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Tuberculosis is one of the world's leading killers. Every year at least 9 million people are infected with TB, with almost 2 million deaths, according to estimates from the World Health Organization. Yet few citizens, scientists and policymakers are demanding more attention to TB research, treatment and prevention.
NBC Chief Health Correspondent Robert Bazell answers your questions.
Beach fun for most kids includes burrowing in the sand and being buried by friends and siblings. Parents figure that as long as the kids are within sight, they’re safe. But a new study shows that some pretty nasty bugs may lurk in those glistening, gleaming grains.
Even as the threat from drug-resistant germs continues to rise and a novel swine flu virus sweeps the country, U.S. hospitals are cutting back on staff and resources to battle potentially deadly patient infections.
As new cases of swine flu emerge around the globe, from Ohio to Nova Scotia to New Zealand, the declaration of a "public health emergency" in the United States has further stoked fears and confusion.
To most Americans, diseases with names like dengue fever, chikungunya, malaria, Chagas and leishmaniasis might sound like something out of a Victorian explorer’s tales of hacking through African jungles. Yet ongoing epidemics of these diseases are killing millions of people around the world. Now, disease experts are increasingly concerned these and other infections may become as familiar in the United States as West Nile or Lyme disease.
"Bill Gates just released mosquitos into the audience at TED and said, 'Not only poor people should experience this.'"
A virulent, drug-resistant gut infection that causes potentially deadly diarrhea, especially among the old and sick, is up to 20 times more common than previously thought, a large survey of U.S. hospitals and health care centers finds.
Now that the waters are beginning to recede after this month’s devastating floods in the Midwest, state and federal officials are warning of a widespread secondary risk from dangerous bacteria and disease-bearing mosquitoes.
DENVER - Stopping the spread of a potentially deadly drug-resistant staph infection has riveted the attention of the nation’s hospitals and nursing homes, especially after a year of headlines and public panic, a new survey of infection prevention workers shows.
A rare form of tuberculosis caused by illegal, unpasteurized dairy products, including the popular queso fresco cheese, is rising among Hispanic immigrants in Southern California and raising fears about a resurgence of a strain all but eradicated in the U.S.
Cases of potentially deadly diarrheal infections jumped by more than 200 percent in the nation’s hospitals between 2000 and 2005, fueling new worries about the next bad bug.
Childhood vaccine cost to drop next yearStarting next year an extra 6.3 million children worldwide will have the chance to feel that pinch and get vaccinated against some of the world's deadliest illnesses.
Biggest child-killers: pneumonia and diarrheaDiarrhea and pneumonia kill an estimated 3.5 million kids under 5 each year globally - more than HIV and malaria combined.
Shots on horizon for Alzheimer's, AIDS, herpesMalaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working on a vaccine to prevent it.Many could be on the market in five years or less.
Dutch pull Pfizer vaccine batch after infants dieDutch authorities say they have banned use of a batch of Pfizer's Prevenar, or Prevnar, after three infants died within two weeks of receiving the anti-infection vaccination.
New vaccine offers hope in malaria battleFinal stages of testing are under way in malaria-plagued Africa on a vaccine that appears to be able to prevent the disease in about 50 percent of children.
Millions die because of high malaria drug pricesNearly a million people die from malaria each year because they cannot afford the most effective treatment and instead often buy old drugs to which the malaria parasite has become resistant, researchers said on Monday.
UN: $39 billion needed to fight pneumoniaOn the first World Pneumonia Day on Monday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF are releasing a global plan aiming to save more than 5 million children from dying of pneumonia by 2015.
Flesh-eating germ kills woman in three daysNorth Carolina health officials are investigating the death of a woman who died last week of a flesh-eating bacteria three days after accidentally jamming her hand in a wheelchair while working at a nursing home.
One pair of dirty hands equals many infectionsA single doctor, nurse or technician with dirty hands can undo all the good work of an entire hospital staff trained to carefully wash their hands to prevent the spread of infection.
Tie to Pets Has Germ Jumping to and FroFor decades, the drug-resistant germ called MRSA was almost exclusively a concern of humans, usually in hospitals and other health care settings.
Experts: U.S. should take lead to halt outbreaksThe U.S. needs to lead a global effort to protect people from new outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases that originate in animals such as swine flu, AIDS and SARS, health experts said Tuesday.
Plague death: Researcher dies from infectionPublic health officials are investigating the death of a University of Chicago researcher who studied plague bacteria and was found to have the microbe in his blood, university officials said on Monday.
29 hepatitis B cases tied to one N. J. doctorNew Jersey health officials are urging 2,000 more patients to get tested for hepatitis B and other blood-borne diseases following an outbreak linked to a single doctor's office.
FDA OKs bacteria-eating virus to treat meatA mixture of six bacteria-killing viruses can be safely sprayed on meat and poultry to combat common microbes that kill hundreds of people a year, federal health officials said.
Drugstores offering seasonal flu shots earlyDrugstore operators are beginning their seasonal flu shot campaigns several weeks early this year, saying they expect greater demand for the vaccine.
Shots can protect youth from deadly meningitisFever, chills, vomiting: It starts like a stomach bug or the flu. But bacterial meningitis can go on to kill terrifyingly fast. And prime targets are tweens, teens and college freshmen.
Gene predicts hepatitis treatment successScientists say they've found a big reason why treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection works better for white patients than for African-Americans. It's a tiny variation in a gene.
Polio vaccine blamed for outbreaks in NigeriaPolio is spreading in Nigeria and health officials say in some cases it's caused by the vaccine used to fight the paralyzing disease.
Experimental drug can kill roundwormsAn experimental drug developed by scientists in China appears to be effective in killing roundworms, a parasite that lurks in the intestines and which affects nearly two billion people in tropical countries.
Patient sues doc in hepatitis B outbreak caseA New Jersey oncologist whom health officials suspect was responsible for a hepatitis B outbreak earlier this year has been sued by one of his patients.
Surgery tech in hepatitis case pleads not guiltyA Colorado surgery technician who authorities say is linked to at least 19 cases of hepatitis C has pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing syringes of painkillers and replacing them with dirty needles.
Malaria likely originated in chimpanzeesScientists say they may have tracked down the origins of the deadly disease malaria - chimpanzees.
6 die from brain-eating amoeba after swimmingIt sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.
Mosquitoes used to deliver malaria 'vaccine'In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a "vaccine" of live malaria parasites through their bites.
Hepatitis C case found at 2nd Colorado hospitalA patient infected with hepatitis C has been found at a second Colorado hospital that employed a surgery technician accused of swapping her dirty syringes for ones filled with painkillers meant for patients.
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