Identifying Invasive Pneumococci in Pediatric Infections Utilizing Whole Genome Sequencing
Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a major cause of infections, including pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis, which can severely impact young children. According to the World Health Organization, pneumococcal pneumonia caused 1,189,937 deaths and 197.05 million incidents in 2016, globally. In looking at the mortality, nearly a third—341,029 of these deaths—occurred in children under 5 years of […]
Childhood TB Cases Surge in the EU/EEA
Tb awareness. Image credits: Unsplash In 2023, tuberculosis (TB) cases among children and adolescents in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) increased by 26%, marking the third consecutive year of growth. The latest data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe show that […]
A Late-Stage Tuberculosis Vaccine is Making its Way Through Clinical Trials
Monday, March 24, marks World TB Day, and TB incidence rates continue to pose a significant global health challenge. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10.8 million people contracted TB worldwide in 2023—an increase from 10.6 million in 2021. Additionally, the most recent numbers show TB resulted in 1.25 million deaths in 2023.¹ HIV […]
Top 5 Infectious Disease New Stories Week of March 15-March 22
This week, recent studies include Mandimycin for resistant fungal infections, fluctuating hospital AMR rates, a 6-month HIV treatment, global challenges in hepatitis testing, and the start of a Lassa fever vaccine trial. Source link
How a Prodrug Approach May Aid In Antimalarial Development
Antimalarial treatments continue to face resistance in both Asia and Africa—2 continents devastated by this vector-borne disease. Sesh Sundararaman, MD, PhD, an attending physician with the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), points out that not only is resistance growing with existing artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), but a particular strain […]
New Treatments, HIV Remission Insights, and More
Gilead’s Once Yearly Lenacapavir Formulations Show Sustained Efficacy for HIV PrEP in Phase 1 Study Moupali Das, MD, MPH, presented results from a Phase 1 study of two once-yearly intramuscular (IM) formulations of lenacapavir for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Both formulations demonstrated strong pharmacokinetic profiles, with lenacapavir concentrations sustained above the 95% effective threshold for […]
Large Hospital System Experiences Significant Increases in Candida auris
This is a medical illustration of Candida auris fungal organisms, presented in the CDC publication entitled, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2019. Image Credit: CDC, Stephanie Rossow The Miami-based Jackson Health System, a nonprofit academic medical organization, saw significant increases in the fungal infection Candida auris every year over a 5-year period (2019–2023).¹ […]
Study Highlights Inappropriate Antibiotic Use for UTIs in Asymptomatic Patients
Whitney Hartlage, PharmD Image credits: LinkedIn A new study has examined the limitations of the current definition of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in antimicrobial stewardship and revealed that asymptomatic pyuria and/or nitrituria (ASPN) could serve as a more comprehensive marker for unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in urinary tract infection (UTI) treatment. The study analyzed 249 asymptomatic patients […]
Significance of Screening and Industry’s Response
This month marks the 5 year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 13, 2020, the Trump Administration declares a nationwide emergency. Two days later, states begin to implement shutdown orders and schools began closing. This started an arduous journey through a pandemic that caused significant mortality, and great pain and suffering […]
A New Weapon Against Multidrug-Resistant Fungal Pathogens
Zhuo Shang, PhD Image credits: LinkedIn The rising prevalence of multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens has posed a challenge to medical treatment, emphasizing the need for antifungal agents with novel mechanisms of action. Traditional antifungal drugs, such as amphotericin B, have been used for decades but are becoming less effective due to the emergence of resistant strains […]
