More New Zealanders are using the internet to research their medical woes - and some are using their findings to treat themselves rather than visit a doctor.

At least 20 people in California, most of them children, have been infected by a rare polio-like disease, which doctors have yet to identify conclusively.

Public health authorities are working to prevent a measles outbreak after 19 students from an Auckland high school contracted the disease.

An Auckland biotech company has suspended a human trial of an experiment Parkinson's disease treatment following the retraction of previous animal research.

When Louis Corbett's parents were told their young son was losing his sight they asked him what he'd like to do before his vision was completely gone.

The Ministry for Primary Industries says it may never know the origin of a neurological strain of equine herpes which has so far killed seven thoroughbred horses.

A neurological strain of equine herpes has struck in New Zealand for the first time - killing six thoroughbred horses and infecting six others.

Twenty people have died following a deadly outbreak of the bubonic plague, medical experts on the island of Madagascar have confirmed.

Auckland biotechnology firm Living Cell Technologies has got the green light to continue human trials of its regenerative cell therapy for Parkinson's disease.

Expect to hear that baleful high hum above your bed more often this summer - a mild winter has meant mosquitoes are likely to be out in force.

The parents of a young man who died of meningococcal C are "outraged with grief" at the many deaths that could have been prevented by mass vaccination.

Kane Fannin took his two young children to the beach yesterday, a seemingly ordinary excursion in the school holidays.

Kimberley Jane Dark has made it clear that she doesn't want to be kept alive with a feeding tube.

As millions of Muslim pilgrims prepare to converge on holy sites in Saudi Arabia this [northern] autumn, the global health community is anxiously monitoring an outbreak of a respiratory virus known as Mers.

Britain is set to become the first country in the world to allow a controversial IVF technique that produces embryos with DNA from three people in an attempt to rid some affected families of serious genetic disorders.

Judy-Anne Osborn asks "Could a dire new infection sweep the world in a matter of weeks? Might the disease be so strange it alters the behaviour of people beyond recognition, making them predatory and fearless?"

Lance and Jennifer Gravatt will use their family's health board payment, made after the death of their son, to help their new business that aims to supply a cheaper vaccination for the disease that killed Zachary.

Nasie Bayley has such a rare condition in her digestive system doctors consulted leading international specialists before operating.

Alan Perrott talks to people with the inside track on what’s out to get us and finds out how that knowledge affects their daily lives.

Just one in 20 people wash their hands for long enough to kill harmful germs after using the loo - and guess who are the worst culprits?

Early childhood centres are feeling the effects of the community outbreak of a severe strain of hand, foot and mouth disease.

Doctors are being put on alert over a severe strain of hand, foot and mouth disease after some children were admitted to hospital.

Targeting parents whose kids' vaccinations are not up to date will save lives, federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says.

Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.