Respiratory Infections News

For years, we have been asking you to tell us why you chose a career in infectious diseases, a specialty whose importance has hardly been more apparent. We continue to be captivated by the stories you tell.

We compiled a list of the 10 most-read Healio | Infectious Disease News articles from 2021.

The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for molnupiravir — now the second oral antiviral treatment available for COVID-19.

A COVID-19 vaccine for young children is “unlikely” to be available before mid or even late 2022, an expert said.

Patients with severe COVID-19 had more than twice the risk for mortality within 12 months of diagnosis compared with those who had mild or moderate disease or were not infected, data showed.

The FDA on Wednesday issued an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Paxlovid, making it the first available oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19.

There have been rare reports of myocarditis and pericarditis among people who have received a COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccine, with cases occurring especially among male adolescents and young adults, according to the CDC.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced new actions to fight the omicron variant, including a promise to purchase 500 million at-home tests and distribute them for free to Americans beginning next month.

After devastating surges in hospitalizations and deaths, many look forward with some relief to the possibility of COVID-19 shifting into an endemic phase, like seasonal influenza.

At this time, it’s unclear whether immunocompromised individuals will need to be boosted with COVID-19 vaccinations at any interval. We currently lack the robust data needed to inform this decision. What is clear, however, is that the immunocompromised need to be treated differently when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination (as is the case with many vaccinations). It has already been shown that they are clearly less likely to respond to standard vaccination regimens and are overrepresented among those with rare breakthrough hospitalizations. These data led to the recommendation that an additional messenger RNA vaccine dose be given to the immunocompromised, extending the primary vaccine series.