002

An Artificial Eye on Bioterror

06.01.2002

Vital Signs

The disease that shows us how we are what we eat 05.01.2002

Vital Signs

A legendary but surprisingly docile pathogen takes hold in a young man 02.01.2002

Vital Signs

Yet another mysterious disease that masquerades as the flu 01.01.2002

Public Health Coordinator Donald Henderson Waging War on Bioterror

01.01.2002

Will the Black Death Return?

Antibiotic-resistant plague is alive and well. 11.01.2001

Vital Signs

A simple excursion brings home a sleeping giant 10.01.2001

One Tough Tree

(Or, How I Got Siberian Elm Disease) 09.01.2001

Vital Signs

Our intestines do a lot of work without complaint. When they do complain, what does it mean? 09.01.2001

By the Numbers: Taming Sex Diseases

09.01.2001

Cow Parts

Mad cow disease could wreak havoc in the US because nearly everything we taste has cow in it. 08.01.2001

Works in Progress

Chemists concoct a bait more tantalizing than human flesh 08.01.2001

Microbiologis? Joan Rose Don't Catch a Dirty Wave

08.01.2001

Vital Signs

Sick kids show up in the ER every day-but they're rarely this sick 06.01.2001

Making a New Mosquito

Will tinkering make mosquitoes better or worse? 05.01.2001

Vital Signs

Headache, fever, and vomiting-a simple viral infection, right? 05.01.2001

Byron Caughey A Sane Look at Mad Cows

03.01.2001

Vital Signs

A teenager's stomachache proves a diagnostic puzzle—and a cautionary tale 02.01.2001

Vital Signs

Mr. Post's escalating fever after a monthlong trip into the bush was not a good sign 10.01.2000

Silent Summer

This summer, many more Americans may have to choose between getting exposed to West Nile encephalitis or getting sprayed with a mild neurotoxin. Maybe they should just stay indoors. 07.01.2000

Vital Signs

Are you psychotic, overdosing, or did you just forget your booster shot? 01.01.2000

The Biology of ... Hand-Washing

Your Mother Was Right: In an age when antibiotics don't kill germs very well, soap does 12.01.1999

Taking It on the Jaw

A neglected tooth infection runs amok and threatens to choke off a young inmate's throat 10.01.1999

Killer Pox in the Congo

The last documented case of smallpox occurred in 1977. Now a deadly kin of the virus is spreading out of the forest and into villages. 10.01.1999

Vital Signs

A neglected tooth infection runs amok and threatens to choke off a young inmate's throat 10.01.1999

Killer Pox in the Congo

The last documented case of smallpox occurred in 1977. Now a deadly kin of the virus is spreading out of the forest and into villages. by Wendy Orent 10.01.1999

Mysterious Fevers

Mr. Ervin didn't know what hit him, and neither did his doctor 07.01.1999

Vital Signs

Mr. Ervin didn't know what hit him, and neither did his doctor 07.01.1999

The Cold Warriors

Closing in on a cure for the common cold. 02.01.1999

The Cold Warriors

Closing in on a cure for the common cold. 02.01.1999

Last Days of the Wonder Drugs

Years of overconfidence have made us vulnerable. Now, in the deadly arms race between people and bacteria, the bugs are winning. 11.01.1998

The Baby Who Stopped Eating

Infants don't suddenly stop nursing and starve themselves. What was happening to Jarret Fox? 08.01.1998

Vital Signs: A Lethal Scratch

Mrs. Anders didn't seem sick. But the fiery streak up her ankle was a poisonous calling card. 02.01.1998

The Year in Science: Animals 1997

A Plague on Frogs 01.01.1998

The Year in Science: Animals 1997

A Plague on Frogs 01.01.1998

The Year in Science: Environment 1997

Not a Pretty Picture 01.01.1998

The Year in Science: Medicine 1997

Fear the Pigs 01.01.1998

The Year in Science: Medicine 1997

Where's the Beef? 01.01.1998

The Year in Science: Medicine 1997

Case Closed 01.01.1998

The Year in Science: Plants 1997

Keep the Aspirin Flying 01.01.1998

Borna virus used to be an obscure veterinary problem in Saxony. But it's obscure no more. A couple of German virologists believe the bug may be sending people, in large numbers, to the psychiatric ward. 10.01.1997

On the Origin of Darwin's Ills

09.01.1997

Malign Evolution

In 1911 a hen's tumor prompted a 70-year search for cancer-causing viruses. What it ultimately revealed were the rules of a Darwinian game, played to the death. 08.01.1997

Mysteries of the Heart

No one knows why a puzzling growth sometimes chokes off the blood vessels that embrace the heart, or who is most susceptible to it. But a seemingly harmless--and nearly ubiquitous--virus may provide a valuable clue. 07.01.1997

The Sweating Sickness Returns

06.01.1997

The Importance of Being Infected

05.01.1997

Sporting With Disaster

05.01.1997

The Poop on Penguins

03.01.1997

The Floating Zoo

The air teems with viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other microscopic creatures. They can cross oceans on a gust of wind. Some can cause crop failures, disease, and death. Some can be used as invisible weapons, and we know next to nothing about them. 02.01.1997

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Health & Medicine / Infectious Diseases