Health equity is based on the idea that all lives, anywhere in the world, have equal value.  Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a group of 18 infectious diseases – caused by parasites, viruses, or bacteria – that disproportionately affect the poor and cause significant health and financial burdens. NTDs are endemic – meaning that they regularly infect humans – in 149 countries, with over 1 … Continue reading Neglected Tropical Diseases: Progress and Challenges for the Post-2015 Development Era

Chikungunya virus is a serious global threat for both the sheer number of individuals it infects, as well as the intensity and duration of the suffering it causes in each patient. The small virus is transmitted to humans by the simple bite of a mosquito, yet can cause months of debilitating joint pain. Since the 1950s, Chikungunya has spread throughout Africa and Asia, and in … Continue reading Chikungunya Virus on the Move

Many diseases have affected the outcomes of battles or the political leanings of a country, but few have had consequences on society that continue to be felt in the present age. The plague is one such disease and its most famous pandemic – the Black Death – has changed the history, culture, and science of Western society. In July 2014, Chinese officials shut down entire … Continue reading Plagues of the Past

The spread of Ebola virus is unsettling to many living in the United States, yet to date the U.S. FDA and the EMA (the FDA’s European counterpart) have not approved any medicines or vaccines that could treat a potential global outbreak. In October, both agencies released guidelines for companies that hope to get accelerated approval for potential Ebola treatments and if warranted, mechanisms for patients … Continue reading Regulatory Approval of Treatment for Ebola Virus: A U.S. and European Perspective

Ebola hysteria dominated popular news in 2014.  However, since the outbreak began to draw attention in March earlier this year, only two people have been infected in the United States.  Did this really warrant non-stop media coverage? Much of this attention may have been attributed in part to the worry that Ebola may “mutate to become airborne,” but is this even something we need to … Continue reading Understanding Ebola Fears & Viral Mutations

Diseases transmitted by arthropods (e.g. mosquitoes and ticks) are very common in areas with warmer climates such as Central and South America, Africa and Asia. These diseases, which include malaria, dengue fever, and Chikungunya, are classified as endemic, with outbreaks occurring seasonally, yearly or every few years. In these areas, medical resources are often scarce and/or easily overwhelmed, leading to challenges in the diagnosis and … Continue reading Challenges of Care in Resource-Poor Environments: Dengue Fever

How are other living organisms threatening to human beings? We could be mauled by bears, poisoned by mushrooms, or stung by wasps. However, what if that organism was small—microscopically small? These tiny organisms can sometimes make us sick with infectious diseases and, when they do, we call them pathogens. This article explores what these pathogens are, where they come from, how we recover from infections, … Continue reading An Introduction to Infectious Disease

On a November day in 1721, a small bomb was hurled through the window of a local Boston Reverend named Cotton Mather. Attached to the explosive, which fortunately did not detonate, was the message: “Cotton Mather, you dog, dam you! I’ll inoculate you with this; with a pox to you.’’ This was not a religiously motivated act of terrorism, but a violent response to Reverend … Continue reading The Fight Over Inoculation During the 1721 Boston Smallpox Epidemic

What do you think is the deadliest animal in the world? Sharks? Nope. Snakes? Nope. Humans? Getting closer, but no. Mosquitoes? Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner. If you give them credit for malaria and the other diseases that they carry, mosquitoes are responsible for roughly 725,000 deaths annually according to the World Health Organization. Mosquitos are considered “vectors” because they can carry diseases … Continue reading The Mosquito Hunters: Perspectives from Vector Biologists in the Harvard-MIT Community

A major threat to public health all over the world today is the rise of harmful “superbug” bacteria that are very difficult to kill with antibiotics. One of the most well-known superbugs is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an especially difficult-to-treat variety of the disease-causing bacteria staph. Although antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA may not receive much media press or popular attention, the illnesses and deaths related … Continue reading The Arms Race Between Germs and Medicine: How Superbugs Have Taken the Lead, and How Humans Can Take It Back