Respiratory Infections News

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?

One in six toddlers in the United States did not complete the vaccination series for seven recommended childhood vaccines in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

Infectious diseases physician Jeanne M. Marrazzo, MD, MPH, will be the next director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the NIH announced Wednesday.