Now is Not the Time for Funding Pauses, Cutting Ties With Health Organizations
Image credit: Cristian Rojas, Pexels This is the first in a series looking at the intersection of the federal government and public health and how the former greatly influences the latter. Until 2001, the only biocontainment unit in the country was located at the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort […]
GAFFI Continues Efforts to Raise Awareness and Improve Fungal Diagnostic Capabilities
Fungal infections affect over 1 billion people globally, causing an estimated 11.5 million life-threatening infections and more than 1.5 million deaths annually. Despite their impact, fungal diseases remain under-recognized and underfunded in global health. In response, the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) launched the “95-95 by 2025” initiative, aiming to diagnose and treat […]
Intravenous Antimicrobials: Is It Time to Push?
Intravenous (IV) push is an attractive option to administer antimicrobial therapy to patients in an efficient and effective manner in a variety of clinical settings. While many advantages to IV push administration exist, clinicians should be mindful of available literature regarding safety profiles, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic characteristics, and clinical data for IV push antimicrobial administration prior to […]
Tackling Soil-Transmitted Helminths with New Drug Combinations
Alejandro Krolewiecki, MD, director of innovation at Mundo Sano and principal investigator of the STOP2030 project, is leading a project to develop more effective tools for controlling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), specifically soil-transmitted helminths (STH) in northwestern Argentina. The team is testing a combination of albendazole and ivermectin, which shows better efficacy against several STH […]
FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Wegmans Chicken Nuggets
The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for frozen, fully cooked Wegmans breaded chicken breast nuggets that may be contaminated with extraneous material, specifically bone fragments. The agency is issuing a public health alert to ensure that consumers are aware that this product should not […]
Vaxart’s Oral COVID-19 Vaccine Moves Forward After Positive Safety Review
James F Cummings Image credits: Vaxart Vaxart, Inc announced that an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) has reviewed the initial 30-day safety data from a sentinel cohort of 400 participants in its Phase 2b COVID-19 vaccine trial. The DSMB has recommended that the trial proceed without modifications, signaling a positive safety profile for the […]
How Oropouch Fever is Impacting Brazil
A midge up-close. Image credit: Florida Environmental Pest Management Oropouche fever, a disease caused by Oropouche virus has increasingly caused international concern in recent months, drawing attention to emerging infectious diseases and arboviruses. Spread by infected biting midges and occasionally mosquitoes, this disease has primarily occurred in Central and South America, as well as the […]
FDA Decisions to Watch Q1-Q2: Infectious Disease
CHIKV VLP PDUFA Date: 2/14/2025 Company: Bavarian Nordic The CHIKV VLP vaccine is a single-dose vaccine aimed at preventing chikungunya virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause fever and debilitating joint pain. If approved, this will be the first and only VLP-based vaccine for chikungunya available in the US The vaccine is being […]
State of Kansas Reports Country’s Largest Tuberculosis Outbreak
This is a medical illustration of drug-resistant, Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, presented in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publication entitled, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2019 (AR Threats Report). Illustrator credit: Alissa Eckert; James Archer The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is reporting a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in the […]
Immune Deficits in Some Valley Fever Patients Hinder Response to Antifungal Treatment
Valley fever, caused by Coccidioides fungi, remains a serious concern, particularly in regions like California and Arizona. Antifungal treatments are effective for many patients, but for others, they’re not enough. George Thompson, MD, professor of infectious disease at UC Davis Medical Center, sheds light on this issue and the ongoing research efforts to better understand […]
