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Even as we try to push past the COVID pandemic, the virus is here to stay, not only as a current infection threat but as a chronic disease in the form of long COVID. Global estimates are that some 400 million people have experienced long COVID - when an infected person's symptoms persist past three months. Some can no longer work or return to their lives due to fatigue and brain fog. Five years after the pandemic, we have a clearer picture of the challenges. Lingering inflammation across the body is a major cause of “long COVID” symptoms.

A relatively new fungus is spreading in the US, but it's resistant to nearly all anti-fungal drugs. So, anyone infected may be on their own. Candida auris or C. auris was first reported in the US in 2016. It can cause mild skin problems to severe blood stream infections. Symptoms depend on the location of the infection. People can be colonized by C auris without any symptoms, which means they're carrying the fungus and spreading it to other people and objects.

Even though humans and chimpanzees share 99 percent of their DNA, it's in the brain that they differ. Our brains are three times larger at 1,400 cubic centimeters. Our neocortex is larger; that's the brain's outer layer where high-order functions like reasoning, abstract thought, and language happen.

Of all our white blood cells, neutrophils are among the most common and numerous. Their job is to attack, kill and engulf invading pathogens in our wounds and infections. New studies now show neutrophils can also form a “band-aid” layer around a wound to shield against invading microbes.