Two recent studies reveal new insight into cerebral malaria, a severe and deadly form of malaria that mainly targets children.

Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, causes over 200 million cases every year. Still lacking an official vaccine, the virus is one of the most dangerous in the world. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), a group of those who are infected with develop cerebral malaria.

Largely happening to young children, the malaria parasite gets into blood vessels within the brain. The virus can then cause the brain to swell, causing pressure and damage to the brain.

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Researchers of the HVTN 702 study in South Africa, which began in 2016 to create a HIV vaccine, announced earlier this year that they have stopped administering vaccinations in clinical trials.

The promising HIV vaccine wasn’t showing negative side effects or safety issues in the clinical trials. The vaccine failed because it wasn’t proving to be effective against HIV.

“An HIV vaccine is essential to end the global pandemic, and we hoped this vaccine candidate would work. Regrettably, it does not,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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The flu may be prominent for months an end, but there are many steps to avoid the virus.

The first prevention method is the flu shot, designed with that flu season in mind. Other methods include washing your hands often and avoiding close contact with those infected. Covering coughs and sneezes also helps control spreading and contracting the flu.

Another tool that many people use is wearing face masks that cover their noses and mouths. More importantly, those infected with the flu can use face masks to help prevent the spread of the virus to those who are healthy.

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An Ebola epidemic may still be active in the DRC, but we’re making progress with the virus. A vaccine used in the outbreak has shown some ability to prevent the deadly virus.

But, while some scientists are working to prevent Ebola, others are repurposing the virus.

A recently-published study showed that Yale University scientists have found a new and unlikely ally in the Ebola virus. The study found that Ebola may help us fight brain tumors.

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If you assume that mosquitoes die off in the winter, you’re not alone.

As the temperature drops and reaches the air gets cold, the winged insects lose their ability to fly. So, it makes sense to guess that they can’t make it through the season.

Although, many female mosquitoes and eggs have a technique that allows them to get through the season. Much like you see in bears and similar animals, mosquitoes have their very own unique form of hibernation.

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