WIRED Health

Going Viral

Hantavirus Conspiracy Theories Are Already Spreading Online

From claims of an Israeli false flag to efforts to sell ivermectin, influencers and grifters are using lessons learned from Covid-19 to push their baseless conspiracy theories.

David Gilbert

Ship Show

Could Contact-Tracing Apps Help With the Hantavirus? Not Really

Boone Ashworth

Testing Testing

Diabetes Detection Needs Better Tools. They’re on the Way

Anna McKie

Sleep

Technology Is Reshaping Sleep Apnea Treatment

For decades, cumbersome CPAP machines have been the primary way to help people with sleep apnea. A range of new options has recently come into focus.

Anna McKie

Sleep Apnea Often Goes Undetected in Women. That’s Starting to Change

Women’s sleep apnea symptoms differ from men’s and can often be confused with hormonal shifts. Researchers are working to close the detection gap.

Anna McKie

Rising Temperatures Are Taking a Toll on Sleep Health

As nights get hotter around the globe due to climate change, the prevalence of sleep apnea is expected to increase by as much as threefold.

David Cox

Want to Stop Doomscrolling? You Might Need a Sleep Coach

Traditionally sleep coaches treat babies. But now more and more anxious, screen-attached grownups are the ones who need nursing.

Elana Klein

Covid-19

Trump’s Economy Has Come for Sugar Babies

Amid the latest economic downturn, sugar babies are asking their daddies for stock market advice and taking on vanilla jobs to recession-proof their incomes.

Jason Parham

New Head of Trump’s Cancer Panel Speculated About Links Between Vaccines and Cancer

Yale epidemiologist Harvey Risch, who has entertained a connection between Covid vaccines and “turbo cancer” and promoted ivermectin, says he'll chair the President's Cancer Panel.

David Gilbert

This Hacker Conference Installed a Literal Antivirus Monitoring System

At New Zealand's Kawaiicon cybersecurity convention, organizers hacked together a way for attendees to track CO₂ levels throughout the venue—even before they arrived.

Violet Blue

N95, KF94, and KN95 Face Masks to Buy Right Now

Flu season is here. Here are the best disposable face coverings we’ve tested—and where you can find them.

Lisa Wood Shapiro

RSV

Human Metapneumovirus Is Finally Being Taken Seriously

The attention being paid to a Chinese outbreak of a virus often confused with flu is a sign that respiratory infection tracking is improving.

David Cox

Wastewater Offers an Early Alarm System for Another Deadly Virus

A surveillance system proven during Covid-19 is now being used to track outbreaks of RSV.

Chris Stokel-Walker

Making an RSV Vaccine Was Hard. Getting People to Take It Is Even Harder

New vaccines could help stem the spread of respiratory syncytial virus, but there are already huge inequities in access and uptake.

Annika Hom

RSV Can Be a Killer. New Tools Are Identifying the Most At-Risk Kids

RSV infects almost every child before they turn 2, and kills more than 100,000 infants worldwide each year. Machine learning and statistical models are identifying those most at risk.

David Cox

Flu

Flu Is Relentless. Crispr Might Be Able to Shut It Down

Innovative research into the gene-editing tool targets influenza’s ability to replicate—stopping it in its tracks.

David Cox

What Is the ‘Super Flu’ That Is Spreading in Europe and the United States?

The “super flu” behind outbreaks in the US and UK is a new variant of influenza A H3N2, subclade K. Existing vaccines appear to be insufficiently effective against the virus.

Ritsuko Kawai

How to Make It Through Cold and Flu Season

Reduce your chances of catching these respiratory illnesses, and make sure you don’t spread it to others.

Jill Duffy

Now You Can Get Your Flu Vaccine at Home

The nasal spray vaccine FluMist can now be ordered online and shipped to your door.

Emily Mullin

Diabetes

Crispr Offers New Hope for Treating Diabetes

Gene-edited pancreatic cells have been transplanted into a patient with type 1 diabetes for the first time. They produced insulin for months without the patient needing to take immunosuppressants.

Javier Carbajal

Eli Lilly’s Obesity Pill Appears to Work as Well as Injected GLP-1s

New data from a Phase 3 trial show that the daily anti-obesity pill may be as safe and effective as drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic for weight loss and lowering blood sugar.

Emily Mullin

Why Women With Type 2 Diabetes Are Diagnosed Later Than Men

Researchers are trying to understand more about the biological and social differences that contribute to later diabetes diagnoses and worse outcomes in women.

Lori Youmshajekian

Diabetes Is Rising in Africa. Could It Lead to New Breakthroughs?

Growing rates of type 2 diabetes across the African content offer scientists hope of creating new, more inclusive treatments.

David Cox

Migraines

Patients Are Turning to Vibrators to Relieve Their Migraines

One billion people experience migraines, yet the perfect treatment is still out of reach. Can a vibrator offer a surprising solution?

Helen Thomson

Why Women Get Migraines More Than Men

Women suffer from migraines three times as often as men, and often with more intensity. New research into the role of hormones is helping explain why.

Lori Youmshajekian

The Multiple Ways Climate Change Threatens to Make Migraines Worse

Migraine sufferers are often triggered by the weather, and research suggests warming temperatures and more extreme weather events worsen attacks.

Grace Browne

Strange Visual Auras Could Hold the Key to Better Migraine Treatments

Research on the visual patterns that foreshadow migraines may reveal clues on how painful headaches arise from the brain even though it has no pain receptors.

Matthew Ponsford