A killer flu outbreak isn’t just a developing-world nightmare. The influenza virus is so adaptable that the West is as vulnerable as anywhere else. This program outlines the history of influenza and explores current research into what...

Lurking in stagnant pools and muddy watering holes, the guinea worm easily gets into the food chain—and, because it is frighteningly invulnerable to stomach acids and the human immune system, it is next to impossible to remove from the...

Uganda is at a turning point in its fight against malaria. In Kampala’s Mulago hospital, a staggering percentage of admissions are due to malaria and it is the highest cause of death amongst patients. The parasite is becoming resistant...

This film provides a glimpse into the work being done in Malaysia, Sri Lanka & China to tackle Japanese encephalitis. In Malaysia we look at innovative diagnostic work in Malaysia and in Sri Lanka at the development of a vaccine that...

Among the research and funding experts of the global health community, the “Big Three” diseases are AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. As urgent as it is to fight these illnesses, many others also need attention and aren’t getting it....

This program travels to Zambia and Papua New Guinea to explore the anti-HIV fight in those countries, where poverty and lack of education amplify the crisis. Zambia-born Agetha Lloyd, an HIV therapist, describes her WHO-backed campaign...

More and more drug-resistant strains of Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria (Hib) have emerged in recent years, and the consequences of late or no treatment are devastating. The microbe is estimated to cause at least 3 million cases...

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne infection, which affects some 50 million people annually. It is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, South America, the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific. This...

Thriving in more than 50 developing countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, trachoma is the leading cause of blindness in the world. It is at its worst in rural communities and women are its favourite victims. Trachoma is a bacterium that...

While mosquito-borne diseases like malaria emerge from stagnant ponds and puddles, it is fast-running water, in conjunction with the blood-sucking black fly, that creates a breeding ground for river blindness. Black flies carry a...

Many people in Britain now fear hospitalization almost as much as injury or illness, due to a rising rate of hospital-related staph infections. This program examines the threat posed by MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus...

After nearly disappearing from much of the world, the measles virus is on the rise. This program journeys to Tajikistan, where the collapse of the health care system established under Soviet rule led to a hiatus in disease vaccination....

Estimated to infect about one-fifth of the world’s population, worm parasites are especially destructive in poor, rural areas of the developing world. This program focuses on the hookworm, a particularly stealthy and resilient invader...

Despite its amorous nickname, the vinchuca, or “kissing bug,” actually gives its sleeping victims a malevolent bite—sucking blood and transmitting a microscopic parasite called Tripanisoma cruzi. The microbe, in turn, produces Chagas...

GlaxoSmithKline’s new rotavirus vaccine can potentially save children across the globe from fatal diarrhea. This program guides viewers through the medicine’s development process, and examines the highly unconventional way it is being...

Although it is rarely fatal in wealthy countries, pneumonia kills more children each year than any other infectious disease. This program explains why the pneumococcus bacterium has run rampant in the underdeveloped world, and explores...

Striking in areas where vaccines tend to be out of reach, the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami produced fears of an immediate cholera epidemic. But one district in southern India showed the world how to defy the odds—clearing contaminated...

This year alone, eight million people will become infected with tuberculosis. Like the common cold, TB spreads through the air when sufferers cough, sneeze, spit, or just talk. One needs only to inhale a few germs to catch it. This...

When polio vaccines were first developed, many experts thought the disease would be fully eradicated within decades. Tragically, as this film shows, it has survived in places like Afghanistan and northern Nigeria. These locations are...

Virtually every child in the world, rich or poor, is infected early in life by a vicious bug called rotavirus. The lucky ones show no symptoms—they simply become immune. Others develop severe diarrhea. Given the best medicine, the...

It is estimated that every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria. Medicines continue to be the main tool in fighting it—but, with growing resistance to existing drugs, there is an urgent need to discover new ones and distribute them at...

Lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-borne parasitic disease commonly known as elephantiasis, results in massive swelling of the limbs and genitals, leading to severe disability. Over 40 million people are seriously incapacitated and...

Kala-azar, the common name for visceral leishmaniasis, is characterized by irregular bouts of fever, substantial weight loss, swelling of the spleen and liver, and anemia. If left untreated it is almost certainly fatal. This program...

This program travels to Cambodia, where 1 in 10 people carry hepatitis B, a major cause of liver cancer. Mothers often transmit the virus to their babies during childbirth, and children can pass the infection to each other through even...