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November 14, 2012 Pakistan is close to eradicating one of the last two remaining types of polio left in the country, researchers announced on Monday. They haven't seen a case of this type in nearly seven months. Health workers are cautiously optimistic that their extra vaccination efforts are starting to pay off.

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November 12, 2012 Although Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in New England, researchers find that babesiosis, a disease that mimics malaria, is catching up. The swelling population of white-tailed deer and the ticks that feed on their blood may be why.

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November 9, 2012 An experimental vaccine for malaria reduces infants' risk of the disease by about a third. That's less than researchers had hoped for, given the vaccine's effectiveness in toddlers, but doctors say it's enough to prevent many high fevers, seizures and deaths in a lot of African children.

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November 9, 2012 At health clinics along the Thai-Myanmar border, malaria is getting tougher to treat as resistance to medication grows. Doctors say it may be time to focus on eradicating malaria before the drugs lose potency.

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November 8, 2012 Despite intensified efforts to vaccinate kids in Nigeria, polio cases are on the rise there. It's one of the last places in the world where polio is endemic. Most cases are popping up in a few communities that are now the prime targets for public health workers.

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November 6, 2012 Southeast Asia has been a hot spot for drug-resistant malaria in the past. Now researchers in Thailand worry that a superstrain resistant to the last, best malaria treatments could undermine progress made against the mosquito-borne disease.

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November 1, 2012 This month the Global Fund board will decides whether to continue or scrap a $225 million program that subsidizes malaria drugs in Africa. A new analysis bolsters a major criticism of the project. In some places, most of the subsidized drugs have been going to people without malaria.

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November 1, 2012 Although there's no cure for Ebola, scientists have been experimenting with a vaccine for years. But there's been no easy way to test it in people. A study in monkeys offers a way around this obstacle and sheds light on how the immune systems fights off the deadly virus.

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October 31, 2012 Haiti had documented 54 deaths caused by Sandy — most in the nation's southern peninsula, which points toward Jamaica. Another 21 Haitians were still counted as missing, and many fear the death toll will rise as officials reach affected areas isolated by impassable roads and ruined bridges.

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October 31, 2012 A test of subsidies in Africa for the most effective malaria drug treatment is drawing fire. Supporters say the subsidies helped improve access and drive out less effective drugs. But critics say the approach is risky and a distraction from other efforts to fight the disease.

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October 26, 2012 After decades of being malaria-free, Greece is seeing a spike in malaria cases. And it's showing up in communities where the disease has never been seen before. Fewer resources for mosquito control and medications are fueling the reappearance of the forgotten disease, health workers say.

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October 24, 2012 We're right on the verge of wiping out polio globally. But to do that, children in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan must be inoculated with the heat-sensitive vaccine — not once, but multiple times. Time to call in the donkeys.

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October 23, 2012 Researchers have found dozens of free apps on iPhones and Androids that promote and glamorize smoking. Many of the apps target children and teens by using cartoons, celebrities and games. Health experts say these apps, downloaded by millions of people, violate bans on tobacco advertising.

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October 22, 2012 Researchers in South Africa tracked how the evolution of the virus in two infected woman shaped the antibodies they produced to fight it. Several months after infection, the researchers saw that the patients had developed more "broadly neutralizing antibodies," which target different versions of the virus.

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October 19, 2012 Thanks to vigorous efforts to eradicate the poliovirus through vaccination, there are only three countries on the face of the earth where polio is still endemic. NPR reporters and editors hosted a chat on Twitter: #chasingpolio.

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