'Vampire bacteria' with a thirst for human blood might be lurking in your body

Vampires are spooky, bacteria can be scary… and when you put them together? Things get a bit spooky scary.

New research published earlier this year reveal that some bacteria actually act like vampires . That is, they thirst for human blood and will feed on it when the chance arrives.

Dr. Arden Baylink of Washington State University , the lead author of the study, joined Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast to explain.

The reason that we titled our study, you know… or introduced this term of ‘bacterial vampirism’ is that, … we made this discovery that the bacteria swim towards blood, and they eat it,” he said. “And we just thought that, you know, that this was just a really fascinating behavior that people hadn't seen before.”

Listen to the full episode to learn what bacteria fits the vampire description, how common it is to get infected with it and what type of studies Dr. Baylink and his team are planning in the future.

Each week, “ Something Offbeat ” takes a deeper look at an unusual headline. If you have suggestions for stories the podcast should cover, send them to us at somethingoffbeat@audacy.com.