An overactive immune response to infection can be deadly. Studying how one key player called tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, induces lethal immune responses could provide new treatment targets.

An effective nasal vaccine could stop the virus that causes COVID-19 right at its point of entry. But devising one that works has been a challenge for researchers.

Inflammation is a complicated and important part of how the immune system responds to threats to the body. But when the inflammatory response goes awry, it can lead to serious problems.

Phages, or viruses that infect bacteria, can lie dormant within chromosomes until they’re triggered to replicate and burst out of their hosts.

There are two approved monkeypox vaccines in the US. Both use a related poxvirus called vaccinia to produce an immune response that protects against smallpox and monkeypox.

While a strong immune response is essential to fight against viral infection, an immune system that continues to stay active long after the virus has been cleared can lead to lung damage.

Sepsis onset can be difficult to recognize, in part because its symptoms can mimic those of many other conditions. A treatment delay of even a few hours can make the difference between life and death.

Your blood can hold a record of past illnesses. That information can reveal how many people have had a certain infection – like 58% of Americans having had COVID-19 by the end of February 2022.

The two types of COVID-19 tests – antigen and PCR – work in very different ways, which is why one is fast but less accurate and the other is slow and precise.

A COVID-19 vaccine does not cause infertility – but it can protect you from the dangerous complications of contracting the virus.