As a disease outbreak reaches its peak, people around the world ask for any news on a vaccine. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen throughout history, those vaccines aren’t simple discoveries. Years of research and testing go into vaccine development.

Take the Zika virus for example.

The 2016 epidemic coincided perfectly with the Rio Olympics, with many worried that the virus would make its way around the world. Now, years after the height of the outbreak, we have a breakthrough in Zika prevention.

That’s because last month a potential Zika vaccine prevented the virus in mice.

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Wuhan, a city in China, has had an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia virus that has affected many people. After looking into the situation, Chinese officials have now discovered 59 cases of the virus, with seven patients critically ill.

In response to the mysterious outbreak, neighboring countries are taking precautions. Among others, both Hong Kong and Singapore are showing extra caution with people from Wuhan city.

Hong Kong has been careful of who they let through their borders and keeping reporters in the loop of any cases in China. Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control has also taken precautions during the outbreak in Wuhan by keeping people up to date on what’s happening.

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Thanks to a vaccine that’s widely-accessible, hepatitis A has been a preventable disease for years. And yet, cases of hep A have been soaring across the United States in recent years.

As 2020 begins, New York alone has seen an 800% increase in hepatitis A cases. On top of New York, states like Louisiana, Colorado and much of the Midwest are experiencing outbreaks of hepatitis A.

After years of efforts, why can’t we stop these outbreaks? And what steps can help you stay free of hepatitis A?

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Did you know that there are more than 200 viruses that cause the common cold? Meanwhile, only three known viruses are behind the flu?

Cold and influenza viruses are common contagious illnesses that affect millions every year. Typically, the height of flu season is from October through March, and the cold season is between August and April.

As you can see, some of these months overlap.

So, does that mean you can only be sick with one virus at a time? Or, is it really possible to get sick with both a cold and flu virus simultaneously?

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Even after leaving 2019 behind, we haven’t eliminated all the disease outbreaks in recent years. According to new estimates from the World Health Organization and CDC, “more than 140,000 people died from measles in 2018” worldwide.

The most noteworthy outbreaks have come from the United States and Europe. Although, smaller regions are also struggling with measles.

With a population of under 200,000 people, the southern Pacific island Samoa has been hit with a devastating outbreak of measles. Since October of 2019, there have been nearly 4,900 reported cases of measles. Officials have reported 71 deaths, most of them children under five.

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