Infectious Disease Frontier

Dr. Petek Eylül Taneri, MD, PhD has led a landmark study published in JAMA Network Open, setting a new standard for neonatal sepsis research. The Neonatal Sepsis Core Outcome Set (NESCOS) is a global consensus that defines the key outcomes to be measured in all future studies on neonatal sepsis, ensuring consistency, comparability, and impact.

Dr. Abdullah Tarik Aslan, alongside his colleagues, has led an important multinational, multicenter cohort study investigating the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients receiving piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP) with either vancomycin (VAN) or teicoplanin (TEI).

New insights highlight integrons as key players in the dissemination of beta-lactamase (BL) genes, driving resistance to carbapenems and other beta-lactams. A review of 1981 integrons from clinical and environmental settings shows their role in capturing and spreading BL genes across multiple bacterial genera, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa as the most frequent host.

A new meta-analysis in Journal of Infection examines how CT and MRI have influenced brain abscess diagnosis and treatment, analyzing data from 21,840 patients between 1980 and 2022. The findings show that brain abscess remains more common in men, with Streptococcus spp. (32%), Staphylococcus spp. (14%), and Gram-negative bacteria (9%) as the leading pathogens. Key risk factors include otitis/mastoiditis (27%), immunocompromise (19%), and sinusitis (16%).

A phase 1b clinical trial by a valuable team of researchers explores the safety, immunogenicity, and optimal dosing of MVA-MERS-S, a modified vaccinia Ankara-based candidate vaccine for MERS-CoV.

Adherence to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains a challenge among young women in sub-Saharan Africa, despite its proven effectiveness in preventing HIV. A landmark study led by Dr. Jennifer Velloza (University of California, San Francisco) evaluates innovative interventions to improve PrEP adherence in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases by Stijn Raven, PhD, Marloes Heijne, PhD, Jeroen Koomen, PhD, and colleagues reports an outbreak of avian Chlamydia abortus causing severe respiratory illness. Three family members were hospitalized with pneumonia, one requiring intensive care. Wild bird exposure was identified as a probable source, with human-to-human transmission also considered. Retrospective analysis found ten similar historical cases, including one fatality. Findings highlight the need for surveillance of this emerging zoonotic threat.

A recent study published in Gut offers groundbreaking insights into colorectal cancer (CRC), revealing that the disease may persist in a state of chronic, unresolved inflammation, akin to a poorly healing wound. Researchers utilized advanced techniques, including lipidomics, single-cell, and spatial transcriptomics, to identify a critical imbalance within the tumor microenvironment.

A recent study published in BMJ Thorax highlights significant changes in the landscape of pneumococcal pneumonia among adults hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) over the past decade. The data, drawn from a prospective cohort of over 5,000 patients, reveals that the proportion of CAP cases caused by pneumococcus has nearly doubled, rising from 36.4% in 2013 to 66.9% in 2023. Notably, serotype 3 has become the dominant strain, increasing from 13.4% to 48.8% during the same period.

Antimicrobial resistance remains one of the biggest threats to global health. A recent study published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection evaluates the in vitro activity of cefepime-enmetazobactam, a novel β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combination, against carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative pathogens.