Respiratory Infections News

The AAP published guidance on the use of nirsevimab, recommending it for all infants aged younger than 8 months to prevent severe disease from respiratory syncytial virus.

Health care workers who pick their nose were around three times more likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 than those who did not, a small study conducted at two hospitals in the Netherlands found.

Experts said clinicians should consider masking during periods of elevated respiratory viral activity after a study linked pandemic prevention measures to decreases in nosocomial COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.

The EG.5 omicron subvariant has emerged as the predominant SARS-CoV-2 virus during a summer wave of COVID-19 in the Unted States, accounting for 17.3% of cases, according to CDC tracking.

The prevalence of long COVID has declined in the United States among the general population and people with a previously documented case of COVID-19, although many adults still report persistent symptoms, a pair of studies found.

A study of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in 10 Massachusetts school districts found that the secondary attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 among school contacts was low — between 2% and 3% — and that masking reduced the odds of transmission by almost 90%.

Biofilms that form in sink drains and plumbing can host multidrug resistant organisms, but cross-department efforts to sanitize them can limit their spread, according to a study.

The CDC has recommended that infants be immunized with a monoclonal antibody against respiratory syncytial virus.

This fall, older adults in the United States will have the opportunity to receive three vaccines to against fall and winter season respiratory illnesses — COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. 

This coming fall and winter, older adults in the United States will face a decision: Should they roll up their sleeves to receive the world’s first approved vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus?