Microparticle therapy reverses MS in 100% of mice, cures one third
The finding has the potential to lead to new treatments for not only multiple sclerosis but other autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes.
Public health & disease
From disease eradication efforts to advances in vaccination and maternal health, this archive tracks real progress in public health. Stories here focus on what’s working — policies, interventions, and research that are improving and extending lives around the world.
Meningitis vaccine trial in Mali and The Gambia shows promise in “groundbreaking” development
The Serum Institute of India and Path successfully tested an effective and affordable vaccine for meningitis, a disease that claims the lives of an estimated 250,000 people each year.
Scientists identify bacteria that can break down ‘forever chemicals’
PFAS are used in nonstick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and firefighting foams, and have been linked with higher cholesterol, lower fertility, developmental delays in children, and a greater risk of cancer.
Groundbreaking Israeli blood cancer treatment has 90% success rate
Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem has announced an “unprecedented achievement” in the treatment of multiple myeloma cancer – the second-most common hematological disease.
U.S. FDA to end ban on gay & bi men donating blood
The FDA finalized recommendations for determining donor eligibility by using the same questions for everyone who wants to donate, similar to how the U.K., Canada, and France currently determine risk.
Human trial of mRNA universal flu vaccine begins
“A universal influenza vaccine would be a major public health achievement and could eliminate the need for both annual development of seasonal influenza vaccines,” said Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, acting NIAID Director.
U.S. FDA approves first-ever vaccine for RSV
Pfizer’s RSV vaccine ABRYSVO just became the first licensed option for at-risk adults as young as 18, closing a long-standing protection gap for younger people living with chronic conditions. About one in ten U.S. adults aged 18 to 49 has a condition like diabetes, asthma, or heart failure that raises their risk of severe RSV illness — and until now, they had nothing. The vaccine targets RSV’s prefusion F protein, a breakthrough that finally unlocked effective design after decades of frustrating research. With approvals now spanning pregnant individuals, older adults, and at-risk younger adults, ABRYSVO marks a quiet but powerful turning point in a field that struggled for half a century — a reminder that patient science eventually delivers real protection to real people.
U.K. researchers develop machine learning algorithm for quickly and accurately predicting heart attacks
Compared to existing methods, the researchers found that CoDE-ACS could rule out a heart attack in more than double the number of patients, with an accuracy of 99.6%.
Helsinki University makes Parkinson’s disease breakthrough
Parkinson’s disease may finally have a name attached to its cause: researchers at the University of Helsinki have identified specific strains of Desulfovibrio bacteria in the gut as the likely trigger behind most cases. Professor Per Saris estimates that about 90 percent of cases trace back to environmental exposure to these bacteria, with genetics accounting for only the remaining sliver. Because the culprit lives in the gut, it can in principle be screened for and cleared, opening a real path toward slowing the disease or preventing it before symptoms ever begin. For the eight million people worldwide living with Parkinson’s, and for a global health movement increasingly focused on the microbiome, knowing where to look changes everything.
World Health Organization ends global health emergency declaration for COVID-19
The WHO formally ended its COVID-19 global health emergency on May 5, 2023, more than three years after the designation first triggered a worldwide response. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed to over a year of declining transmission and deaths as the reason most countries can finally return to pre-pandemic rhythms. He didn’t gloss over the loss — nearly 7 million deaths were officially reported, with the true toll likely closer to 20 million — but he credited vaccines, scientific cooperation, and health infrastructure built during the crisis for bending the curve. The closing of this chapter offers a rare pause to honor what collective action can achieve, and a reminder to protect the systems we’ll need before the next crisis arrives.