Top 5 Infectious Disease News Stories Week of May 18 to May 24
Ceftobiprole Launches Commercially in US Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics, which is a subsidiary of Innoviva, announced its antibiotic, ceftobiprole (Zevtera), is available for prescribing in the US. The antibiotic was approved in April 2024, and now marks the first cephalosporin indicated to treat SAB.1 “The availability of Zevtera in the US marks the introduction of our […]
FDA VRBPAC Makes Recommendations For 2025-2026 Formula for COVID-19 Vaccines
It has been a busy week for FDA-related news. On Tuesday, in an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, and Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), laid out their plan that will change the bar for how COVID-19 […]
Reviewing Real-World Safety and Efficacy Data on C difficile Therapy Rebyota
Fecal microbiota, live-jslm (Rebyota [RBL]), which is indicated for treatment of recurrent C difficile, has been FDA approved for over 2 years now, and with it comes real-world efficacy and safety data. Paul Feuerstadt, MD, FACG, AGAF, associate clinical professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, has been involved with studies around this therapy […]
California Valley Fever Cases Surged in Q1 2025 Compared to Last Year
Central Valley, CA. Image credits: Unsplash In the first quarter of 2025, California reported 3,123 cases of Valley Fever (Coccidioidomycosis), nearly double the 10-year average for this period. This is the highest number reported for Q1 on record, surpassing the previous record of 3,011 cases in 2024. Following a record-breaking year in 2024 with 12,637 […]
How Will the New FDA COVID-19 Vaccine Policy Affect the Pediatric Population?
This is the second piece in a series on the new FDA COVID-19 vaccine policy being proposed. On Tuesday, in an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, and Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), laid out their plan to […]
Moderna Withdraws BLA For its Influenza COVID-19 Combination Vaccine
Moderna announced today it has voluntarily withdrawn the pending BLA for its influenza/COVID-19 combination vaccine candidate, mRNA-1083. The late-stage vaccine was indicated for adults aged 50 years and older.1 This withdrawal comes after the FDA had requested that Moderna provide more data for its vaccine. Specifically, the federal agency requested more phase 3 influenza efficacy […]
FDA Shifts COVID-19 Vaccine Policy, Requires Further Testing
In an article published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, and Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), laid out their plan that will change the bar for how COVID-19 vaccines will be approved going forward. They are […]
Disruption of Natural Ecosystems and Risk of Zoonotic Virus Spillover
Jyothi N Purushotham, PhD Image credits: LinkedIn Holly L Lutz, PhD Image credits: LinkedIn According to a new article published in Immunity, the disruption of natural ecosystems from climate change and human activity is increasing the risk of zoonotic virus spillover. Over the past 20 years, repeated zoonotic outbreaks have exposed limitations in predicting epidemic […]
US Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Whole Cucumbers
In a Salmonella outbreak associated with whole cucumbers, there have been 26 reported cases including 9 hospitalizations across 15 states. There have been no deaths reported.1 According to the CDC, businesses should not sell or serve whole cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce between April 29, 2025 to May 19 […]
Computational Model Maps Over 67,000 Malaria Epitopes to Improve Vaccine Targeting
A new computational pipeline developed at the University of Maryland School of Medicine may help improve malaria vaccine development by addressing two major challenges: the genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum and variability in human immune genes across African populations. The model was presented at the 2025 Annual Conference on Vaccinology Research. The approach uses mixed-integer […]
