Researchers have identified the oldest cases of plague in Britain to date, with DNA that is 4,000 years old.

The team from the Francis Crick Institute in London has found three ancient British cases of Yersinia pestis -- the bacteria that causes the plague -- in skeleton samples of two children and one woman.

Two of the cases were found in a mass burial site in Charterho...

U.S. health officials are bracing for the possibility that mpox could surge again this summer as cases mount in several states.

On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 21 more cases of mpox, with Illinois, New York and Maryland reporting the most new infections. Illi...

The first vaccine designed to protect infants against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by vaccinating their mothers during pregnancy has been backed by a panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

On Thursday the independent committee of experts voted unanimously that the Pfizer-made vaccine was effective, and 10-4 that there was adequate data on safety to move the vacci...

The first RSV vaccine designed to protect infants is under consideration by a panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

An independent committee of experts will vote Thursday on whether to recommend the shot for pregnant mothers at 24 to 36 weeks gestation.

“Before the pandemic, RSV was the No. 1 cause of infant hospitalization in the United States, so this ...

Months before U.S. health officials warned that tainted eye drops were causing vision loss and even death, a Cleveland woman lost the sight in her eye in a case that puzzled her doctors.

The 72-year-old went to an outpatient eye clinic last November complaining of blurry vision. She was sent to a hospital emergency department from there.

Ophthalmologists evaluated her eye, cultured ...

While the mpox outbreak has been waning since last summer, it hasn't disappeared yet.

Howard Brown Health, a LGBTQ-focused health clinic in Chicago, recently reported seeing an increase in mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) cases, with eight diagnosed since April 17, compared to only one in the previous three months.

Last week's case count was the highest in Chicago since early No...

About half of extremely preterm babies have at least one life-threatening bacterial infection in their bloodstream after 72 hours of life.

Now, new research points to the babies' own gut microbiomes as the source.

Knowing that the most common bacteria in bloodstream infections are also commonly found to colonize the gut without causing disease at first, researchers set out to test...

The first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in seniors aged 60 and older.

Arexvy, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is expected to help prevent lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV, the agency said Wednesday.

“Older adults, in particular those with underlying health conditions, such as ...

For the first time since the mpox outbreak began last spring, no new cases have been reported in more than a week, fresh government data shows.

At the peak of the outbreak, there were 500 new infections reported daily, but by late last year that number was 16, CDC statistics show.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first pill form of fecal microbiota -- similar to what's known as fecal transplant therapy -- to treat the bacterial infection Clostridioides difficile, one of the most common and deadly infections found in health care settings.

The drug, Vowst, is approved to prevent recurrence of C. difficile in people who...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to get tougher on Salmonella bacteria found in breaded, stuffed raw chicken products, the agency announced Tuesday.

About 1.35 million people are infected with Salmonella bacteria each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost a quarter of the nation's Salmonella infections are caused by ...

Kids who were infected with respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, in their first year may be at greater risk for asthma, according to researchers.

Their new study looked at the effects of RSV infections of different severities on childhood asthma risk.

“For...

This past winter delivered a surge in strep infections, including more serious cases, a new analysis shows.

After two years of very low levels of strep infections during the pandemic, the number of strep infections is now almost 30% higher than the most recent peak, which was in 201...

A new Australian study found that children who had COVID-19 during the first couple of years of the pandemic could be safely treated at home, taking the burden off hospitals.

Children who had COVID-19 with moderate symptoms or preexisting high-risk conditions could be treated effectively via a Hospital-in-the-Home (HITH) program, according to the study.

The program took pressure of...

Health care facilities remain one of the last places left in the United States with COVID-era mask requirements still in effect.

It's time for that to end, experts say.

A prestigious collection of infection disease experts and epidemiologists say universal masking requirements in health care settings should be lifted, according to a commentary they published April 18 in the