Expert Interviews

The Peggy Lillis Foundation will host its 17th Annual Changing the Odds Gala this month in New York City, and it will include a casino, fellowship amongst the C diff community, and an award ceremony honoring a physician-scientist, philanthropist, a researcher, and a patient advocate for their contributions to C difficile awareness, treatment, and prevention.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Although there has been conflicting public information around whether the source of the outbreak has been determined, Catherine O’Neal, MD, offers insights on key symptoms that warrant medical evaluation, what medical treatment may consist of for those being seen in an outpatient setting or those who are hospitalized, and considerations around eating produce.

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is leveraging its new phage therapy coordination efforts to connect researchers and clinicians, standardize approaches, and explore how bacteriophages could complement antibiotics in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. Colleen Kraft, MD, offers some insights on the organization's plans to help grow this medical modality.