Infectious Disease

Stanford Medicine scientists’ findings could explain why obese people have a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and are more likely to progress to severe disease and die of infection.

The mpox virus is normally endemic to Africa but has recently been found on other continents. It spreads through prolonged, direct contact with infected people or their bedding, clothing and towels.

Disrupting a virus’s genome packaging can halt replication and jumpstart a natural immune response against subsequent exposures, a Stanford Medicine study finds.

Vaccinology has taken great leaps forward in the past decade, largely due to advanced analytical methods as well as a shift in researchers’ focus from rodents to humans.

People with lower levels of an antiviral antibody as well as those with lung disease take longer to clear COVID-19 symptoms, say Stanford Medicine researchers.

Levels of a stringy, spongy substance soar in the sputum of COVID-19 patients requiring intubation, accounting for at least some of their breathing trouble. Development of an off-patent drug may prevent it.

Stanford Medicine now provides a test for the mpox virus. Rapid identification of infected people will help combat the virus’s spread and facilitate patient care.

Children as young as 6 months can now receive the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines.

Using machine learning, researchers from Stanford Medicine and their collaborators found specific genetic signals in people who develop severe coronavirus infection.

Researchers found that damage to the brain’s white matter after COVID-19 resembles that seen after cancer chemotherapy, raising hope for treatments to help both conditions.

People with mild to moderate COVID-19 can shed viral RNA in their feces months after initial infection, Stanford researchers find. Those who do often have nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.