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Saturday, May 23, 2026

Survey highlights persistent uncertainty on STI vaccines

Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania

Survey: Are different infections sexually transmitted? — image:
Source: The Annenberg Public Policy Center's Annenberg Science and Public Health survey, April 2026.
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Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center

While data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the total number of U.S. cases of three sexually transmitted infections (STIs) declined from 2022-24, infection rates remain 13% higher than a decade ago. CDC provisional data show more than 2.2 million U.S. cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported in 2024.

Now, a nationally representative survey of empaneled adults from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania finds that while most Americans understand how STIs spread, there are significant gaps in public knowledge about which infections can be prevented through vaccination.

In the Annenberg survey, conducted April 14-28, 2026, among 1,639 U.S. adults, nearly half of the respondents (47%) say that they or someone they know has ever been diagnosed with an STI. Most of those (72%) who know someone with an STI report knowing two or more people with it. (Download the topline.)

CDC data show how common these infections are. The CDC says the most common STI is human papillomavirus or HPV, and about 85% of people will get an HPV infection in their lifetime. The CDC also has estimated that on any given day in 2018, about 20% of the U.S. population – 1 in 5 people – had an STI.

Gaps in identifying what is sexually transmitted

A sexually transmitted infection, the CDC says, is “a virus, bacteria, fungus or parasite people can get through sexual contact.” There are dozens of STIs. Some are spread mainly by sexual contact (such as genital herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, and HPV). Some are sometimes spread by sexual transmission (HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), mpox). And some can be spread sexually but are more often spread in other ways (Zika).

The survey finds that a large majority of respondents know that infections which spread mainly by sexual contact are sexually transmitted. In most cases, there has been no significant change in public knowledge from 2024 to 2026. The percentages who know that these diseases are sexually transmitted are:

95% Genital herpes
94% Gonorrhea
91% Syphilis
89% Chlamydia
75% HPV, a six-point increase from 2024

Although sexual transmission is just one of several ways that HIV can be spread, Americans are much more aware that it can be sexually transmitted than they are about mpox or Zika:

92% know that HIV can be sexually transmitted.
35% know that mpox, also called monkeypox, can be sexually transmitted.
13% know that Zika or ZIKV, which is primarily mosquito-borne, can also be sexually transmitted.

“Public understanding improves when accurate health information reaches people clearly and consistently,” said Ken Winneg, APPC’s managing director of survey research. “But these findings show continuing gaps in awareness about diseases which can be sexually transmitted such as HPV, mpox, and Zika.”

Broad awareness of STI transmission but misconceptions persist

The survey shows strong awareness of common ways that STIs are transmitted:

97% identify vaginal sex as a transmission route
94% anal sex
91% genital-to-genital contact
89% oral sex

In addition, 49% selected kissing, which is not a common route for STI transmission but may be a form of transmission of syphilis when a sore is present and may be a risk factor for oral gonorrhea. And 1 in 5 (20%) chose sitting on a toilet after someone with an STI sat on it. CDC guidance for a number of STIs (HIV, syphilis, and genital herpes, for instance) says that sitting on a toilet seat is not a form of transmission.

Public understanding is uneven around less common transmission pathways for HIV, in particular. While 92% recognize HIV as sexually transmitted, only 33% know it also can be transmitted by breastfeeding. According to the CDC, HIV can be transmitted during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

Limited understanding of which diseases are vaccine-preventable

The public’s awareness of which diseases can be prevented with vaccines varies widely. For most of the diseases in our survey, a substantial part of the population says it does not know whether there is a vaccine for them. For the two diseases which may be prevented by vaccines:

HPV: HPV vaccine awareness is highest, with 68% correctly identifying that a vaccine exists. The CDC reports that HPV vaccination can prevent more than 90% of HPV-related cancers.
Mpox: Only 42% know a vaccine exists for mpox, despite CDC recommendations that at-risk groups be vaccinated. The vaccine can help prevent an mpox infection if given in advance and can mitigate it if given shortly after exposure.

For some other infections, most Americans are unaware that no vaccine exists:

Genital herpes: 54% are unsure or incorrectly think a vaccine exists
Gonorrhea: 58% unsure or incorrect
Syphilis: 61% unsure or incorrect
Chlamydia: 60% unsure or incorrect
HIV: 52% are unsure or incorrect
Zika: 81% unsure or incorrect

Encouraging areas of public knowledge – and some misconceptions

The survey highlights the public’s strong knowledge of some basic facts about STIs:

93% know STIs can spread even without symptoms;
87% reject the myth that only people with many sexual partners get STIs;
83% know that HIV medications can control disease progression, a decline from 2024, when 87% knew this.
- But only 45% know that most people in the United States who have HIV do not develop AIDS.
80% know STIs can be passed from a pregnant person to their baby
70% know that HPV can lead to cancer in women
- But 14% also incorrectly think the vaccine leads teens to engage in risky sexual behavior, an increase from 10% who said they believed this in 2024. It does not.

“HPV vaccination is important for preventing cancers caused by HPV,” said Laura A. Gibson, an APPC research analyst. “The increase in awareness that HPV is sexually transmitted is a positive development, but it is concerning to see a similar increase in the incorrect belief that the HPV vaccine leads teens to engage in risky sexual behavior.”

Syphilis: Rising rates underscore importance of public understanding

The survey findings come as syphilis continues to pose a major public health challenge in the United States. According to the CDC’s latest provisional surveillance data, there were more than 190,000 reported syphilis cases in 2024, and the national syphilis rate reached 55.9 cases per 100,000 people. While overall syphilis cases declined about 9% from 2023 levels, congenital syphilis — when the infection is passed from a pregnant person to a baby — increased for the 12th consecutive year, with nearly 4,000 reported cases in 2024. The CDC reports congenital syphilis rates are now nearly 700% higher than a decade ago.

The current survey suggests that many Americans remain uncertain about how syphilis can be prevented and treated. Over 9 out of 10 people (91%) correctly identify syphilis as sexually transmitted but more than half of U.S. adults (61%) are either unsure whether there is a vaccine against syphilis (44%) or say a vaccine exists (17%). It does not, according to the Mayo Clinic.

“Too many Americans remain uncertain about basic facts surrounding syphilis, including how it is prevented and treated,” said Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the policy center’s Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, which oversees the survey. “Those knowledge gaps can have serious public health consequences.”

About 4 in 5 respondents know how to protect against getting syphilis: 80% correctly identify abstinence and 78% correctly identify condom use as ways to protect against syphilis.

The CDC recommends regular STI screening, condom use, prompt antibiotic treatment, and prenatal testing during pregnancy to reduce transmission and prevent congenital syphilis.

Additional context on STI curability

Three bacterial infections – gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis – can be cured with appropriate antibiotics, according to the CDC, but you can be re-infected. Three viral STIs – HPV, genital herpes, and HIV – cannot be cured. Although HPV cannot be cured, in 9 out of 10 cases, “HPV goes away on its own within two years without health problems,” the CDC says. When HPV does not resolve, it can cause cervical and other cancers. Genital herpes is a lifelong infection and has no cure, according to the CDC, but there are medicines that can “prevent or shorten outbreaks.” HIV has no cure but can be managed with medication.

Most patients with mpox who are not severely immunocompromised “will recover with supportive care and pain control only,” the CDC says. Zika has no specific cure but typically resolves on its own, although in rare cases it can cause severe disease affecting the brain.

APPC’s ASAPH survey

The findings come from Wave 29 of the Annenberg Science and Public Health survey (ASAPH), conducted April 14-28, 2026, among 1,639 U.S. adults. It was conducted for the policy center by SSRS, an independent research company. The nationally representative probability-based panel, which was first empaneled in April 2021, has a margin of sampling error of ± 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All figures are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add to 100%. Combined subcategories may not add to totals in the topline and text due to rounding.

Download the topline and methodology report.

The policy center has been tracking the American public’s knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors regarding vaccination, Covid-19, flu, RSV, and other consequential health issues through the Annenberg Science and Public Health (ASAPH) survey and separate national samples since April 2021. The ASAPH survey is conducted under the auspices of APPC’s Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute (AHRCI) by a team that includes Ken Winneg, managing director of survey research; research analysts Laura A. Gibson and Shawn Patterson Jr.; and Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute.

See other recent Annenberg health survey news releases:

How the public views scientists: Scientists esteemed by public, with vaccine scientists seen as similar to scientists in general (April 27, 2026)
Alcohol and cancer: Awareness of alcohol-cancer link holds steady despite omission in new U.S. dietary guidelines (March 19, 2026)
Trust in health leaders: Stark divide: Americans more confident in career scientists at U.S. health agencies than leaders (March 5, 2026)
RSV: Most would recommend RSV immunizations for infants, older adults, and during pregnancy (Jan. 21, 2026)
Shared decision-making: CDC urges “shared decision-making” on some childhood vaccines; many unclear about what that means (Jan. 5, 2026)

The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about communication’s role in advancing public understanding of political, science, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

Method of Research

Survey

Source: The Annenberg Public Policy Center's Annenberg Science and Public Health (ASAPH) survey, April 2026.

Credit

Annenberg Public Policy Center

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Wildlife trade increases pathogen transmission

University of Lausanne

A study conducted at the Department of Ecology and Evolution of the University of Lausanne (Unil) quantifies the impact of wildlife trade on the exchange of germs and parasites between animals and humans. It was published on 9 April 2026 in the journal Science.

Hedgehogs, elephants, pangolins, bears or fennec foxes: many wild species are sold as pets, hunting trophies, for traditional medicine, biomedical research, or for their meat or fur. These practices, whether legal or illegal, concern one quarter of all mammal species.

The team led by Cleo Bertelsmeier, Associate Professor at the Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE) of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at Unil, assessed the role of international wildlife trade in the transmission of pathogens between animals and humans. While this link has seemed obvious since Covid-19 – reminding that the sale of animals at the Wuhan market was singled out – “no precise quantification had been carried out until now,” explains Jérôme Gippet, first author of the study published on 9 April 2026 in Science.

Forty years of trade data analysed

The team combined forty years of legal and illegal wildlife import-export data with compilations of host–pathogen relationships. Their analyses, conducted in collaboration with U.S. researchers (Yale University, University of Maryland and University of Idaho), led to the following result: wild mammals that are traded are 1.5 times more likely to share infectious agents with humans than those that are not involved in trade. “In other words, these species have a 50% higher probability of sharing at least one virus, bacterium, fungus or parasite with us.” And that is not all: the risk is even higher when species are traded illegally or alive (for example as exotic pets).

The most striking finding according to the research team is that “the length of time an animal has been present in trade plays a key role: on average, a species shares one additional pathogen with humans for every ten-year period spent on the market,” emphasizes Jérôme Gippet, former postdoctoral researcher at the DEE, now at the University of Fribourg.

Wildlife in all its forms

The work focuses on wild mammals, meaning species that have not been domesticated and on which humans have therefore not exerted selective pressure, unlike cats, dogs, cattle or camels. These may be individuals captured from the wild or bred in captivity, for example for fur production. This category also includes new exotic pets – fennec foxes, otters, African pygmy hedgehogs, leopard cats or sugar gliders, to name but a few – whose buying and selling are fuelled by their popularity on social media. The data analysed cover both the trade in live specimens and in animal-derived products (fur, skins, scales, horns, etc.).

“It is important to understand that the probability of being infected by playing a piano with ivory keys or wearing fur is almost nonexistent. The problem lies at the beginning of the chain: someone had to hunt the animal, skin it, transport it…,” explains Jérôme Gippet. “Thus, even if the danger is not immediate, our consumption choices indirectly fuel the transmission of pathogens to humans. This calls our purchasing practices into question,” adds Cleo Bertelsmeier, who led the study.

At the intersection of ecology and public health

The team led by Cleo Bertelsmeier initially became interested in wildlife trade because it is a source of biological invasions (see related news in French). Individuals can escape or be released into the wild and cause harm to local ecosystems. But this activity can also have two other consequences: first, the risk of species extinction due to overexploitation of natural populations; second, the risk of pathogen exchange with humans, which is the focus of this latest Science publication, a phenomenon that can lead to epidemics or even pandemics. Covid-19 is only one example among others: in 2003, the United States notably faced an outbreak of monkeypox transmitted by prairie dogs sold as pets.

Strengthening biosurveillance

The results of the study highlight the need to improve biosurveillance of animals and animal-derived products in order to detect infectious agents and assess their potential for transmission to humans. Currently, the main multilateral agreement governing international trade in wild species, CITES, focuses exclusively on preventing extinction.

“Our finding that wild mammals share, on average, one additional pathogen with humans for every decade of presence on the global market highlights that the number of contacts plays a decisive role. To reduce disease emergence, these opportunities for encounters must be limited, and therefore the overall volume of trade,” states Jérôme Gippet.

“In my view, our work clearly shows how fundamental research can shed light on public health issues. It provides key elements to better understand host–pathogen dynamics and prevent future epidemics,” concludes Cleo Bertelsmeier.

Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adw5518

Article Title

Wildlife trade drives animal-to-human pathogen transmission over 40 years

Article Publication Date

9-Apr-2026

Thursday, April 09, 2026

Minneapolis Might Bring Back Bathhouses As Spaces for Sex and Queer Community

Elizabeth Nolan Brown
Wed, April 8, 2026

Minneapolis Might Bring Back Bathhouses As Spaces for Sex and Queer Community

The Minneapolis City Council is considering a proposal to bring back bathhouses where people can have sex. And it's provoking a wider conversation around stigma, criminalization, and community.

The proposal involves four related measures, introduced on March 26. They include plans to amend regulations for places "where sexual activity between consenting adults may be facilitated" and to update "provisions pertaining to indecent conduct and disorderly houses, adding exceptions for licensed establishments where sexual activity between consenting adults may be facilitated." (See here, here, here, and here for more.)

"The council is expected to take up the ordinance discussion again on Thursday," per KSTP, a local ABC affiliate.

"From the beginning, this policy has been shaped by and for community," Councilmember Elliott Payne, who co-authored the proposals, told KSTP. "These venues are historically LGBTQ+ spaces, with advocacy organizations emphasizing their importance in the community."
A Brief Bathhouse History

Bathhouses go back to ancient times in some societies. In America, they gained popularity along with urbanization and concerns over hygiene in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Cities opened free bathhouses as a means of promoting "healthful living" and "as a necessity for counteracting the unsanitary conditions of the occupants of tenement and lodging houses and dwellings not provided with bath facilities," as Francis E. Fronczak, New York health commissioner, put it in 1915.

Over time, some of these city bathhouses became known as spots where men would go to have sex with other men, and some bathhouses would open specifically, if discreetly, for this purpose.

"Despite the stepped-up attacks on gay baths and bars during the 1950s … more baths–and bars–slowly opened as explicitly gay institutions," wrote Allan Bérubé in The History of Gay Bathhouses. "Before there were any openly gay or lesbian leaders, political clubs, books, films, newspapers, businesses, neighborhoods, churches or legally recognized gay rights," these bathhouses became safety zones where it was safe to be gay.

The bathhouses were places to find sex partners, sure, but also sites for dining, entertainment (Bette Midler "began her career performing to gay men at the Continental Baths in New York City"), community organizing, sexual health promotion efforts, and more, wrote Bérubé.

Then AIDs hit, and bathhouses were largely shut down (or at least regulated so heavily that they had to shut down). "The AIDS crisis…led to the passage of a surfeit of ordinances banning them among virtually all U.S. urban areas," notes CBS News. "The last bathhouse to operate legally in Minneapolis closed in 1988."

(I thought they were a relic of the past entirely until I moved to Brooklyn in the late 2000s and found some old Russian bathhouses did still exist then. The city still seems to house some old-school bathhouses, as well as trendy spa/bathhouse combos. I do not know how much sex does or does not take place therein.)

Some places, such as San Francisco, do still allow bathhouses to operate legally as sex clubs.
Bathhouses as Public Health Strategy

Payne's proposal in Minneapolis doesn't merely wink and nod at the idea of bathhouse sex while promoting bathhouses for some G-rated purpose. Rather, he seems to see legalizing bathhouse sex as a public health strategy.

"Parties and events that operate as adult sex venues already occur underground and this policy will ensure that they center and prioritize consent, health, and safety," he said. "We cannot govern through stigma and should reflect advancements that are proven to be effective and supportive. As other cities demonstrate, these venues can be key centers of public health interventions, especially for communities that are often marginalized."

Payne posted to Instagram that he would like to model Minneapolis bathhouses after those that "currently exist in cities like San Francisco and Chicago" and serve "as spaces that advance health equity goals." He pointed out that in San Francisco, they provided free monkeypox vaccines.

It's rare and lovely to see politicians acknowledge that banning legal venues for vice won't magically make them go away—and that shutting down such spaces may have had unintended consequences.

"LGBTQIA+ gathering spaces, including bathhouses, have long been targeted by criminalization and policing, and our communities have paid a devastating price for that," said Jason Chavez, Minneapolis City Council member and co-author of the bathhouse ordinances, on Instagram. "For too long, the 1988 ban has driven sex-related gatherings underground and away from a public health approach. We can do better."

Bathhouses as Queer Community Spaces

Whatever happens with these ordinances, the fact that explicitly sexual bathhouses are back on the table—not just in somewhere like San Francisco but a solidly Midwestern city—seems noteworthy.

It's a bit like someone launching a (human-staffed) phone sex business or an in-real-life peep show. It feels outrageously analogue…and maybe that's the point?

At a moment when the digital and the artificial are seeping into everything, including relationships and sexuality, the bathhouse as an old-fashioned gathering space feels quaint and almost wholesome.

And at a time when conservative attacks on LGBTQ content, communities, and art forms are seeing some renewed vigor, staking out physical space that's not just queer-coded but unambiguously sexual seems ballsy (no pun intended) and subversive in the best way.

Even if the proposal goes nowhere, it should be fun to see how heads are going to roll and hands are going to wring over this.

But beyond that, the Minneapolis bathhouse ordinances could actually provoke an important conversation. What role did anti-LGBTQ sentiment play in shutting down these places in the first place? What did the anti-bathhouse crusaders get wrong (and right?) about public health? What does it look like to create safe spaces for any sort of sexuality in the public sphere?

Sunday, February 15, 2026

Fire-footed rope squirrels identified as a natural reservoir for monkeypox virus

A cross-species transmission event documented in Côte d’Ivoire provides new insights into the spread of mpox in the wild

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

Mpox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV) that can lead to severe illness in humans. It regularly spills over from wildlife to humans in West and Central Africa, and some of these spillovers have recently sparked large global outbreaks sustained by human-to-human transmission. In order to prevent such outbreaks effectively, it is crucial to gain a thorough understanding of how the virus circulates in wildlife and what triggers spillover events.

A deadly outbreak among mangabeys

For decades, the researchers now at HIOH have worked closely with the Taï Chimpanzee Project to monitor the health of wild chimpanzees, sooty mangabeys and other wildlife in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire — a long-term commitment that proved essential to detecting this transmission event. In early 2023, the team identified an outbreak of mpox in a well-studied group of sooty mangabeys: About one third of the group showed clinical signs of disease, and four infants died.

Viral genome sequencing revealed that the virus detected in the infected monkeys was nearly identical to an MPXV strain identified in a fire-footed rope squirrel found dead 12 weeks earlier nearby. In an attempt to link both observations, the team analyzed fecal samples from the mangabeys, seeking evidence of pre-outbreak MPXV circulation and contact between the host species. One sample collected eight weeks before the outbreak onset contained DNA from both the virus and the rope squirrel, providing strong evidence of interspecies transmission at this moment. Behavioral data supported these findings. Sooty mangabeys from this group have already been observed catching and eating fire-footed rope squirrels, which provides a direct route for the transmission of viruses.

Squirrels under suspicion: now confirmed

Squirrels have long been suspected as potential reservoirs for MPXV. The first isolation of the virus from a wild animal was from a rope squirrel (Funisciurus anaerythrus) captured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1985. In 2003, imported squirrels infected with MPXV were also among the rodents suspected to have been the source of an mpox outbreak in pet prairie dog owners in the US. Yet, these animals had never been shown to be directly responsible for an outbreak in another species in nature. The new study is a breakthrough that starts unveiling how the pathogen circulates in the wild.

What this means for human health

As hunting pressure has reduced populations of larger game species, rodents such as squirrels are increasingly hunted and consumed by humans, which likely heightens the risk of human exposure and zoonotic transmission of MPXV. Therefore, confirming the direct involvement of fire-footed rope squirrels in interspecies transmission carries important public health implications.

“Identifying the animal sources of the virus and the exposure routes that lead to inter-species transmission are key steps towards understanding spillover mechanisms and developing effective prevention measures to mitigate the risk of transmission to humans,” says Livia V. Patrono, one of the senior authors at HIOH.

The authors recommend increasing awareness among people who come into contact with squirrels and other wildlife, such as children. In addition, they call for a deeper understanding of MPXV ecology in reservoir species – especially squirrels – as well as in intermediate hosts, particularly non-human primates, in MPXV-endemic regions, to strengthen evidence-based prevention strategies.

One Health approach more relevant than ever

The findings underscore the importance of a One Health approach that recognizes the links between human, animal, and environmental health. “This discovery was only possible thanks to long-term ecological research, continuous health monitoring and systematic sample collection in the Taï National Park,” says Fabian Leendertz, senior author, director of HIOH and co-director of the Taï Chimpanzee Project. “We need to maintain and expand this kind of effort to better understand and hopefully reduce the risks posed by emerging infectious diseases, including mpox – we need to strengthen prevention.”

Josef Penninger, Scientific Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, adds: “This study also highlights the value of close cooperation with our African partners. Only through strong, trust-based collaborations with local authorities and research institutions can we effectively tackle zoonotic diseases and make an impact, not just regionally, but globally.”

Study information:

The study was carried out in collaboration with an international team of researchers from the following institutions:

Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Université Peleforo Gon Coulibaly Korhogo, Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire
Senckenberg Museum for Natural History Görlitz, Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, Germany
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Greifswald–Insel Riems, Germany
Dresden University of Technology, Germany
Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
Institute of Cognitive Sciences, CNRS UMR5229, University of Lyon, France
German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny d’Abidjan-Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
University of Greifswald, Germany
University Medicine Greifswald, Germany

Within the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, the study involved scientists from the research groups “Ecology and Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases”, “Evolutionary Community Ecology”, and “Pathogen Evolution”.

This press release is also available on our website: https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/media-center/newsroom/news-detail/fire-footed-rope-squirrels-identified-as-a-natural-reservoir-for-monkeypox-virus/.

Further information:

Fire-footed rope squirrels identified as a natural reservoir for monkeypox virus – HIOH News

Homepage of the Taï Chimpanzee Project

Helmholtz Institute for One Health:

The Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) is dedicated to interdisciplinary research on the interrelationships between human, animal and environmental health. HIOH’s goal is a better understanding of zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and the evolution of pathogens as a prerequisite for successful pandemic preparedness and prevention. In accordance with the One Health approach, according to which the health of humans, animals and environment is to be regarded as an inseparable whole, HIOH unites a variety of scientific disciplines and research foci under one roof. www.helmholtz-hioh.de/en

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research:

Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and its other sites in Germany are engaged in the study of bacterial and viral infections and the body’s defense mechanisms. They have a profound expertise in natural compound research and its exploitation as a valuable source for novel anti-infectives. As member of the Helmholtz Association and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) the HZI performs translational research laying the ground for the development of new treatments and vaccines against infectious diseases. www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en

Journal

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-025-10086-y