Curated category
Vaccine-preventable 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…
- SmallpoxThe Variola virus measures 302 to 350 nanometers in length and 244 to 270 nanometers in width. It carries a single linear double stranded DNA genome that…
- 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…
- CholeraIn the small intestine, a single bacterium can trigger a cascade that pulls up to six liters of water per day through intestinal cells.
- Typhoid feverThe bacterium Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi grows inside the intestines of infected humans. It replicates within Peyer's patches…
- MalariaIn 1894, a Scottish physician named Ronald Ross visited Sir Patrick Manson at his home on Queen Anne Street in London. This meeting began four years of…
- DiphtheriaThe bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae produces a specific exotoxin known as diphtheria toxin. This toxin is not produced by all strains of the bacteria…
- Whooping coughA young child in a hospital bed gasps for air after a violent coughing fit. The sound that follows is not just a wheeze but a high-pitched whoop, the…
- InfluenzaIn 1931, Richard Shope published three papers identifying a virus as the cause of swine influenza. This discovery reinvigorated research on human influenza…
- TyphusThe word typhus comes from the Greek term meaning hazy or smoky, a description of the delirious state of mind experienced by those infected.
- Yellow feverThe yellow fever virus measures 40 to 50 nanometers in width. It belongs to the genus Orthoflavivirus and carries a single-stranded RNA genome of…
- PolioA single poliovirus particle measures just thirty nanometers across. It carries a simple RNA genome wrapped in a protein shell called a capsid.
- ChickenpoxThe varicella zoster virus belongs to the herpesvirus family, a group of DNA viruses known for establishing lifelong infections.
- ChlamydiaThe bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis exists as a human-specific pathogen. It cannot survive outside the human body for long periods.
- Dengue feverA transmission electron micrograph reveals the dengue virus as a cluster of dark dots, an RNA particle measuring about 11,000 nucleotide bases.
- EbolaEbolaviruses contain single-stranded, non-infectious RNA genomes. These viral particles measure 80 nanometers in width and can stretch up to 14,000…