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When an elementary school teacher calls in sick to work, she finds out that she is not the only one who will be missing school that day.  Children from her fifth grade class have also become ill and parents are calling to report the absences. The concerned principal of the school finds out the fifth grade class had a field trip to one of the local parks the day before. The case shows the areas visited by the class and provides discussion between the principal and a physician that teaches the readers about water quality and EPA standards for bacteria levels in recreational water. The case has an optional lab component that provides the theory for three methods that can be used to conduct microbial water analyses.  Procedures are included for teachers to lead a lab activity to test water to identify which location in the park caused the illness. This case study and accompanying laboratory activity are recommended for an environmental engineering course or a lower level science course.

Around the world, disease-carrying mosquitoes are advancing at speed, taking viruses such as dengue and Zika, plus a host of lesser-known ills such as chikungunya and St. Louis encephalitis, into new territories from Europe to the Pacific. "The concern is that we have these species spreading everywhere. Today the focus is on Zika but they can carry many different viruses and pathogens," said Anna-Bella Failloux, head of the department that tracks mosquito viruses at France's Institut Pasteur.

Another case is ready for you: "East Meets West: An Infectious Disease Case" by Harry M. Zollars, Catherine D. Santanello, and Marcelo J. Nieto, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern IL University Edwardsville.   Ying is sick and is progressively getting worse. His parents' clashing views on Eastern and Western medicine prevent them from agreeing on a course of treatment. As the case unfolds, students follow the progression of their son's illness. After a physician is finally seen and the results of tests are evident, students should be able to narrow the list of possible etiological agents and suggest a potential treatment. In addition, the students should integrate the different health beliefs into the final treatment as well as the aspects of patient counseling. The case works well as an interrupted case that can be assigned to individual students or student teams. This case is appropriate for graduate courses with a component in health care, therapeutics, medicinal chemistry, medicinal plants, microbiology, epidemiology, or cultural competency. Instructors can choose to focus only on the medical components of the case or incorporate the cultural and ethical aspects, depending on course goals and subject area.

After apologizing for an American science experiment in which Guatemalan prisoners and mentally ill patients were deliberately infected with STDs more than 60 years ago, U.S. officials called on the Institute of Medicine to launch a full investigation. NBC Chief Science Correspondent Robert Bazell reports.

Adverse life experiences, particularly those in childhood, contribute to disease morbidity and mortality [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. There is considerable interest in understanding the mechanisms through which they do so, as it remains unclear how illness becomes apparent decades after the presumed initiating event. Long-standing hypotheses include chronic activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis [8, 9, 10] and alterations of neuroimmune function [11]. Molecular signatures of stressful life experiences and their relation to disease are therefore of special interest to clarify the causal relationship between signature, disease, and stress.

This case study introduces students to the structure and function of cellular organelles and seeks to show their importance by discussing diseases and disorders that can result when an organelle does not function as it should. The storyline follows a family whose joy at bringing home a new baby is soon altered by their child's sudden illness, which is eventually diagnosed as Leigh Disease. This disease occurs when defective mitochondria fail to produce energy needed by the cell, particularly affecting cells with high-energy needs like those in the brain, muscle, and gastrointestinal tract. The narrative also discusses some of the ways in which Leigh disease is inherited, treatment options, and the typical prognosis. The case was designed for an introductory non-majors biology course, but could also be used in other science or health related courses. Instructors also have the option of running the case in a "flipped classroom" in which students watch three recommended videos outside of class as a way of preparing for working on the case in class.

Can't remember every viral infection you've ever had? Don't worry, your blood can. A new test surveys the antibodies present in a person's bloodstream to reveal a history of the viruses they've been infected with throughout their life. The method could be useful not only for diagnosing current and past illnesses, but for developing vaccines and studying links between viruses and chronic disease.

The chart below gives some examples of how disease levels have declined since vaccinations began. Since the introduction of the measles, or MMR vaccine, annual cases of the illness have dropped by a jaw-dropping 99%.

A person may become immune to a specific disease in several ways. For some illnesses, such as measles and chickenpox, having the disease usually leads to lifelong immunity to it. Vaccination is another way to become immune to a disease.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the most genetically diverse region in the world." The rates of susceptibility and not only whether or not someone becomes ill, but also whether or not they live or die, or even display symptoms, varies widely. The genetics of both this deadly strain of Ebola itself, and of the populations living in the affected areas, are at the forefront of the efforts by Dr. Moses as she works with Dr.Pardis Sabeti at Harvard to provide samples for genome sequencing.

This video excerpt from NOVA examines the promise and realities of developing drugs designed to treat genetic disorders. The video presents the story of one patient, Michael McCarrick, whose lungs were devastated from years of suffering from cystic fibrosis. After researchers identified the gene involved in cystic fibrosis, it took decades to find ways to fortify the faulty protein responsible for the serious illness. While two drugs, including one called Kalydeco, offer a small number of patients hope that they will not have to endure a lung transplant, it may be years and several hundred million more development dollars before effective drugs are available for a wider population.

Washington, D.C. - April 10, 2015 - Human norovirus may infect our canine companions, according to research published online April 1 in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. That raises the possibility of dog-to-human transmission, said first author Sarah Caddy, VetMB, PhD, MRCVS, a veterinarian and PhD student at the University of Cambridge, and Imperial College, London, UK. Norovirus is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Biotech foods ('GMOs') are safe. Period. That may seem like a bold statement, but it comes with the weight of a huge body of research and global consensus among preeminent health organizations. To understand the safety of food biotech, it helps to look at the numbers. There are thousands of studies on biotech crops published, billions of pounds of biotech foods eaten, and there are zero illnesses (human or animal) resulting of consuming biotech foods.

In July, the AP reported that its first round of tests showed disease-causing viruses directly linked to human sewage at levels up to 1.7 million times what would be considered highly alarming in the U.S. or Europe. Experts said athletes were competing in the viral equivalent of raw sewage and exposure to dangerous health risks almost certain. The results sent shockwaves through the global athletic community, with sports officials pledging to do their own viral testing to ensure the waters were safe for competition in next year's games. Those promises took on further urgency in August, after pre-Olympic rowing and sailing events in Rio led to illnesses among athletes nearly double the acceptable limit in the U.S. for swimmers in recreational waters.

The woman in this case had cachexia, a metabolic disorder that affects some 9 million people worldwide, including as many as 80% of people with advanced cancer. It typically involves extreme weight- and muscle-loss, makes routine activities difficult and increases the risk of deadly complications such as infections. Adding calories doesn't reverse cachexia, and McClement says that the disorder sometimes provokes extreme reactions from family members because it serves as visual confirmation of their worst fears. "It's a constant reminder that the person is sick and is not going to get better," says McClement.

Medical researchers have discovered a gene that increases the risk of schizophrenia, a mental illness that affects more than 2 million Americans, sometimes causing delusions and hallucinations. The finding was first reported this week in the scientific journal "Nature".

To treat problems from sore throats to acne, doctors expose kids early and often - and scientists have been finding links between antibiotic use and rising chronic illnesses. A new study in mice published in the journal Nature Microbiology finds a link between Type 1 diabetes and antibiotic use.

In this case study, students follow "Mr. Okoro" as he makes the long journey with his sick daughter "Ada" to seek medical attention at the nearest clinic in Enugu, Nigeria. It is the rainy season, and "Dr. Fabian" from the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria has been called in to investigate a suspected outbreak of malaria. Students learn about the circumstances in Ada's background that may have led to her illness, and then adopt the perspective of Dr. Fabian as she investigates the outbreak. They consider the epidemiological triangle, the different stages of the Plasmodium parasite lifecycle and how it leads to malaria, and evaluate the broader societal factors and future implications of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. The case was designed for upper-level global health, public health, and human biology courses, but could also be adapted for general biology, health studies, infectious disease, and epidemiology courses.

The U.S. is one of the richest countries in the world, yet we rank 29th for life expectancy. We spent more than twice what other countries spend per capita on health care. Why aren't we healthier?