Jonna Lorenz

Cirrhosis, older age, and vaccine type were among factors associated with lower antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines in patients with chronic liver disease, new research shows.

The benefits of COVID-19 vaccines waned over time and were less effective against the Omicron variant of the virus, a long-term meta analysis found.

Global health officials highlighted an urgent need to ramp up efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis, with 1 million deaths annually at stake.

A recent animal study adds urgency to the fight against Clostridioides difficile infection, finding that the bacterium may be driving some colorectal cancers, which have risen among people younger than 50.

A recent study suggests that metabolic factors such as hypertension and diabetes were associated with an increased risk of liver fibrosis among patients with metabolic associated fatty liver disease who had hepatitis B virus infection.

Six respiratory infections are among the most common diagnoses for which antibiotics often are inappropriately prescribed, and new research sheds light on the effects, both in increased risk of adverse events and excess health care costs.

Point-of-care RNA viral load testing is associated with shorter times between testing and treatment initiation and higher treatment uptake, a recent study found.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was associated with rare instances of myo/pericarditis and acute kidney injury, according to a nationwide study in New Zealand that confirmed the safety profile of the vaccine.

Interleukin-6 receptor antagonists and antiplatelets are highly likely to improve long-term survival of critically ill adults with COVID-19, a recent study suggests.

A new study examining COVID-19 outcomes over time found evidence supporting the use of dexamethasone and raised concerns about using nonconcurrent controls in large platform trials.

Children as young as 12 can now receive tenofovir alafenamide for treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection with compensated liver disease, after the US Food and Drug Administration expanded the indication for the drug.

Resistance to hepatitis C infection may be much greater than previously thought, according to new research by investigators at Trinity College Dublin that revealed associated biological factors.

A recent study by investigators at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found few mild adverse events from monoclonal antibody treatment among pregnant people with COVID-19, but no difference in COVID-19 outcomes.

Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline are the latest companies to bring their COVID-19 booster vaccine to the marketplace with the European Commission’s approval of VidPrevtyn Beta.

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.

Vaxxinity is moving forward with research to bring its UB-612 COVID-19 vaccine to market as a mix-and-match booster to authorized vaccines.

Nearly 150 million people were affected by common symptoms of long COVID in 2020 and 2021, according to an analysis of global data on more than 1.2 million people.

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals is advancing the fight against difficult-to-treat, drug-resistant, gram-negative bacteria with a successful phase 3 clinical trial of its investigational antibiotic cefepime-taniborbactam.

Moderna’s new bivalent COVID-19 booster, which includes 25 micrograms each of messenger RNAs from the Wuhan-Hu-1 and Omicron B.1.1.529 variants of SARS-CoV-2, elicited antibody responses that were superior to those elicited by the original vaccine.

A comprehensive cohort study of COVID-19 data has reinforced the effectiveness of the various vaccines, boosters, and prior infection in protecting against infection, hospitalization and death.

Bulevirtide, a first-in-class entry inhibitor, showed promise for the treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis D coinfection, a phase 2 trial found.

Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides in the gut microbiome are important to vaccine responsiveness and could be used in vaccine adjuvants in the future, a recent review shows.

Injected COVID-19 mRNA vaccines alone were ineffective at producing mucosal antibody responses, according to a recent study that suggested seeking new strategies such as intranasal vaccines.

COVID-19 disease severity was mild in individuals in Qatar infected with the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sublineages with vaccination and booster doses reducing risks even further, a new study showed.

Dentists write about 25.7 million prescriptions annually, amounting to about 10% of all outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in the United States. A recent study showed that educating dentists about the risks of antibiotics—including antimicrobial resistance and Clostridioides difficile infections—led to sharp decreases in prescriptions.

Rates of hepatitis C reinfection were low among people receiving opioid agonist therapy, according to a new study, which highlights the importance of risk reduction interventions and HCV treatment for people who inject drugs and people receiving opioid agonist therapy.

A third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines may allow most immune compromised patients with hematologic cancers to achieve antibody response levels similar to those of healthy adults after a two-dose series.

After widespread implementation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among gay and bisexual men in Australia, population-level incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea stabilized, allaying fears that PrEP would lead to a rise in STIs, a recent study found.

The highest rate of myocarditis or pericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination occurred among young men ages 18 to 24 after receiving a second dose of the Moderna vaccine.

HIV epidemics are emerging among key populations in the Middle East and North Africa, and the region ranks lowest globally in response indicators.