Category: Featured Headlines
Kent meningitis outbreak: the latest on the bacterial strain at its centre
The Conversation A meningitis outbreak in Kent has been caused by a strain of bacteria that appears to be genetically distinct from anything scientists have seen before. Health officials are working urgently to understand what that means. As of March 23, 23 young people have been confirmed as cases or considered probable cases of invasive meningococcal […]
Mar 25, 2026
UK Meningitis Outbreak May Worsen, Health Security Agency Warns
Bloomberg The UK meningitis outbreak may worsen in coming weeks and months, with further contamination unrelated to the southeastern county of Kent where it first emerged. There is a risk that the epidemic will move from level 1, in which there is one known case cluster and a small number of cases elsewhere derive from […]
Mar 25, 2026
TB: After Hopes Of Eradication, The World’s Deadliest Infection Is Creeping Back In The US With A Vengeance
IFL Science Cases have been slowly rising in the US, the UK, and much of the world since 2021. The world’s top infectious killer, tuberculosis (TB), has plagued humans for thousands of years, and it isn’t going anywhere just yet. Since being scientifically identified in 1882, the disease has killed over 1 billion people – […]
Mar 25, 2026
5 things you need to know about meningitis
Washington Post Two people died in an outbreak of bacterial meningitis in England. The infection, which is rare, requires prompt medical treatment to avoid severe complications. Two young adults, an 18-year-old and 21-year-old, recently died, and 18 others were hospitalized, in an outbreak of meningitis in Kent, England. People in their teens and early 20s are considered […]
Mar 25, 2026
Recorded Cases of Meningitis Rise to 20 as UK Outbreak Worsens
EMJ CASES of meningococcal disease in Kent, UK, have risen to 20, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed today. As of 5pm on Tuesday, nine laboratory cases are confirmed and 11 notifications remain under investigation by UKHSA. Six of the confirmed cases have been identified as group B meningococcal disease. One individual who had […]
Mar 18, 2026
California: 27 elephant seals test positive for bird flu in Bay Area outbreak
KRON More than two dozen elephant seals have tested positive for avian influenza since the outbreak at Año Nuevo State Park on the San Mateo County coast began in February, according to an update from UC Davis released Monday. One sea otter and two California sea lions have also tested positive after being found dead […]
Mar 18, 2026
We study pandemics, and the resurgence of measles is a grim sign of what’s coming
The Conversation In the three decades between 1993 and 2024, measles in the U.S. was relatively rare – a few hundred cases each year, at most. But suddenly, the disease has become so entrenched in American life that it sometimes fails to make headlines when a new outbreak erupts. As of March 2026, measles has […]
Mar 18, 2026
A little-known respiratory virus, human metapneumovirus, surging in Northern California
Univ of California, Davis Young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems face the greatest risk of serious illness (SACRAMENTO) If you came down with a respiratory infection this spring that wasn’t the flu or COVID-19, it may have been a virus you’ve never heard of: Human metapneumovirus or HMPV. The virus was first […]
Mar 11, 2026
FDA Launches New Combined Adverse Event Database
MedPage Today System will replace safety databases monitoring drugs, devices, food, and more. “The FDA’s previous adverse event reporting systems were outdated and fragmented and made important data difficult to access,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, said in the release. “These clunky systems also wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and created blind spots in […]
Mar 11, 2026
Scientists Get a Glimpse of How New Pandemics Are Made
NYT Researchers have devised a new tool for discerning between naturally occurring viral outbreaks and those resulting from lab accidents. The Covid pandemic was an extraordinary moment in history. Starting at the end of 2019, a virus new to science swept across the planet, killed more than 25 million people and caused trillions of dollars in economic damage. But […]
Mar 11, 2026