Browse Infectious Disease Articles by Topic

The Health and Economic Burden of Long COVID in the United States

Researchers using a computational simulation model found that the current health and economic burden of long COVID already exceeds the cost of several chronic diseases and will continue to grow as COVID-19 cases increase.

Influenza and Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy in Children

Of 41 U.S. pediatric patients with influenza-associated acute necrotizing encephalitis, 56% were female, the median age was 5 years, and 12% had underlying complex medical conditions. Influenza A accounted for 95% of cases. Despite the use of a variety of immunomodulating agents, 27% of these children died, and 63% of the survivors were left with at least moderate disability.

Do Gowns Help Prevent Transmission of Respiratory Viruses?

The authors examined various studies to look at the effectiveness of different kinds of gowns and materials in preventing viral infections. The results were mixed, with most studies demonstrating no good evidence that gowning helps in this regard.

Examining Fecal Microbiota Transplant for Primary C. difficile Infection

In a randomized controlled trial conducted in Norway, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was noninferior to vancomycin for the treatment of primary Clostridioides difficile infection, with 66.7% of patients in the FMT group achieving clinical cure without recurrence compared to 61.2% in the vancomycin group over 60 days of follow-up.

Lenacapavir Injection and Tablets (Yeztugo)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved lenacapavir, a potent, first-in-class, capsid inhibitor, for reducing the risk of sexually acquired human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

Updated Recommendations for Drug-Susceptible and Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

The authors provide an update of recommendations for the treatment of tuberculosis, including cases with drug resistance. The recommendations include the use of newer drugs that have undergone clinical trials and shorter durations of therapy.

Restricting Remdesivir in an Immune Era: No Harm, Big Savings

A quasi-experimental, eight-hospital, pre-post restriction of remdesivir to only symptomatic, oxygen-requiring, immunocompromised adults during July 2023 to June 2024 led to a 90% reduction in remdesivir use (37.7% to 4.1%) without any increase in 14- or 28-day all-cause mortality, 30-day readmission, or hospital length of stay. Medium- and high-risk covariate models confirmed no mortality signal, while an intriguing rise in intensive care unit admission and mechanical ventilation use among the few post-intervention recipients was most consistent with residual confounding and confounding by indication (i.e., the sickest patients being channeled to receive therapy). In an era of widespread hybrid immunity from Omicron-descended variants, broad remdesivir formulary restriction can be implemented safely and can yield substantial cost savings without compromising outcomes.

Infectious Disease Updates

Do Gowns Help Prevent Transmission of Respiratory Viruses? How to Assess the ‘Wobble’ in Your IGRA?

Fecal Microbiota Transplant as First-Line Therapy for Primary C. difficile Infection

In a randomized controlled trial conducted in Norway, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was noninferior to vancomycin for the treatment of primary Clostridioides difficile infection, with 66.7% of patients in the FMT group achieving clinical cure without recurrence compared to 61.2% in the vancomycin group over 60 days of follow-up.

In Vitro Activity of Newer Antibiotics Against CREs in the United States

The activity of newer beta-lactam/beta-lactamase combination antibiotics depends on the specific type of carbapenemase carried by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales.