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.
This study utilizes a long-term cohort in southern China and simulations to demonstrate that while serological patterns appear consistent with influenza immune imprinting, similar patterns can arise from age-related variations without an imprinting mechanism, highlighting the difficulty of distinguishing true imprinting from cohort effects.
In 2026, Taiwan reported a human case of low pathogenic avian influenza A(H7N7) in a poultry worker, linked to Asian wild bird viruses and carrying the mammalian adaptation marker PB2 E627K, underscoring the need for enhanced surveillance to assess pandemic potential.
This meta-analysis demonstrates that HPV type-specific antibody binding concentrations are significantly associated with vaccine efficacy against infection and cervical disease, supporting their use as validated correlates of protection to facilitate vaccine development, approval, and deployment.
This study analyzes data from 966 Kenyan children to demonstrate that distinct severe malaria syndromes—impaired consciousness, respiratory distress, and severe malarial anaemia—are driven by specific *var* gene expression patterns and virulence mechanisms, suggesting that targeted therapeutic interventions could be developed based on these syndrome-specific parasite strategies.
This study utilizes phylodynamic analysis of 686 Bundibugyo virus genomes from the 2026 DRC outbreak to estimate the virus emerged in late February 2026 with an evolutionary rate of 8.7×10⁻⁴ substitutions per site per year, showing no evidence of mutations driving rapid lineage growth.
This systematic review and meta-analysis of 45 trials involving over 22,000 children suggests that for those at low risk of acute rheumatic fever, a 5-day course of oral antibiotics provides clinical benefits and safety comparable to the standard 10-day regimen, whereas evidence regarding 3-day courses remains uncertain.
This study demonstrates that while random subsampling and read depth normalization effectively reduce computational overhead for SARS-CoV-2 lineage assignment and consensus generation in clinical samples, aggressive data reduction should be avoided in wastewater surveillance to maintain the high sequencing depth required for accurate mixed-variant deconvolution.
This 2025 study in Niamey, Niger, reveals a 17.1% anti-HEV IgM seroprevalence and 3.46% active HEV RNA infection rate among pregnant women, identifying well water usage as a significant independent risk factor for infection.
This study demonstrates that model-guided, immediate placement of decentralized PCR diagnostics in frontier health zones, combined with postmortem rapid testing and robust response capacity, can significantly reduce mortality and contain the spatial spread of the 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola epidemic in eastern DRC.
This study demonstrates that while absolute infection levels vary between serological (IgG) and stool-based (PCR) assays, both methods consistently identify relative transmission risks across geographic strata, validating serology as a viable alternative for measuring enteric pathogen force of infection in children.