VIDEO: Top ID developments in past year
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SAN DIEGO — Some of the biggest developments in infectious diseases in the past 12 months involve a promising treatment for COVID-19, a universal influenza mRNA vaccine candidate and the emergence of vaccine-derived polio, a speaker said.
Col. Heather C. Yun, MD, FACP, USAF, deputy commander for medical services at Brooke Army Medical Center, gave an overview of her presentation at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.
Specifically, she mentioned a randomized controlled study that looked at pegylated interferon lambda as an early treatment for COVID-19.
Although the treatment is not yet available, “it’s promising because it has broad antiviral activity,” Yun explained.
She also discussed a potential universal influenza vaccine based around messenger RNA technology, which showed promise in animal models. Yun said the findings are part of “a renaissance of ID research that is based on some of the advances that were developed out of COVID.”
Yun also pointed to the detection of vaccine-derived polio in New York as another significant development — one that reinforces the importance of wastewater surveillance and the need to boost vaccination rates.
References:
- Arevalo CP, et al. Science. 2022;doi:10.1126/science.abm0271.
- Reis G, et al. N Engl J Med. 2023;doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2209760.
- Yun HC. Update in infectious diseases. Presented at: ACP Internal Medicine Meeting; April 27-29, 2023; San Diego.
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