infectious disease: Media

Videos

The difference between bacteria and viruses
Knowing the difference isn't just a technical distinction—it can save lives.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Why is it so hard to fight tuberculosis?
Learn why tuberculosis is still a threat to the human population.
Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
How did the polio vaccine change the world?
Learn how the polio vaccine, whose original formulation was announced by Jonas Salk...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Why don't flu shots always work?
Learn about the search for a universal flu vaccine.
Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

MRSA and neutrophil
Four methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria (purple)...
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Chlamydia
A Pap smear specimen showing the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, the cause...
Laboratory of Dr. Lance Liotta/National Cancer Institute
Epidemic typhus and Rickettsia prowazekii
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii,...
© CNRI/Science Source
Herpes zoster
Blisters characteristic of herpes zoster (shingles) shown on the neck and shoulder.
John Pozniak
SARS-CoV-2
An image taken with a scanning electron microscope shows SARS-CoV-2 (in orange),...
Courtesy, NIAID/RML
Viral disease researchers Hilary Koprowski and Herald R. Cox
Hilary Koprowski (left) and Herald R. Cox, researchers in the field of viral diseases,...
Bettmann/Getty Images
Ethnic Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan
Refugees from Kyrgyzstan waiting in a refugee camp near the village of Erkishlok,...
Anvar Ilyasov—AP/Shutterstock.com
Tetanus
Clostridium tetani bacteria, the cause of tetanus.
© KATERYNA KON—Science Photo Library/Getty Images
White blood cell
A neutrophil, a type of white blood cell (in blue), interacts with pneumonia bacteria...
David Dorward, Ph.D.—National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Polio vaccine
A health care worker giving a polio vaccine to a child in Katsina state, Nigeria,...
Alford Williams/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Vaccination
Army personnel working with a Gabonese woman and her child at a medical clinic that...
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
COVID-19 vaccine
Should employers be able to mandate vaccinations?
© Scaliger/Dreamstime.com
Gram-negative bacteria such as Neisseria meningitidis are a common cause...
© Ilexx/Dreamstime.com

Interactives

Vaccines by the numbers
Interactive chart displaying lives saved or birth rate increase from vaccines.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Vaccine timeline
An interactive timeline on the development of vaccines.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. / Lucia Barnum