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Curated category

Airborne diseases

  • TuberculosisSkeletal remains from 4000 BC show tubercular decay in the spines of prehistoric humans. Researchers have found similar decay in Egyptian mummies dating from…
  • MeaslesIn 1954, a 13-year-old boy named David Edmonston sat in a hospital bed in the United States. His blood contained the measles virus that scientists would soon…
  • InfluenzaIn 1931, Richard Shope published three papers identifying a virus as the cause of swine influenza. This discovery reinvigorated research on human influenza…
  • ChickenpoxThe varicella zoster virus belongs to the herpesvirus family, a group of DNA viruses known for establishing lifelong infections.
  • Common coldOver 200 distinct virus strains cause the common cold, making it a biological puzzle rather than a single disease. Rhinoviruses account for 30 to 80 percent…