This Week in Infectious Disease: The Top 5 Articles

Catch up on the newest infectious disease studies, drugs, and interviews in Contagion's wrap-up of our most-clicked stories this week.

1. Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Young Women’s Substance Use? Part 1

Studies suggest young women’s substance use is catching up to men's. Tammy Chung, PhD, examined whether this was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Despite 60% Drop in Hepatitis B Treatment Efficacy, GSK Plans to Continue Trials

Initially, 28-29% of patients with chronic hepatitis B achieved undetectable virus levels after 24 weeks of treatment with GSK’s bepirovirsen, but this dropped to 9-10% of patients during a phase 2b trial.

3. Wearing Masks Didn’t Increase Face Touching Among Kids in Simulated School Study

The benefits to children of wearing face masks to prevent COVID-19 outweigh potential infectious risks from face touching, according to a study analyzing hand-to-face contact in a simulated school environment.

4. FDA Fast-Tracks Codagenix RSV Vaccine Candidate

The intranasal, live-attenuated vaccine CodaVax-RSV was granted FDA Fast Track designation. Clinical trials are expected to launch soon.

5. Novel Inhibitor for Treating Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19

Frontier Biotechnologies reported phase 1 trial data for its investigational therapy, FB2001, for patients exposed to the virus.