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Goats and Soda

STORIES OF LIFE IN A CHANGING WORLD

Infectious Disease

Thursday

How Zika Became So Dangerous For Babies

Twins Heloisa (left) and Heloa Barbosa, both born with microcephaly, had a one-year birthday party on April 16 in Areia, Brazil. Their mother says she contracted the Zika virus during pregnancy. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

Health

How Zika Became So Dangerous For Babies

For decades, Zika had been relatively innocuous. In 2015, that changed. A new study unravels the mystery of what caused thousands of cases of microcephaly.

How Zika Became So Dangerous For Babies

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Wednesday

Saturday

Wednesday

Probiotic Bacteria Could Protect Newborns From Deadly Infection
Matt Twombly for NPR

Infectious Disease

Probiotic Bacteria Could Protect Newborns From Deadly Infection

Each year more than 600,000 babies die of sepsis. Researchers have found a simple way to prevent it: Feed babies probiotic bacteria that are common in kimchi, pickles and other fermented vegetables.

Probiotic Bacteria Could Protect Newborns From Deadly Infection

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Wednesday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Why Zika Is Especially Hard On The Women Of Brazil

Maria Carolina Silva Flor and Joselito Alves dos Santos with their 18-month-old daughter, Maria Gabriela Silva Alves. The baby was born with Zika syndrome. Amanda Klasing hide caption

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Amanda Klasing

Infectious Disease

Why Zika Is Especially Hard On The Women Of Brazil

They've been largely responsible for warding off mosquitoes at home — and caring for the children born with microcephaly. A new study says that the government has not given them the support they need.

Thursday

Friday

Wednesday

Mutant Strains Of Polio Vaccine Now Cause More Paralysis Than Wild Polio

Nurses give the oral polio vaccine to a Syrian child in a refugee camp in Turkey. The oral polio vaccine used throughout most of the developing world contains a form of the virus that has been weakened in the laboratory. But it's still a live virus. Carsten Koall/Getty Images hide caption

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Carsten Koall/Getty Images

Youth

Mutant Strains Of Polio Vaccine Now Cause More Paralysis Than Wild Polio

So far this year, there have been only six cases of wild polio — and 21 cases of vaccine-derived polio, most of them in Syria.

Wednesday

Spillover Beasts: Which Animals Pose The Biggest Viral Risk?
Matt Twombly for NPR

Infectious Disease

Spillover Beasts: Which Animals Pose The Biggest Viral Risk?

Rodents, primates and bats likely carry hundreds of thousands of viruses we haven't yet identified. But how do you know which ones might infect humans?

Spillover Beasts: Which Animals Pose The Biggest Viral Risk?

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Tuesday

Saturday

Friday

Sunday

As A Boy, He Learned About Science By Rubbing Calves' Ears

Dr. Thumbi Mwangi, an infectious disease epidemiologist from Kenya, at Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, on Nov. 29, 2016. In the U.S., Mwangi worked on a vaccine for cows that aimed to combat the same disease he saw the bovine battle in Kenya as a kid. Akash Ghai/for NPR hide caption

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Akash Ghai/for NPR

Infectious Disease

As A Boy, He Learned About Science By Rubbing Calves' Ears

Dr. Thumbi Mwangi had a eureka moment when he began researching a cattle disease in the U.S. The treatment was the same thing his dad the farmer had him do when he was growing up in Kenya.