Respiratory Infections News

As the COVID-19 pandemic heads into its 4th year, it is a good time to reflect on strides made for those with mild-to-moderate disease not requiring hospitalization.

What drew me to infectious diseases was the potentially enormous impact it has — not only on individuals but on societies.

Children were twice as likely as adults to test positive for influenza and more likely to be hospitalized for influenza this season, according to data published in MMWR.

A survey of U.S. adults who are vaccinated against COVID-19 found that many of them have not received a bivalent booster shot because they either do not know they are eligible for one or are unaware the shots exist.

The optimal duration of antibiotic therapy has been a matter of some debate, and increasingly, research is showing that shorter durations are just as effective as longer courses for many infections.

Moderna announced Tuesday that its RNA-based respiratory syncytial virus vaccine has met primary endpoints in a phase 3 trial showing that the vaccine is both safe and highly effective in older adults.

Children hospitalized with COVID-19 who had a secondary viral infection like respiratory syncytial virus or rhinovirus were around twice as likely to have severe respiratory illness, a study found.

A population-based survey of U.S. adults who previously reported having COVID-19 showed a high burden of long COVID, with some reporting symptoms more than 12 months after their initial infection.

Health officials said a safety signal detected by a national surveillance system is “very unlikely” to represent a “true clinical risk” for stroke among older people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent COVID-19 booster.

Prior metformin use was associated with better survival rates among people with diabetes within 3 months of being hospitalized with pneumonia, a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases found.