Air pollution is a well-known risk factor for respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, its contribution to lower respiratory infections —those that affect the lower respiratory tract, including the lungs, bronchi and alveoli—is less well documented, especially in adults.

In just a decade, the drug-resistant fungal pathogen Candida auris (C. auris) has emerged as one of the most formidable threats to health care settings worldwide. Nowhere in the United States is this threat more pronounced than the New York-New Jersey (NY-NJ) metro area, which accounts for nearly 20% of the nation’s cases.

In a new case study, researchers from North Carolina State University found that a family suffering from illnesses that included neurological symptoms were co-infected with both several Bartonella species and Babesia divergens-like MO-1. The study presents more evidence of these co-infections in humans and further support for stealth Babesia and Bartonella pathogens as a cause or cofactor in neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms.