With the Rise of COVID-19 Vaccines, a Greater Public Mistrust of Immunizations Has Taken Hold
One of the biggest lingering effects that has arisen from the pandemic is vaccine hesitancy and antivaccine beliefs. What started out as a major achievement with the development of new vaccines to protect against COVID-19 in record time, morphed into disinformation and misinformation campaigns about the COVID-19 vaccines and expanded the public’s already existing mistrust […]
EU Approval Progress and Global Access
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended the approval of Capvaxive (Pneumococcal 21-valent Conjugate Vaccine) for adults 18 and older to prevent invasive disease and pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The European Commission (EC) is expected to review the recommendation, with a final decision anticipated by Q2 […]
Improving TB Detection and Treatment in Uganda Through Household Screening and Sputum Monitoring
Pulmonary Tuberculosis Chest X-ray : interstitial infiltration at left upper lung due to Mycobacterium Tuberculosis infection Image credits: Unsplash A pilot project in Uganda, running from November 2023 to September 2024, sought to address the challenges of suboptimal tuberculosis (TB) case finding and preventive treatment (TPT) coverage among household contacts (HHCs) of individuals with pulmonary […]
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 […]
