Dermatology News

BOSTON — More women than men presented findings at this year’s Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections — a first for the meeting, according the organizers.

BOSTON — For the first time, at this year’s Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, more women than men presented findings at the meeting, according to CROI Chair Judith S. Currier, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles. The first authors of 537 of the 990 abstracts that were accepted this year were women, she said.

Biosecurity experts have warned that a recent study detailing the replication of horsepox virus could give bioterrorists a blueprint for constructing a smallpox-causing pathogen.

Paratek Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has submitted two new drug applications for once-daily oral and IV formulations of its broad-spectrum antibiotic omadacycline for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, or CABP, and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, or ABSSSIs.

Experts are warning that it is not a matter of if, but when, the next pandemic strikes.

Melinta Therapeutics recently announced that it has fully acquired The Medicines Company’s infectious disease portfolio, making it the world’s largest pure-play antibiotics company, according to a press release.

The field of infectious diseases has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. Breakthroughs in ART have extended the life spans of people living with HIV to near-normal ranges. Polio is on the verge of being eradicated globally. Curative therapies have transformed the treatment of hepatitis C. The growing threat of bacterial resistance has pushed humanity to the brink of a post-antibiotic era.

NEW YORK — While skin and soft tissue infections such as MRSA are decreasing around 3% annually, rates of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, clindamycin and Bactrim resistance are rising, according to a presentation at the Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium.

Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted 8-7 today to recommend the recently approved herpes zoster vaccine, Shingrix, over the only other FDA-approved vaccine, Zostavax.

GlaxoSmithKline recently announced that the FDA has approved the company’s herpes zoster vaccine, Shingrix, for adults aged 50 years and older.