Infectious causes of cancer

The U.S. has a big syphilis problem on its hands. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that reported cases of the sexually transmitted infection once again climbed in 2022, reaching a total not seen in over 70 years. In slightly better news, reported cases of gonorrhea have taken a slight downturn, while chlamydia cases have stayed level.Alex Winter on the Most Important Modern Horror Movie The numbers come from the CDC’s latest STI Surveillance Report, which details the annual recorded…

A wild green iguana in Costa Rica.Image: Galyna Andrushko (Shutterstock)Welcome to another installment of Gizmodo’s Animal Crime of the Week. Last week, we admired the trash-stealing parrots of Australia. This week features a bitey, cake-stealing iguana that added injury to insult by giving its victim a nasty, rare infection.Alex Winter on the Most Important Modern Horror Movie This weird tale comes from a case report published by Stanford University doctors last April. A 3-year-old girl and her family were vacationing in…

Americans looking to stay on top of their sexual health have a new at-home option available to them. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first home test for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Developed by the company LetsGetChecked, the Simple 2 test costs between $58 and $99 a kit and returns results within a week.Who’s This Thing Actually for? | PlayStation Portal Hands OnChlamydia and gonorrhea are both caused by bacteria. Though there are other more prevalent STIs in the population, such as HPV,…

New research may provide clues to an enduring mystery about multiple sclerosis and the common germ thought to be its leading cause, the Epstein-Barr virus. Scientists in Sweden have found that some patients with multiple sclerosis produce antibodies against the virus that seem to also mistakenly target a protein found in the brain and spinal cord. The findings provide more evidence that the Epstein-Barr virus can cause multiple sclerosis, the study authors say, and could help explain why some patients experience more…

Scientists in Australia have just begun an ambitious public health campaign, but not for humans. As part of a new field trial, koalas in the wild are being temporarily captured and then vaccinated against chlamydia, which can be dangerous and even life-threatening for them. The hope is that the vaccine can help reverse the population decline of these now-endangered marsupials.James Gunn on Feeling Pressure to Add Adam Warlock to Guardians of the Galaxy | io9 InterviewChlamydia is named after the several species of…

A 3-year-old girl’s holiday in Costa Rica was ruined by an iguana in more ways than one. The scaly reptile stole her cake, but not before biting her hand and transmitting a rare bacterial infection that endured for months, according to the girl’s doctors. Fortunately, the infection was treatable.Won’t Virtual Reality Make Me Sick?The unusual case will be presented later this month by doctors at the annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, but details were made available to the public…

Several teams of scientists believe they have uncovered the likely cause of a mysterious surge of severe hepatitis last year that hospitalized and killed children around the world. In threestudies published this week, the groups detail evidence that a common but usually not pathogenic virus was strongly associated with the cases, likely aided by co-infection with other common viruses. The affected children might have been genetically unlucky as well.Is AI Moving Too Fast? | Future TechEarly last year, health officials…

A transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image of hepatitis B virus (HBV) particles.Image: Erskine Palmer/CDCThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now advising people to get screened for hepatitis B at least once in their lives. Though the infection can be managed with antivirals and prevented with a highly effective childhood vaccine, many Americans today are still living with chronic hepatitis B, which can raise the risk of liver damage and cancer. Two-thirds of these Americans may not even know they have…

An illustration of varicella zoster virus, the cause of chickenpox and shingles.Illustration: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)Common viral infections may be having far-reaching effects on our brain health, new research suggests. The study found a link between dozens of different viral exposures and a later increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. More research will be needed to untangle the true role, if any, these infections could play in causing these conditions, however.The research comes from…

An illustration of Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria.Illustration: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)Super gonorrhea has infected people in the United States for the first known time. This week, Massachusetts public health officials announced the discovery of two gonorrhea cases appearing to display increased resistance to all known antibiotic classes that can be used against it. These cases were thankfully still curable, but it’s the latest reminder that this common sexually transmitted infection is becoming a more serious…