NIH Offers Updated Risk Assessment on Avian Influenza
Three influenza A (H5N1/bird flu) virus particles (rod-shaped; yellow). Note: Layout incorporates two CDC transmission electron micrographs that have been repositioned and colorized by NIAID. Image credit: CDC and NIAID The National Institutes of Health (NIH) updated its risk assessment for highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus (HPAI H5N1) saying the risk to the […]
Updated Tuberculosis Treatment Guidelines
Different TB tests Image credits: Unsplash New clinical practice guidelines for tuberculosis (TB) treatment, based on recent clinical trial data, have been issued by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), US CDC, European Respiratory Society (ERS), and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). These updates apply to both drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB in settings with […]
RSV Vaccine for Immunocompromised Seniors Shows Limited Seroconversion
Andrew Karaba, MD, PhD Image credit: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine A new study highlights limited seroconversion in 2 of the FDA approved RSV vaccines for seniors who are immunocompromised. “Approximately 40% of immunocompromised participants did not seroconvert or achieve a conservative neutralization threshold post-vaccination,” the study authors wrote. 1 The 2 vaccines studied […]
Officials assess threat of H5N1 avian flu
Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus (HPAI H5N1) remains a low risk to the general public, and public health experts in the United States believe that available treatments and vaccines, as well as those in development, are sufficient to prevent severe disease. However, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its federal partners remain […]
Rising Antibiotic Resistance in H pylori Infections Among Children
Helicobacter pylori Image credit: Unsplash A recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in BMC Medicine highlights growing antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infections among children. Led by researchers from Iran’s Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, the study analyzed 63 studies from 28 countries across five World Health Organization (WHO) regions, involving 15,953 […]
Clinician Feedback Reports on Antibiotics Shape Usage in Pediatric Inpatients With Pneumonia
Kathleen Chiotos, MD, MSCE Image credit: CHOP In the United States, there are approximately 2 million outpatient visits related to community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in the pediatric population as well as approximately 124,000 hospitalizations for children, annually.1 And CAP continues to be one of the most common reasons for hospitalizations in this patient group.1 With concerns […]
The first CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) of 2025
CDC logo Image credits: CDC This year’s first CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) highlights two public health concerns in the United States: the largest recorded outbreak of blastomycosis linked to a paper mill in Michigan and a 56% increase in tularemia cases from 2011 to 2022. These findings underscore the need for enhanced […]
Study traces Ebola’s route to the skin surface
Ebola is a deadly hemorrhagic disease caused by a virus that is endemic in parts of East-Central and West Africa. Most people are aware that a primary route for person-to-person transmission is through contact with bodily fluids from an infected person. But more recent outbreaks, including the 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, demonstrated that […]
System to auto-detect new variants will inform better response to future infectious disease outbreaks
Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans — including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and tuberculosis. The new approach uses samples from infected humans to allow real-time monitoring of pathogens circulating in human populations, and enable vaccine-evading bugs to […]
Contagion’s 2024 Top Stories: Hepatitis Infections
There were many news updates in the world of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, and as always, the Contagion team was on top of it all, spending our time keeping you in the know and speaking with experts from major institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and federal agencies who are working together to push medical science forward. […]
