Inside the Suit: An immersive walk through a BSL-4 lab Step inside a BSL-4 lab in this immersive podcast episode. Experience high-containment science, biosafety systems, and what it really feels like inside the suit.

What does it actually feel like to step inside a BSL-4 lab?
My new episode puts you inside the suit, on air, moving through the space.

No interviews. No narration breaks. Just the experience.

🎧Now Live!
Headphones recommended
infectiousdose.com/post/inside-...

#InfectiousDose #BSL4

You’re about to walk into a BSL-4 lab.

Not a tour. Not an explanation.

An experience.

You’ll suit up. Step inside.

Let's go.

Tomorrow night. Midnight CST.
🎧New Episode Drops.

#InfectiousDose #BSL4

The fire’s almost lit. We’re stepping into the world of plague doctors...Tues Midnight CST
If you want the full experience:
🥃 Mix The Miasma
🌿 Pour The Beaked Apothecary
🥖 Bake the hand pies
🍎 Finish with pomander cakes
Then press play.

We’ll meet you after dark.

#InfectiousDose #OutbreakAfterDark

Image of a plague Doctor. Paul Fürst, engraving (coloured), c. 1656, of a plague doctor of Marseilles (introduced as 'Dr Beaky of Rome').

New #OutbreakAfterDark Drops Tues midnight CST:

Boots on stone.
A red cross on your door.
And a figure in black arrives.

🕯️ Plague Doctors
The Bell. The Beak. The Mark.

Science, Myth, and the System Behind the Mask.
#InfectiousDose

#LongCovidAwarenessWeek #LongCovid #PublicHealth #EvidenceBasedMedicine #HealthEquity #InfectiousDose #ChronicAllies #CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotMild

I’ve spent years focused on correcting misinformation with accurate science, but what if some misinformation starts inside the institutions we trust most?

A conversation with biomedical researcher @mark-ungrin.bsky.social gave me some insight.

New #InfectiousDose episode Tues. night midnight CST

Love Bites: Microbes That Hijack Infection From zombie ants to Toxoplasma gondii, this Outbreak After Dark episode explores parasites that manipulate love, fear, and mating—and what that means for humans.

🎧NOW LIVE
It’s not a love story.
It’s a transmission strategy.
Parasites that hijack fear.
Viruses that sabotage courtship.
Fungi that demand altitude.

🎙️Love Bites: Microbes That Hijack Affection, is live. #InfectiousDose #OutbreakAfterDark
www.infectiousdose.com/post/love-bi...

Love isn’t always what it seems.
Sometimes it’s hijacked by microbes.
🐭 Mice flirting w/ cats
🐜 Ants climbing to their doom
🦠 Viruses rewriting profiles
Tomorrow night, Midnight CST. 🔥
Recipes attached.
Make your own & join us!
#InfectiousDose #OutbreakAfterDark

At the Edge of Spillover: The Nipah Paradox Nipah virus is deadly but rarely spreads far. Learn why R₀ stays low, what would trigger a pandemic shift, and why spillover recurs in Kerala.

New episode is live:
At the Edge of Spillover – The Nipah Paradox

High fatality. Neuroinvasion. Human-to-human transmission.
And yet… it burns out.

Why does a virus this formidable fail to go pandemic?

🎧 Listen here: infectiousdose.com/post/nipah-paradox

#InfectiousDose

Nipah virus checks uncomfortable boxes:

• High fatality rate
• Human-to-human transmission
• Neuroinvasion
• Fruit bat reservoir
• No licensed vaccine

So why does it keep burning out?

🎧New episode drops tomorrow at midnight CST.

#InfectiousDose

The Syphilis Surge: Echoes of Betrayal in a Broken Health System Explore the resurgence of syphilis, its public health impact, treatment challenges, and the legacy of mistrust from Tuskegee to today.

Babies are being born with syphilis in 2026.
It’s curable. It’s preventable. And it’s a public health failure.
🎙️ New episode: “The Syphilis Surge: Echoes of Betrayal in a Broken Health System”
Listen here → www.infectiousdose.com/post/syphili...
#InfectiousDose #STIs #Tuskegee

Statement of Ethics | Infectious Dose Statement of ethics for Infectious Dose, explaining why silence is not neutral and why science, public health, and human rights are inseparable.

A brief statement clarifying the ethical boundaries of #InfectiousDose is now live.
www.infectiousdose.com/statement-of...

RSV: Symptoms, Spread, and Prevention RSV explained: symptoms, red flags, treatment, and prevention. What parents and caregivers need to know about this common respiratory virus.

RSV is common. Severe disease doesn’t have to be.

A clear, evidence-based episode on what RSV is, how it spreads, and how we protect infants and families today.

🎧 Now live at #InfectiousDose
www.infectiousdose.com/post/__rsv

Coming up on #InfectiousDose
RSV, explained.

A clear, evidence-based look at what it is, how it spreads, and how we protect against severe disease today.

New episode drops Tuesday night at midnight CST.

#RSV

Sharing the menu early in case anyone wants to cook along. 🕷️🔥
Outbreak After Dark drops at midnight CST.
#InfectiousDose

Eight legs. Endless fear.
Most “spider bites” aren’t bites at all.
A new Outbreak After Dark episode crawls in tomorrow night at midnight CST. 🕷️

#InfectiousDose #OutbreakAfterDark

From Spillover to Weapons: A Conversation with Conor Browne on Biological Threats A biodefense expert explains what biological weapons really are, why most pathogens aren’t weapons, and how misinformation increases real biological risk.

🎙️ Now live: From Spillover to Weapons

A conversation with biorisk expert
@brownecfm.bsky.social
on why clarity matters more than fear for biological threats — natural, accidental, or deliberate.
🎧 Listen on your fav podcast player or here:
#InfectiousDose
www.infectiousdose.com/post/biorisk...

My interview with
@AstroTerry
drops tonight at midnight CST.
Hey Texas, y'all don't want to miss this one.
#InfectiousDose #PublicHealth #Science
infectiousdose.com

🚀An astronaut’s perspective.
🦠A virologist’s lens.
One conversation about why science has to be part of policy decisions.

New episode drops Tuesday at midnight CST.
#InfectiousDose #TerryVirts

New episode of #InfectiousDose drops tomorrow at midnight CST:
We'll look at where flu really is right now — in the U.S. & globally — & why this season matters more than it might seem.

We’ll talk the virus, the disease, the data, & why the vaccine still saves lives every year.

Outbreak After Dark: A Consumption Christmas Carol SummaryThis month’s Outbreak After Dark is a holiday episode — and a heavy one.In A Consumption Christmas Carol, we retell Dickens’ ghost story through the real epidemic that haunted Victorian London:...

It’s live. 🌒
🎄 A Consumption Christmas Carol
Merry Christmas Eve!
This month’s #OutbreakAfterDark retells Dickens’ ghost story through the real epidemic that haunted Victorian London — tuberculosis.
#InfectiousDose #Tuberculosis
www.infectiousdose.com/post/oad-chr...

🚨 New episode drops tomorrow night at midnight
A cancer-preventing vaccine.
A procedural failure at the highest level.
And a reminder that trust can crack—even when the science holds.
This is the story of the Hep B vaccine.
#PublicHealth #Vaccines #HepatitisB
#InfectiousDose

Vaccine Safety 9: The FDA Memo That Betrayed Public Trust — What You Need to Know A leaked FDA memo claimed COVID vaccines caused child deaths. This episode debunks the claim, explains real vaccine safety data, and gives parents evidence-based clarity.

New episode is live!
The FDA Memo That Betrayed Public Trust.
An internal memo claimed COVID vaccines caused pediatric deaths — with no evidence.
I break down what the memo said and why the science still supports protecting kids.
🎧 Listen: www.infectiousdose.com/post/vs9-fda...
#InfectiousDose

🕯️ Spices. Candles. Cleaning rituals. Citrus in stockings.
What if your favorite winter traditions weren’t just cozy,
but accidental tools in the fight against disease?
🎙️ New Infectious Dose episode drops Tues at midnight!
#InfectiousDose #ColdComfort #Microbiology #PublicHealth

A Prescription for Pestilence: The Global Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance Explore how modern medicine, agriculture, global systems and our individual choices fuel drug-resistant microbes. A clear, compelling look at the growing antimicrobial resistance crisis.

New #InfectiousDose episode is LIVE — in recognition of AMR Awareness Week:

A Prescription for Pestilence: The global spread of antimicrobial resistance

How we build superbugs. How they spread. Why this crisis is accelerating.
www.infectiousdose.com/post/a-presc...

New episode drops tomorrow, midnight!
Superbugs aren’t sci-fi villains — we’re cultivating them.
Hospitals are seeing “routine” infections turn untreatable.
Farm use, global travel, broken surveillance… it’s all fueling the rise.
💊🦠🔥
#InfectiousDose #AMRAwarenessWeek

Travel Bugs & Holiday Hugs: Staying Healthy on the Road SummaryHoliday travel is stressful enough without adding surprise stomach bugs or mid-flight fevers to the mix. In this episode of Infectious Dose, we get practical — not paranoid — about staying heal...

🚨 OUT NOW: Travel Bugs & Holiday Hugs🎙️
✨ How to stay healthy on the road without panic, shame, or turning into a hazmat ninja.
• What to pack in your health kit
• RSV, norovirus & long COVID basics
• Airplane air myths
🎧 Listen:
www.infectiousdose.com/post/travel-...
#TravelHealth #InfectiousDose

Home | Infectious Dose Infectious Dose is a science-forward podcast by virologist-turned-science-writer Heather McSharry, PhD, breaking down vaccine myths, viral threats, and public health headlines — one episode at a time.

We survived #MonthoftheMacabre 👻🦠
Can we survive holiday travel season? 😬✈️
New #InfectiousDose drops tomorrow at midnight with practical, calm, science-based tips for staying healthy on the road.

Masks & hand sanitizer at the ready.
www.infectiousdose.com

The #MonthOfTheMacabre ends with an epic debut… 👁️🔥
Welcome to Outbreak After Dark, the new monthly ritual within #InfectiousDose... & I have cohosts! Sam & Kate join me for drinks & snacks & real science that's darker, weirder, & sometimes just gross.
🎧 Ep 1: Ocularium
👇

The Sleep Lecture: A Case of Encephalitis Lethargica A neurologist lectures on encephalitis lethargica—the real “sleepy sickness”—until science and nightmare blur in this Month of the Macabre episode from Infectious Dose.

Now live: The Sleep Lecture
The newest #InfectiousDose #MonthoftheMacabre episode — drifts between science and nightmare.
🔬 Encephalitis lethargica.
💤 Minds that never wake.
Now streaming. 🎧
www.infectiousdose.com/post/the-sle...