Penicillin ended scarlet fever’s deadly threat to children

Diphtheria was once a leading childhood killer before antibiotics and vaccines

In 18th- and 19th-century outbreaks, some New England families lost as many as eight children to diphtheria, and fatality rates in hospitals often topped 60%. The invention of antitoxins, penicillin, and vaccines dramatically reduced deaths.

Pneumonia was once a leading killer before penicillin treatments

In the early 20th century, pneumonia was a top cause of death worldwide, often fatal without effective treatment. Penicillin turned a once deadly infection into one of the most treatable bacterial diseases.

Penicillin slashed battlefield pneumonia deaths during World War II

Before antibiotics, bacterial pneumonia killed about 18% of infected soldiers in World War I. By World War II, penicillin cut that death rate to less than 1%.

Penicillin was hailed as a 'wonder drug' upon its release

When penicillin became widely available in the 1940s, newspapers and doctors alike celebrated it as a “wonder drug” that could cure infections once considered fatal.

Penicillin has saved an estimated 500 million lives since its creation

Since its introduction in the 1940s, penicillin and related antibiotics are estimated to have saved around 500 million lives worldwide—making it one of the most consequential medical breakthroughs in human history.

Improved 19th-century sanitation meant kids encountered polio later, with worse results

Almost all children likely used to contract poliovirus, but scientists suggest that when infants encountered it very early in life—due to poorer conditions and hygiene—they still had some maternal protection from pregnancy or through breastmilk, so the symptoms were more flu-like.

Child mortality rates since ancient Rome

One of the great achievements of modern humanity has been the sea change in child mortality rates—the chance that a newborn eventually lives past puberty. For thousands of years, children had a 50% chance of not entering adulthood. About 300 years...

Listen to how the 1902 'poison squad' experiments changed food safety in America

As part of government research, a group of young men were paid to eat standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—which revealed the dangers of unregulated food. The work was led by the first FDA commissioner, Harvey Wiley, who helped end the "century of the great stomachache."

Why the 1918 flu killed between 50 and 100 million people

The 1918–1920 flu pandemic (once called, incorrectly, the Spanish flu) killed quickly and in huge numbers, with estimates of the global death toll ranging from 50 to 100 million people. Several factors contributed to the high mortality rate: lack of antibiotics, the global disruption of World War I, and more.

1 in 6 Americans get food poisoning each year

The US federal government estimates there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the country annually, resulting in as many as 3,000 deaths and 128,000 hospitalizations. Food poisoning puts those with weakened immune systems, the elderly, pregnant people, and young children at particularly high risk. This chart of common disease-causing pathogens highlights common threats and details about them, including likely food sources.

Two-thirds of soldier deaths during the war were due to disease

Roughly two-thirds of all Civil War deaths resulted from disease rather than battle. Poor sanitation, contaminated water, and limited medical knowledge made camps breeding grounds for dysentery, typhoid, and other deadly infections.

Sepsis is the leading cause of death in hospitals

Sepsis is the result of an overly aggressive immune system trying to combat infection, triggering inflammation throughout the body. After it begins, each passing hour increases the risk of death by 4% to 9%, and an estimated 350,000 people die from the condition in the US each year.

Since 1600, the longest stretch without an outbreak that killed 10,000 was four years

We think of pandemics as unlikely events, but disease outbreaks are surprisingly common. Over the past 400 years, the longest stretch without an outbreak that killed at least 10,000 people was just four years. The next pandemic can't be precisely known, so experts and policymakers focus on preparation.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Tips for reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is bad news. But there are lots of things you can do to both protect yourself from superbugs and help keep the problem of antimicrobial resistance from getting worse. This page from the CDC offers clear, straightforward guidelines that can help keep you—and your loved ones—healthy.

Measles symptoms range from fever to pneumonia and encephalitis

While less common, most measles-related deaths come from secondary conditions such as pneumonia (one to six cases per 100 patients) and encephalitis (one case per 1,000 patients). Blindness, which is rare, may arise from corneal ulceration.

Peanut allergies dropped by 43% after doctors reversed avoidance guidance, but questions remain

The study’s data appear to confirm the policy shift. Still, since the study did not include an examination of infant diet, researchers can’t definitively say that the guideline shift led to dietary changes and thus directly caused the decline.

Annual flu shots remain the best defense against influenza

Flu vaccination typically reduces the risk of medical visits by 30 to 60% and lowers hospitalization rates by around 40%. Between 2023 and 2024, in the US alone, vaccines prevented an estimated 120,000 hospitalizations and nearly 7,900 deaths.

Europeans' arrival to America brought disease to Indigenous populations

Indigenous people lived in the Americas for centuries before the arrival of the first Europeans in the 15th century. Their arrival was disastrous for Native tribes; in addition to being enslaved and losing their land, they had no natural immunity to the diseases brought by colonists. Eventually, up to 95% of the Native American population was killed by illnesses including typhus, chickenpox, and cholera, an event now known as the Great Dying.

Why we don't have an answer for the common cold

Since a landmark study of the common cold in 1925, researchers have learned much more about the seasonal ailment. Despite continuous study, people still contract colds for similar periods of time at the same rate with the same symptoms, and there's no vaccine. This article explains how the many viral strains make it hard to control.

US cancer mortality rates have been falling for 25 years

The American Cancer Society's "Cancer Facts & Figures 2025" report provides comprehensive statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival rates in the United States. Cancer rates in the US continued a long-running downward trend, driven primarily by a steep drop in lung cancers (mostly from a decrease in habitual smoking) and better preventative monitoring. This site leads to incredibly in-depth reports and slides on the current state of the fight against cancer.

CDC does not require docs to report hand, foot, and mouth cases which makes tracking difficult

Mid-Atlantic states saw a surge of hand, foot, and mouth disease in 2025 for as-yet unknown reasons. Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, reported elevated outbreak numbers in 2025 as compared to other recent years, but since the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not require mandatory reporting of positive HFMD cases—unlike strictly notifiable diseases like measles—it's hard to truly know the extent of the outbreaks and how significant the caseload is as compared to prior years across the region or country.

A pediatric journal ran 138 fictional case studies, and 61 were cited as real stories

The Canadian journal Paediatrics & Child Health issued corrections to 138 case studies published since 2000, acknowledging the cases were entirely fictional—a practice intended to protect patient privacy that was never disclosed to readers. At least 61 of the fabricated reports were cited as fact in other peer-reviewed journals a combined 218 times, including a 2006 Lancet article alleging an infant died from opioid-laced breast milk.

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria transmitted through the bite of infected ticks

It's an infectious disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It's spread through the bite of two species of infected ticks, the Western blacklegged ticks on the West Coast, and Blacklegged ticks found throughout the eastern US. The ticks can transmit the disease at both the nymph and adult stage. It's not known to be transmitted from one person to another via kissing or sex.

An overview of 200 years of diabetes treatment

Diabetes treatment became truly effective after the advent of insulin injections in the early 1900s. Diabetes is becoming increasingly common. Current trends estimate one in three Americans will have diabetes by 2050. This overview explores two centuries of diabetes treatment—starting in 1812—and outline potential challenges to treatment and prevention.

How bedbugs have evolved immunity against pesticides

Bedbugs, once nearly eradicated in the United States due to the use of pesticides like DDT, have made a resurgence, with New York being declared the most bedbug-infested city. The primary reason for the return is the evolution of resistance in...

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

See the evolution of Ebola vaccine and treatment development.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.