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June 01, 2021

The impact of COVID-19 among older adults in Utah looks a lot different today than in the fall and early winter of 2020. The number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have dramatically dropped among adults aged 70 and older since February 2021 following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. More than 80 percent of older adults have now been vaccinated in Utah.

March 24, 2020

Tips to keep children healthy while school’s out.

March 20, 2020

Physical distancing can help slow the spread of coronavirus and keep high-risk populations safe. “You’re staying home to protect the most vulnerable,” says Emily Spivak, associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at University of Utah Health. “It’s part of our civic duty.”

March 09, 2020

We all know how important it is to wash our hands before and after handling food and using the restroom. But how effective is hand sanitizer? Is it just as good as soap and water?

February 07, 2020

University of Utah Health scientists have identified a key molecule involved in the development of cerebral malaria, a deadly form of the tropical disease. The discovery reveals a potential drug target and way forward in alleviating this condition for which few targeted treatments are available.

January 27, 2020

An outbreak of a newly recognized coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan is making international headlines. Already hundreds of people have been sickened and more than 80 have died as a result of the illness. Additional coronavirus patients have been found in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

October 11, 2018

Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a neurologic illness, most often caused by a group of viruses similar to the polio virus.

October 23, 2017

During a session titled Health Disparities in Disease at the 2017 Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) conference in Salt Lake City, three researchers tackled how disease affects the Hispanic community.

October 07, 2017

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes and staff who traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Games did not become infected with Zika virus but did test positive for other tropical, mosquito-borne viral infections, including West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever and Chikungunya.

September 28, 2016

Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and ARUP Laboratories in Salt Lake City unravel the mystery behind a rare Zika-related death in an adult, and unconventional transmission to a second patient in a correspondence published online on September 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Details point to an unusually high concentration of virus in the first patient’s blood as being responsible for his death. The phenomenon may also explain how the second patient may have contracted the virus through casual contact with the primary patient, the first such documented case.

June 30, 2016

There are more illnesses than Zika virus out there.

June 28, 2016

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dumping FluMist.

June 14, 2016

Do you actually know what Zika virus is? Or why it's so dangerous?

June 03, 2016

A type of bacteria first identified in Chinese pigs now is causing concern in the U.S. due to its resistance to an antibiotic currently seen as a last-ditch effort.

May 06, 2016

Hepatitis C is a disease of the liver. It kills thousands of people each year. It doesn't have to.

May 04, 2016

Millions of prescriptions are written for antibiotics each year and a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly a third of them are unwarranted.

April 14, 2016

The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed the Zika virus can cause birth defects.

March 14, 2016

University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have unexpectedly found that a drug that has been used for the past 50 years to treat heart failure and high blood pressure also inhibits infection by the Epstein Barr virus, which causes mono and is associated with several cancers. The finding has broad implications: with modification, the drug could be used to treat other illness caused by this class of virus including shingles, mono, and herpes.

March 04, 2016

The United States Olympic Committee today announced the formation of an Infectious Disease Advisory Group to be chaired by Carrie L. Byington, M.D., professor of pediatrics and infectious disease specialist at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Byington will be joined on the advisory group by Randy Taplitz, M.D., from the University of California, San Diego, and Capt. Martin S. Cetron, M.D., from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

March 03, 2016

About eight percent of our DNA is viral in origin: remnants of ancient battles between infectious viruses and our ancestors. A new study published in Science by scientists at the University of Utah School of Medicine shows that evolution has repurposed some of these viral remains into weapons against its own kind. They find that bits of viral DNA embedded in our genome are regulating genes that are integral to our innate immune system.

March 02, 2016

New research links Zika infection with Gullian-Barre syndrome.

February 03, 2016

More and more is coming to light about the Zika virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now confirmed that a case of Zika was sexually transmitted to a person in Texas. However, while this enhances what we know about transmission of the illness, it doesn’t change what we know about its severity.

February 02, 2016

The flu season is heating up just in time for the Super Bowl. That’s not good news for fans of the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. A new study suggests there may be an increased risk of flu deaths for fans of teams that make it to the Super Bowl.

January 27, 2016

Tiny mosquitoes are causing big problems — and making big headlines — in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Zika virus is causing panic due to a possible link to birth defects in the babies of mothers who contracted the illness during pregnancy. However, very little is yet known about it.

November 17, 2015

Charlie Sheen is one of the 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States.

October 13, 2015

NFL players know there is a possibility they can get hurt when they step on to the field. Giants player Daniel Fells learned there are dangers lurking in the locker room as well.

August 04, 2015

A study led by the University of Utah School of Medicine finds that every child puts a household at increased risk for viral infections. Childless households had infections during 3-4 weeks of the year, while families with six children were infected for 45 weeks. But only half who tested positive reported feeling ill. Published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the results can help families and health care providers know when illness should be cause for concern.

August 04, 2015

U-developed math model helps CDC identify strategy to greatly reduce the number of cases of antibiotic-resistant bugs

July 14, 2015

When U.S. adults are hospitalized with pneumonia, viruses are more often to blame than bacteria. However, despite current diagnostic tests, neither viruses nor bacteria are detected in the majority of these patients according to a study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

May 27, 2015

The mention of anthrax causes instant panic. Reports out this week that the U.S. military inadvertently sent samples of live anthrax out to nine locations around the globe has people asking if a global health crisis is looming.

April 21, 2015

The sexually transmitted disease is skyrocketing in the state, particularly among women who may not show any symptoms.

January 05, 2015

People wanting a sweet treat instead got a nasty food borne illness. More than 30 people in the U.S. have contracted listeriosis, believed to have come from caramel apples made by at least three different companies.

December 11, 2014

Examination of DNA from 21 primate species - from squirrel monkeys to humans - exposes an evolutionary war against infectious bacteria over iron that circulates in the bloodstream. Supported by experimental evidence, these findings, published in Science on Dec. 12, demonstrate the vital importance of an underappreciated defense mechanism, nutritional immunity.