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How the U.S. case might tie into the global upswing in polio

A child receives a polio vaccine in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 14, 2022. Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images hide caption

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Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images

How the U.S. case might tie into the global upswing in polio

April 26, 2022 • Countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia are counting more cases of vaccine-derived polio. Now there's a likely U.S. case. Researchers are looking for ways to stop it.

How the U.S. case might tie into the global upswing in polio

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Coronavirus FAQ: Our mini-zine has advice on when & how to dial down COVID precautions

Print and fold a zine version of this comic here. Here are directions on how to fold it. Malaka Gharib/ NPR hide caption

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Malaka Gharib/ NPR

Coronavirus FAQ: Our mini-zine has advice on when & how to dial down COVID precautions

April 1, 2022 • Cases are surging in some regions but dropping in many places. If you're in the latter situation, is it OK to go back to living as you did pre-pandemic? Print our handy zine with advice from experts.

Iraq has enough doses of COVID vaccine for everyone. But many Iraqis don't trust it

Hussein Raad, a 22-year-old college student, gets his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at Zayoona Mall in Baghdad. Ahmed Kusy Mostafa hide caption

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Ahmed Kusy Mostafa

Iraq has enough doses of COVID vaccine for everyone. But many Iraqis don't trust it

February 17, 2022 • The vaccination rate is only 17%. People are scared and skeptical for many reasons. Now government health workers are trying to up the numbers. One strategy: vaccination booths in the mall.

Iraq has enough doses of COVID vaccine for everyone. But many Iraqis don't trust it

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Before COVID, TB was the world's worst pathogen. It's still a 'monster' killer

Health workers share information about tuberculosis with residents of aslum neighborhoods in New Delhi. India has the greatest number of TB cases in the world. Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Before COVID, TB was the world's worst pathogen. It's still a 'monster' killer

February 13, 2022 • It was under control. And then it wasn't. In her new book Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History, VIdya Krishnan shows how "we repeat the same disease-spreading mistakes over and over."

Drug-resistant malaria is emerging in Africa. Doctors are worried — yet hopeful

Testing blood for malaria at a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Malawi. Ashley Cooper/Getty Images hide caption

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Ashley Cooper/Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Drug-resistant malaria is emerging in Africa. Doctors are worried — yet hopeful

Undark Magazine

February 6, 2022 • Resistance to the drug artemisinin was confirmed in Africa. Without better surveillance, experts say it is hard to track the threat.

Discovery of HIV variant shows virus can evolve to be more severe — and contagious

A colorized electron microscope image from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a single human immunodeficiency virus budding from a human immune cell. AP hide caption

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AP

Infectious Disease

Discovery of HIV variant shows virus can evolve to be more severe — and contagious

February 4, 2022 • Findings from a new study help answer questions about why some people get more severe and transmissible HIV than others — and serve as a reminder that viruses don't always weaken over time.

A 104-year-old COVID survivor has died. He wanted to keep people safe until the end

Abdul Alim, one of Pakistan's oldest COVID survivors, died of natural causes on Jan. 27. He was 104 years old. Sohail Ahmed hide caption

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Sohail Ahmed

Infectious Disease

A 104-year-old COVID survivor has died. He wanted to keep people safe until the end

February 1, 2022 • In his final days, Alim asked people not to visit him or his family due to rising COVID cases in his community. "Even in death he wanted to keep people and our family safe," says his son.

Booster longevity: Data reveals how long a third shot protects

A resident receives a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a health center in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Jan. 13. This week, Indonesia started a program to give booster shots to the elderly and people at risk of severe disease. Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Booster longevity: Data reveals how long a third shot protects

January 19, 2022 • Researchers in the U.K. have the first estimates for how long a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine will last. The findings are mixed.

Booster longevity: Data reveals how long a third shot protects

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Hanna Barczyk for NPR

Opinion

Infectious Disease

Opinion: 5 steps we must take to vaccinate the world's vulnerable—and end the pandemic

January 19, 2022 • Three doctors present their proposal to get vaccines to everyone in the world. "We already have the resources, knowledge and systems," they write. Global leaders just have to make it happen.

Welcome to the era of omicron rules and regs

Health workers administer COVID tests outside a building placed under lockdown in Hong Kong on Jan. 6. Hong Kong is imposing strict new COVID measures for the first time in almost a year as the omicron variant seeps into the community. Louise Delmotte//Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Louise Delmotte//Bloomberg via Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Welcome to the era of omicron rules and regs

January 11, 2022 • As the highly transmissible variant spreads rapidly around the world, some countries have reimposed harsh COVID measures like those seen in the early days of the pandemic.

Welcome to the era of omicron rules and regs

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Global wishes for 2022: a gift box for everyone, greater girl power, vertical gardens

Dola Sun for NPR

Callout

Global wishes for 2022: a gift box for everyone, greater girl power, vertical gardens

January 7, 2022 • We asked global thinkers like Malala, doctors dealing with the pandemic, educators and more — if you were in charge of the world, what would you like to see happen this year.

Our 11 most-read global pandemic stories of 2021

Left to right: An illustration of the coronavirus, an illustration of the delta variant and a mural in India. Hanna Barczyk for NPR / Juan Gaertner/Science Source / Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times via Getty Images hide caption

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Hanna Barczyk for NPR / Juan Gaertner/Science Source / Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Infectious Disease

Our 11 most-read global pandemic stories of 2021

December 19, 2021 • From India to Israel to white-tailed deer in Iowa harboring the coronavirus, our top COVID stories of the year reveal the ever-changing nature of the world's health crisis.

Our 11 most-read global pandemic stories of 2021

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Omicron may be less severe in South Africa. That may not be the case for the U.S.

Daniel Wood/NPR

Infectious Disease

Omicron may be less severe in South Africa. That may not be the case for the U.S.

December 17, 2021 • Researchers in South Africa have found that people infected with omicron, on average, are less likely to end up in the hospital. But the variant may act differently here in the U.S.

Coronavirus FAQ: Is it OK for the kids to take a pic with Santa?

A Santa Claus in Germany wears a surgical mask in December 2020. If you're planning to take the kids to see Santa this year, experts say it's safest to keep everyone's masks on. Caroline Seidel/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption

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Caroline Seidel/picture alliance via Getty Images