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This week's most-read stories included a dive into racial disparities in hepatitis B and increased meningococcal disease in persons with HIV.

The film is part of a GSK campaign, Ask2BSure, that addresses this issue.

Even low levels of air pollution make COVID-19 worse, this study found. Air pollution exposure was associated with more severe disease, longer hospitalization periods, and an increased likelihood of intensive care admission.

The vaccine manufacturer has incorporated spike proteins for the XBB.1.5 sublineage of SARS-CoV-2 for its mRNA-1273.815 COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC reports that during 2020-2021, the mortality rates for COVID-19—associated fungal Infections were significantly higher than non-COVID-19–associated fungal infections.

Older adults should receive the GSK or Pfizer RSV vaccine this fall, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted yesterday. The recommendation is expected to be finalized by CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

Biopharmaceutical company, Vaccitech, has developed its VTP-300 vaccine, and is presenting a poster demonstrating positive early data at the ongoing European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Congress 2023.

Though the drug is initially more expensive, treating C diff infection with fidaxomicin reduced costs overall by reducing CDI recurrences.

A company has developed an intelligence platform for better understanding influenza and other viral trends.

While COVID-19 patients had a higher risk of venous thromboembolic disease compared to influenza and sepsis patients, the risk of other adverse outcomes was comparable.

Competition among species has therapeutic implications, the authors found.

ABNCoV2, a non-adjuvanted COVID-19 booster vaccine by Bavarian Nordic, demonstrates promising results in phase 2 trials. The vaccine generates strong immune responses, neutralizing multiple variants of concern, including Beta, Delta, and Omicron.

In a large observational study, significant information was obtained about protection against acute infection and disease severity in this age group.

This past weekend, vaccine scientist and physician Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, was stalked outside his home after facing online scrutiny from Twitter CEO Elon Musk and controversial podcaster Joe Rogan. His story is severe, but Hotez is far from the first health advocate to be harassed online since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Infants age 2 to 6 months who were perinatally exposed to hepatitis C infection should be tested with a single HCV RNA test for optimal results, a recent study suggests.

Gathering data in the field, especially when it relates to infectious disease may have potentially profound implications for research because it enables scientists to generate valuable data quickly and efficiently without having to be in a laboratory setting.

While African American/Black participants were less likely to meet treatment criteria, treatment receipt did not significantly differ by race, indicating equitable access to treatment.

The agency said that in recent days a few more suppliers initiated a voluntary recall of additional select packages sold at national stores.

The post-hoc gastrointestinal microbiome analyses of recurrent C diff patients from 2 phase 3 studies was shown at the conference.

The differences in unfavorable social determinants of health among Black and White adults explains the differences in premature mortality rates, the study authors wrote.

This week, the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee unanimously voted the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines should be updated to a monovalent XBB strain. Read all about this and other top infectious disease headlines.

The federal agency explains this increase in 2022 was substantial compared to previous years, and recommends this population be up-to-date on vaccines for it.

The vaccine induced seroprotective chikungunya virus neutralizing antibodies in 98.9% of participants, regardless of age, and levels were maintained for up to 180 days.

The first patient was dosed for this open-label trial.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) unanimously voted 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccines should be updated to a monovalent XBB strain.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) CEO says it is important for physicians to move away from this traditional approach to transition to an empathetic style of discussion with patients so they can better relate and help those in need get back on track with their health post-COVID and schedule routine tests and immunizations.

With an estimated 30% of Americans living with a tattoo, the federal agency has developed guidance designed to give manufacturers information and resources to prevent potential health issues.

This model proposes a risk threshold for recommending rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), potentially reducing unnecessary treatments and associated costs.

In phase 3 studies, the company’s investigational therapy, aztreonam-avibactam (ATM-AVI), had favorable results over other treatments used for complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI), hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

"It does take the immune system a while to build up antibodies and recover," said Madeline King-Patel, PharmD, BCIDP, "So you don't want to give the vaccines too close to each other, or you're not going to get the full benefits."