John Parkinson

The latest CDC numbers show a 5.4% increase of measles cases from week-to-week. This year has already become the worst for the number of measles cases in the US since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. With the start of respiratory virus season, case numbers are expected to continue to increase significantly.

A new study in infants challenges the long-standing belief about the pathogen’s effects in the youngest pediatric population. Senior author Joseph Zackular, PhD, provides insights around his work including how it reshapes gut development and offers potential intervention strategies to shield neonates.

In the first episode of our new series looking at the food safety network, Lynette Johnston, PhD, offers insights into how the federal government surveillance infrastructure operates and how epidemiologists serve as food detectives in determining bacterial pathogens and potential foodborne outbreaks.

In this week's top infectious disease stories, a Pennsylvania teen became the state's fourth measles death in weeks, the CDC reported a 17% summer surge in rabies exposure calls, new research revisited whether cefepime raises mortality risk, a multihospital review examined ceftriaxone's safety after state alerts, and examining Legionella pneumonia diagnostics.

The latest CDC numbers show a 5.37% increase of measles cases from week-to-week. In Pennsylvania, the fourth measles-related death was reported in 2026. Additionally, the CDC has made a change in the way it will report deaths.

The 18-year old resident of the state suffered from acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Pennsylvania numbers are surging with some of the highest state totals of measles cases in the country.

In its second disease cluster this summer, city officials are cleaning building towers in the South Bronx amidst an ongoing investigation and are rolling out measures to prevent future Legionnaires' cases.

The death was reported in Jefferson County where the coroner released a statement announcing it was in an unvaccinated woman.

Food expert Lynette Johnston, PhD, provides some context around the ongoing outbreak, discusses prevention, and compares 2026 food recalls with previous years.

In the third episode of the series with Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, he discusses how human behavior as well as other factors play a significant role in repeating outbreaks.

Here is a comprehensive list of vaccines approved this year as well as background information on the clinical data for each of them.

In the second episode of the series with Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, he brings his personal experience to this topic and questions whether there should be a shift in who manages the primary care needs of these patients.

Gavin Harris, MD, provides some context around what is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo regarding the outbreak including the country’s inherent challenges as well as discussing the latest in testing, vaccines, and treatments of this rare strain of Ebola.

Two Lancaster County residents have died from measles-associated complications, the state's first measles deaths in 35 years.

This week's top infectious disease stories cover treatment strategies for daptomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, fluoroquinolone prescribing's link to antimicrobial resistance, the legal standing of the childhood vaccine schedule executive order, and rising vaccine exemption rates alongside declining MMR coverage that's fueling continued measles outbreaks.

Newly released CDC data show childhood immunization rates have steadily declined since 2020, pushing measles vaccination coverage below the threshold needed for herd immunity and leaving an estimated 280,000 kindergartners without documented vaccinations this year. Robert Hopkins Jr, MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, discusses the latest vaccine data, geographic patterns, and how public health and school officials can address this continued trend.

Cases and deaths continue to increase in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the country's neighbor, Uganda, is declared Ebola free.

With the news this week that childhood vaccine exemptions were at a historical high, it is important to understand what they are and how they are applied. Pediatrician Sharon Nachman, MD, offers some insights about the ability to forgo vaccines because of exemptions.

As of August 17, federal officials are reporting more than 15, 716 cases, hundreds of hospitalizations, and nearly all US states have been affected.

The latest national numbers show a decrease in vaccination rates, along with a spike in the number of immunization exemptions, leading to an increase in the number of cases for vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles.

In the second episode with Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, he touches upon the legal side of the order and how it may affect the childhood vaccine schedule.

This week's infectious disease news spans a broad-spectrum carbapenem review, an expanding jalapeño-linked salmonella recall, the EU approval of Maviret for acute hepatitis C, and clinician backlash against President Trump's executive order reshaping the childhood vaccine schedule.

In the second part of the interview with Sharon Nachman, MD, she touches upon how the administration’s shared clinical decision-making category related to childhood vaccines will affect the hepatitis B and rotavirus vaccines and the expectations there will be subsequent disease increases.

Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, discusses the potentially damaging effects of the rhetoric coming from the presidential executive order, including downstream consequences and his concerns about the prospective findings of the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines associated with the order.

The presidential executive order changing the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine from a combination to a single-antigen vaccine means children will get more shots not less. Sharon Nachman, MD, offers some insights around the challenges of how the order’s latest changes could affect pediatric vaccine schedules.

The EU recently approved glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (Maviret), an eight-week direct-acting antiviral regimen, which offers people with hepatitis C the fastest treatment option available, giving European health systems a new tool in aiding the World Health Organization's goal of eliminating the virus by 2030.

FDA continues its investigation of a Salmonella outbreak spanning across 27 states, with a recall that has expanded to include products that have jalapeños and sold at major retailers.

President Trump signed an order spacing the timing of immunizations, limiting the number of vaccines, and changing the MMR vaccine by separating it into 3 single-antigen vaccines.

The European Commission has approved glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (Maviret) for acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, making it the only therapy approved in the European Union for both acute and chronic HCV and allowing clinicians to test and treat patients at the point of diagnosis. Mudra Kapoor, MD, discusses the phase 3 data and the treatment's potential role for greater HCV elimination.

An estimated 172,000 infants acquired hepatitis B virus through mother-to-child transmission in the WHO African region in 2022, and combining birth-dose vaccination with maternal antiviral prophylaxis could cut this burden by more than 86%. Peyton Thompson, MD, MSCR, discusses the barriers to eliminating vertical transmission of hepatitis B, and strategies to reduce the coverage gap.