Top in ID: COVID-19 boosters, Johnson & Johnson HIV vaccine

Booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be offered to all fully vaccinated Americans beginning Sept. 20, according to an announcement from the Biden administration. It was the top story in infectious disease last week.

Another top story was about recent trial results that showed Johnson & Johnson’s investigational HIV vaccine did not provide sufficient protection for women.

Read these and more top stories in infectious disease below:

‘Train has left the station’ on COVID-19 boosters, despite questions

As COVID-19 continues to surge in the United States, there has been an increase in hospitalizations, deaths and capacity issues at hospitals across the country. Read more.

Experimental HIV vaccine does not protect women

Johnson & Johnson’s investigational HIV vaccine did not provide sufficient protection against HIV infection among women enrolled in the phase 2b Imbokodo trial in sub-Saharan Africa, the company and the NIH said Tuesday. Read more.

Black patients have highest rate of flu-associated hospitalization in US

Over the course of 10 influenza seasons from 2009-2010 through 2018-2019, Black patients had the highest rate of influenza-associated hospitalization in the United States, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open. Read more.

‘Perfect storm’: Some health care-associated infections spiked during pandemic

The incidence of some health care-associated infections increased significantly in 2020 due to pandemic-related disruptions, according to U.S. data reported in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. Read more.

Challenge study demonstrates women experience worse flu outcomes

A challenge study demonstrated that women are more likely than men to be symptomatic and have more symptoms of influenza. Read more.