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infectious disease
Latest Articles
Vaccines Are Pushing Pathogens to Evolve
Just as antibiotics have bred resistance in bacteria, vaccines can potentially lose their effectiveness over diseases they controlled. Researchers are working to head off the evolution of new threats.
Why Don’t Patients Get Sick in Sync? Modelers Find Statistical Clues.
The long, variable times that some diseases incubate after infection defies simple explanation. An idealized model of tumor growth offers a statistical solution.
How Math (and Vaccines) Keep You Safe From the Flu
Simple math shows how widespread vaccination can disrupt the exponential spread of disease and prevent epidemics.
The Unforgiving Math That Stops Epidemics
If you didn’t get a flu shot, you are endangering more than just your own health. Calculations of herd immunity against common diseases don’t make exceptions.
The Illuminating Geometry of Viruses
Mathematical insights into how RNA helps viruses pull together their protein shells could guide future studies of viral behavior and function.
Wanted: More Data, the Dirtier the Better
The computational immunologist Purvesh Khatri embraces messy data as a way to capture the messiness of disease. As a result, he’s making elusive genomic discoveries.
Viruses Find a New Way to Hijack Cells
A virus that causes crippling birth defects has been shown to do something else: It changes thousands of messages coming from DNA that control normal cellular activities.
The Strange Case of Typhoid Mary
The infamous case of Typhoid Mary underscores the importance of tolerance in understanding disease.
A New Way to Predict Infection’s Toll
Scientists have developed new ways to forecast who will bounce back from disease by studying not just the way the immune system fights infections, but how the body repairs itself.