Best advice is simply disinfect with vinegar because it kills it on contact.

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The fungal species Candida auris is spreading across the globe, and gaining in virulence, according to a new review by a Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) scientist and colleagues.

But there are strategies available and underway to combat the invasive and drug-resistant germ, says the work in Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

The paper summarizes and analyzes the latest developments—and needs—in mycology in 2025. Neeraj Chauhan, Ph.D., of the CDI, is co-author with Anuradha Chowdhary, Ph.D., of the Medical Mycology Unit at the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute at the University of Delhi, who is a global leader in identifying and combating fungal threats, and was one of the first scientists to identify C. auris as a major public health threat in India in 2014. Chowdhary is also a visiting researcher at the CDI.

Winter’s chill impacts children’s health, increasing illness and affecting growth due to reduced sunlight, indoor confinement, and dietary shifts. Experts advise parents to prioritize balanced nutrition, adequate sleep, and physical activity. Simple measures like hygiene, vaccinations, and sun exposure are crucial for keeping kids healthy and thriving throughout the colder months.

Wang and Wu et al. identify soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R) as a key exerkine determining the efficacy of exercise in diabetes prevention, which is modulated by microbiome-dependent leucine through a gut-adipose tissue axis. Pharmacological or dietary interventions targeting adipocyte-secreted sIL-6R may help to improve the metabolic outcomes in those exercise non-responders.

Scientists have long suspected that a small population of cells survives treatment and regenerates the tumor. These “cancer stem cells” are thought to resist conventional therapies, allowing the disease to return even after the visible tumor has been removed.

Previous attempts to identify gastric cancer stem cells using other protein markers, such as CD44 or CD133, yielded inconsistent results. These markers often appeared on healthy cells as well or did not fully account for tumor behaviour.

The team discovered that AQP5 reliably marks the cancer stem cells in gastric tumors. Aquaporins are proteins that form channels in cell membranes to control the movement of water into and out of cells. While AQP5 was previously known to mark stem cells in healthy gastric tissue, this study shows it also identifies the specific cells responsible for driving tumor growth, spread, and recurrence.

Importantly, AQP5 does more than simply mark these cells; it actively contributes to their aggressive behavior.

The researchers found that cells with AQP5 were capable of forming new tumors, while cells without AQP5 rarely did so. Most significantly, when they used a targeted method to eliminate only the AQP5-expressing cells, tumors stopped growing or shrank entirely and did not recur. This held true even for cancers that had spread to other organs.

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Scientists have identified the specific cells responsible for gastric cancer’s tendency to return after treatment. The study also demonstrated that eliminating these cells stops tumors from growing, even in advanced disease that has spread to other organs.

This year, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) officially recognized a fifth form of diabetes, after decades of controversy. It’s now urging other health authorities, like the World Health Organization (WHO), to follow suit.

Type 5 diabetes is rarely discussed or researched, and yet it is thought to impact up to 25 million people worldwide, especially those in low-and middle-income nations where access to medical care is limited.

It was first described in 1955 in Jamaica, then forgotten about for many years. Even once it was acknowledged by the WHO in the 1980s, the diagnosis created controversy.