Infectious Diseases

An outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius in the Atlantic has prompted health concerns, though experts assess the risk of wider spread as low.

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Researchers at RMIT University in Australia say they have created an ultra-thin, flexible acrylic film covered with nanoscale pillars that can physically rupture viruses without relying on chemical disinfectants. In laboratory tests using human parainfluenza virus type 3, the team reported that about 94% of virus particles were damaged or destroyed within one hour.

Australian researchers report they have engineered monoclonal antibodies that recognize pseudaminic acid—a sugar made by bacteria but not by humans—and used them to help eliminate multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections in mice, a step toward potential passive-immunotherapy treatments for hard-to-treat hospital infections.

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Scientists at the University of California, Riverside have found that Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite infecting up to one-third of the world's population, is more active in the brain than previously thought. Their study shows cysts contain multiple subtypes of the parasite, some primed for reactivation and disease. This discovery could guide new treatments for a lifelong infection that resists current drugs.

Researchers have identified migrions, virus-like structures that enable faster and more severe viral spread by hijacking cell movement. These packages, formed in migrating cells infected with vesicular stomatitis virus, deliver multiple viral genomes simultaneously to new cells. The discovery challenges traditional models of infection and highlights increased disease potential in animal tests.

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Results from a global phase 3 trial of zoliflodacin, an investigational single-dose oral antibiotic, were published in The Lancet in December 2025, showing the drug was non-inferior to a ceftriaxone-based standard regimen for curing uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea in a study of 930 participants across five countries.