Top in ID: STD testing, global flu decline

Researchers reported that STD cases have fallen below the 2020 projections amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the top story in infectious disease last week.

Another top story was about a global decline in influenza due to COVID-19 prevention efforts.

Read these and more top stories in infectious disease below:

Pandemic-related declines in testing, ‘sexual distancing’ cause dip in reported STDs

After hitting record highs for years before the COVID-19 pandemic, reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis dipped below projections for 2020 in the United States, researchers reported. Read more.

Efforts to prevent COVID-19 led to global decline in flu

Interventions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission have led to a global decline in influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers reported in MMWR. Read more.

Ex-CDC director Frieden: Vaccine ‘not going to take COVID-19 off the table’

Former CDC director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, said the world will need more than a COVID-19 vaccine to end the pandemic. Read more.

V114 pneumococcal vaccine noninferior to PCV13 in adults, phase 3 studies show

Merck’s investigational V114 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine — which includes 15 serotypes — is noninferior to the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine currently on the market for adults, the company announced in a press release. Read more.

IDSA partners with CDC to create COVID-19 website for clinicians

The Infectious Diseases Society of America launched a COVID-19 website for frontline clinicians that includes information curated by a multidisciplinary team of experts. Read more.