242 papers
Infectious diseases represent one of the most dynamic frontiers in global health, covering everything from seasonal flu outbreaks to emerging viral threats that cross borders. This field focuses on how pathogens spread, how our immune systems respond, and the strategies scientists use to stop infections before they become epidemics. Because the science moves fast, waiting for traditional publication often means missing critical insights that could save lives.
At Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category directly from medRxiv to ensure you see the latest findings the moment they appear. Our team transforms these raw studies into both accessible plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries, bridging the gap between complex research and public understanding. Below are the latest papers in infectious diseases, updated daily with fresh insights from the global research community.
By applying machine learning strain tracking to metagenomic data from Kenyan communities, this study reveals that different bacterial taxa follow distinct transmission pathways—with pathogens spreading via human contact and commensals via diet—and demonstrates that water chlorination can effectively reduce community-level bacterial sharing.
The authors have withdrawn this manuscript to undergo major revisions for improved accuracy and clarity, and they request that the work not be cited.
This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that minimally invasive nasal gene expression profiling can effectively distinguish pulmonary tuberculosis from non-TB cases in ART-naive adults with HIV in Uganda, identifying a four-gene signature that meets WHO criteria for a TB triage test and outperforms blood-based analysis.
This paper introduces the "transmission waiting time" as a symptom-agnostic metric derived from the basic reproduction number and generation-interval distribution to define the intrinsic speed limits and feasibility conditions for controlling infectious disease outbreaks using modern molecular diagnostics.
This qualitative study in Uganda reveals that while communities perceive indoor residual spraying as effective and safe for malaria control, specific post-spray behaviors such as smearing treated walls and discontinuing bed net use may undermine its overall impact, highlighting the need for strengthened community education and monitoring.
By applying spatial transcriptomics to Ethiopian cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions, researchers identified five distinct, co-existing tissue-level immune programs that explain the disease's clinical heterogeneity and offer a foundation for future patient stratification and precision therapies.
This study establishes the first standardized, benchmarking-based methodology to estimate optimal national levels of total and AWaRe-classified antibiotic use for 186 countries based on local infection and resistance burdens, revealing that while the global 70% Access target is appropriate, most countries currently overuse Watch antibiotics compared to these evidence-based targets.
This longitudinal study reveals that England's 2020 transition from a 2+1 to a 1+1 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine schedule led to deteriorated booster retention and widened socioeconomic inequalities in vaccine uptake, resulting in a disproportionate increase in susceptibility to invasive pneumococcal disease among children in deprived communities.
By integrating epidemiological surveillance with parasite genomics, this study reveals that malaria in low-transmission southwestern Uganda is predominantly driven by imported infections in Maziba and Muko, whereas Kamwezi experiences sustained local transmission, highlighting the need for tailored interventions based on travel history and genetic data.
This study comparing Truenat MTB Plus and Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra in India found that while Xpert Ultra offers superior diagnostic accuracy and lower indeterminate rates, Truenat provides a cost-effective and operationally feasible alternative for decentralized testing, supporting a tiered approach to expand tuberculosis diagnosis.