@acasadevall1.bsky.social
'And plasma treatments proved effective, bringing the fatality rate from as high as 30 percent down to 1 percent for patients who received prompt care. Outbreaks dwindled'...a plug for convalescent plasma. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/w...
Rare South American Diseases Offer Clues on the Next Pandemic
Ebola virus, hantavirus and the pathogen that causes Covid-19 likely jumped from animals to humans. So do these viruses — and scientists say climate change is speeding their spread.
nytimes.com
www.techtimes.com/articles/323...
Candida auris Hides in Hair Follicles by Rewiring Skin Immunity, Science Study Finds
Candida auris permanently colonizes patients by using chitin to trigger a skin immune response that suppresses antifungal defenses, allowing it to hide in hair follicles no current treatment can reach...
techtimes.com
My fun and free ranging conversation with @sdesmon.bsky.social on fungal blooms in the cretaceous, mammalian evolution, climate change and fungal diseases podcast. podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/are-humans-h...
Discovery of massive fungal blooms in the Cretaceous period suggest significant ecological upheaval before and after the asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. @acasadevall1.bsky.social explains the significance of these findings. 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/are-humans-h...
Final call for abstracts! 8th Conference on Model Hosts, Oct 3-8th Sissi Crete. Thanks to support from @microbiologysociety.org and @femsmicro.org we have funding for a number of trainee travel awards - submit your abstract and apply today! aegeanconferences.org/conferences/...
www.livescience.com/animals/dino...
Did fungi give mammals an evolutionary edge after the dinosaur-killing asteroid hit? New evidence revives a provocative hypothesis
A revived hypothesis argues that a fungus-filled world after the Chicxulub asteroid impact may have given mammals an evolutionary edge. The idea could reshape how scientists think about mass extinctio...
livescience.com
Fungi produce volatile compounds that attract insects. Benefit for fungi may be spore dispersal. Attraction signature suggests new opportunities for designing mosquito traps. publichealth.jhu.edu/2026/beyond-...
Beyond Bread and Beer: Alluring Yeast Species Could Yield New Mosquito Traps to Combat Malaria | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
New study details common yeast’s surprising ability to attract mosquitoes with its fragrance and sticky quality.
publichealth.jhu.edu
What is missing in all these discussions is the fact that Ebola convalescent plasma is already potentially available and could provide a therapeutic bridge to the time when antivirals, vaccines, monoclonals are available. See this OpED thehill.com/opinion/heal...
Power of plasma: How to curb new viral outbreaks that lack vaccines
When people recover from viral diseases, they make antibodies that can then be transferred to other affected individuals. Enter convalescent plasma.
thehill.com
Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 3mo agoAs the Bundibugyo outbreak continues to grow, researchers are scrambling to start clinical trials of antivirals and monoclonal antibodies to see if any work against the virus. Here's my story on the race, with @stephanienolen.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/4eEZHqR
What fungi can tell you about a dying ecosystem A new study by @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @jhu.edu @jhu-bdps.bsky.social @acasadevall1.bsky.social and Rosanna Baker in @pnas.org reports a finding that complicates the standard version of the dinosaur extinction. spacedaily.com/d-the-astero...
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs may have struck a planet that was already in serious trouble — a new Johns Hopkins study has found evidence of a separate ecological crisis that began about 3...
A study published in May 2026 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports a finding that complicates the standard one-line version of the dinosaur extinction. Two researchers at the...
spacedaily.com
In this @thehill.com piece @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @jhu.edu @jhu-bdps.bsky.social @acasadevall1.bsky.social explores convalescent plasma as a possible therapy for recent outbreaks hantavirus and Ebola, and for other public health threats. thehill.com/opinion/heal...
Power of plasma: How to curb new viral outbreaks that lack vaccines
When people recover from viral diseases, they make antibodies that can then be transferred to other affected individuals. Enter convalescent plasma.
thehill.com
As we face new viral outbreaks there is a potentially available therapy already available in the plasma of survivors. The experience with convalescent plasma during COVID-19 can inform dealing with outbreaks of Ebola, hantavirus and whatever else will come. thehill.com/opinion/heal...
Power of plasma: How to curb new viral outbreaks that lack vaccines
When people recover from viral diseases, they make antibodies that can then be transferred to other affected individuals. Enter convalescent plasma.
thehill.com
Excited to announce our new journal from @isme-microbes.bsky.social ISME Host Microbe is live and now accepting submissions. Look forward to receiving your papers! #Microsky 🧫 🦠
Is SARS-CoV-2 teratogenic? In this editorial we argue that although risk in pregnancy is low, there are enough observations to raise cautious concerns. This question needs more study given that the virus is now endemic. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42096206/
Visiting @symbionticism.bsky.social and was greeted with starburst candy thanks to @markowenmartin.bsky.social who told him about using these to collect fungi from Baltimore sidewalks. All credit goes to highly innovative Daniel Smith who thought of this - see pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41142051/
Research inspired by melanin studies with C. neoformans suggests new approach to mosquito control for malaria. publichealth.jhu.edu/malaria-rese...
The Goldilocks Dose: Modulating Mosquito Diet to Control Malaria | Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
Feeding mosquitoes L-DOPA can either strengthen their defences against malaria or shorten their lifespan — showing that in vector control, the dose makes the difference
publichealth.jhu.edu
🎙️ Just published a new #Communicable episode: Communicab... Hosted by Angela Huttner @angelahuttner.bsky.social Josh Nosanchuk @josh-nosanchuk.bsky.social with invited guest: Arturo Casadevall @acasadevall1.bsky.social (Johns Hopkins University) Listen here: #IDSky #Clinmicro #MedSky
Communicable E31: Climate change and fungal spread
The adaptability of fungi to warmer temperatures is an obvious...
share.transistor.fm
📣 Next #Communicable drops Mon 14 July! @angelahuttner.bsky.social & @josh-nosanchuk.bsky.social invite Arturo Casadevall @acasadevall1.bsky.social (Johns Hopkins) to discuss the spread of #fungi due to climate change, and what that means for fungal pathogenesis & infection #IDSky #clinmicro #MedSky
Quoted here about the increasing problem of drug resistance in Aspergillus isolates. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
Fungal infections are getting harder to treat
The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus tops the World Health Organization's list of worrying fungal diseases. It's growing increasingly resistant to the first-line drug used to treat it.
nbcnews.com
To what extent can we predict future pathogenic #microbes? @acasadevall1.bsky.social discusses why probabilistic predictions are difficult, but not impossible. 🧪 plos.io/3EXieQp
Is pathogen prediction possible?
To what extent can we predict future pathogenic microbes? This Perspective discusses why complex requirements for virulence and dynamic host-microbe interactions make probabilistic predictions difficu...
plos.io
CAN WE STOP KILLER FUNGI? Fungal diseases are more common, more dangerous & more difficult to treat. This fascinating BBC podcast features 4 global #fungi experts including @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @jhu.edu @acasadevall1.bsky.social - interview at 10:55 time marker www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Inquiry - Can we stop killer fungi? - BBC Sounds
Why fungal diseases are becoming more dangerous to human health
bbc.co.uk
The Last of Us may be over for now, but fungus pandemic news endures. Here's my story on how white-nose disease, which has battered North American bats, may have more devastation in store. 🧪 Gift link: nyti.ms/4mGRyV8
A Fungus Devastated North American Bats. A New Species Could Deliver a Killer Blow. (Gift Article)
Scientists have learned that another species of fungus found in Europe and Asia causes white-nose disease, which has ravaged bat populations in the United States and Canada.
nyti.ms
Review @natrevimmunol.bsky.social @acasadevall1.bsky.social New insights into antibody structure with implications for specificity, variable region restriction and isotype choice www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New insights into antibody structure with implications for specificity, variable region restriction and isotype choice - Nature Reviews Immunology
Immunoglobulins sample vast swathes of primary sequence and conformational space to generate and select B cell clones with exquisite selectivity and affinity for specific antigens. This Perspective ar...
nature.com
share.transistor.fm/s/ee922716 - nice interview with Joe Heitman on Fungi
Cosmic Radio Interview with Dr. Joseph Heitman: Professor and Chair of Molecular Genetics and Professor in Medicine at Duke University and CIFAR's Co-Director for the Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportu...
Join me on Cosmic Radio as we speak with Dr. Joseph Heitman. Dr. Heitman is a professor and Chair of Molecular Biology and Professor in Medicine at Duke University and CIFAR's Co-Director for the "Fun...
share.transistor.fm
A tribute to @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social Professor Diane Griffin, MD, PhD, noted virologist, former @johnshopkinsmmi.bsky.social dept chair, written by @acasadevall1.bsky.social & J. Marie Hardwick, published in @pnas.org @jhu.edu @hopkinsmedicine.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Diane E. Griffin, physician–scientist extraordinaire | PNAS
In October 2024, the scientific world lost Diane E. Griffin, a highly accomplished physician–scientist who greatly heightened our understanding of ...
pnas.org
🧟♂️ #TheLastOfUs S2 drops April 13—brush up on the science behind the spores with this throwback. 🎧 In #NETEC’s #FungalPathogens podcast episode, Dr. Arturo Casadevall (@acasadevall1.bsky.social) breaks down the fungal fact vs. fiction behind the show. Listen now:
Pathogens in Pop Culture: Fungal Pathogens and The Last of Us
Could a fungus cause the next pandemic? Separating myth from reality; examining the science behind fungal pathogens.
netec.org
New Perspective article from Scott McConnell & @acasadevall1.bsky.social @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social highlights the importance of constant regions in influencing the specificity and functionality of #antibodies #immunology #immunosky
New insights into antibody structure with implications for specificity, variable region restriction and isotype choice - Nature Reviews Immunology
Immunoglobulins sample vast swathes of primary sequence and conformational space to generate and select B cell clones with exquisite selectivity and affinity for specific antigens. This Perspective article examines the interplay between antibody diversification mechanisms and highlights the importance of constant regions in influencing the specificity and functionality of individual antibodies.
nature.com
I don't understand why articles like this one never mention that we have an option for preventing disease: measles gamma globulin has a 100% efficacy in preventing disease in exposed vulnerable children. See this reference: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29028959/. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/w...
Parents of Babies Who Are Too Young for Measles Vaccine Worry About Outbreaks
Infants are at higher risk of complications from the measles but can’t be vaccinated right away.
nytimes.com
It's Thursday: time for #MattersMicrobial Episode #82! Dr. Arturo Casadevall talks with the #QualityQuorum about how fungi can use melanin to collect energy from light (and radiation), and adaptation to high temperatures. Please spread the #GoodMicrobialWord! youtu.be/D7uzJzglC40?...
check #MattersMicrobial #82 👇 ...and as "supplementary material" > schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2... #FungiFriends
Kool & The Gang − Celebration
by Christoph — Other than the title Kool & The Gang − Celebration suggests, this post is not about the R&B band of past glories and their biggest hit, but instead celebrates the true "cool kids...
schaechter.asmblog.org
Mark O. Martin@markowenmartin.bsky.social · 2y agoIt's Thursday: time for #MattersMicrobial Episode #82! Dr. Arturo Casadevall talks with the #QualityQuorum about how fungi can use melanin to collect energy from light (and radiation), and adaptation to high temperatures. Please spread the #GoodMicrobialWord! youtu.be/D7uzJzglC40?...
