Latest Conference

Cefiderocol MICs fell against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae, and the drug showed marked synergy with LL-37 against resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir, PharmD, MPH, AAHIVP, discusses her team's findings around this therapy and these pathogens.

Shionogi data presented at IDWeek 2026 demonstrated a 76.7% clinical response with cefiderocol in carbapenem-resistant respiratory infections and high in vitro activity against resistant P aeruginosa VAP isolates. Christine Slover, PharmD, vice president, Infectious Diseases US Medical Affairs, Shionogi, offers insights on the data as well as clinical considerations for providers when weighing the antibiotic for patients.

Labcorp data presented at IDWeek 2026 show measles PCR testing nearly quadrupled and positivity rose sharply from April 2025 through March 2026, as clinicians shift toward guideline-recommended molecular testing amid ongoing US outbreaks.

In this first IDWeek 2026 roundup, oral olorofim matched AmBisome in invasive aspergillosis, aztreonam-avibactam held activity as MBL-producing CRE rose, pritelivir cut hospitalizations in refractory HSV, and zelicapavir shortened RSV symptoms in high-risk adults.

David Altarac, MD, discusses the 2026 IDSA guidance, which prioritizes sulbactam-durlobactam plus a carbapenem for invasive carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter infections.

Investigational agent Zelicapavir cut time to complete RSV symptom resolution by up to a week and lowered hospitalization in high-risk adults.

Preliminary SABEDTIO data from IDWeek 2026 show early dual IV therapy cut prolonged S aureus bacteremia to 6% from 16%, with safe oral transition at 72 hours.

Alejandra Gurtman, MD, discussed the phase 2 data at IDWeek 2026 which showed the investigational 25-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 25vPnC produced serotype 3 antibody levels about 15-fold higher than Prevnar 20 after the booster dose, targeting a serotype still behind 10.6% of invasive pneumococcal disease in US children younger than five years.

Stopping empiric antibiotics early nearly tripled antibiotic-free days in neutropenic fever, and 5-day oseltamivir prophylaxis matched 10 days in hospital exposures.

In an ECOSPOR III analysis, all-cause hospitalization by week 4 fell to 3.4% with fecal microbiota spores vs 16.1% with placebo in recurrent C difficile infection.

Exploratory SCORPIO-PEP data presented at IDWeek 2026 show household contacts with breakthrough COVID-19 on ensitrelvir had lower peak viral RNA and fewer severe symptoms than placebo recipients.

Day 42 all-cause mortality was 23.8% with oral olorofim vs 24.3% with AmBisome plus standard of care in invasive aspergillosis unsuited to azole therapy.

MBL producers rose from 20.4% to 48.6% of US carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales from 2021 to 2025, while aztreonam-avibactam stayed active against 97.7% of them.

Switching to once-daily bictegravir/lenacapavir kept adverse event rates similar to comparators and metabolic markers stable across comorbidity groups in ARTISTRY-1 and -2.

Karen B. Jacobson, MD, MPH, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, presented data at IDWeek 2026 showing 58.2% of children younger than five years exposed to active hepatitis B in the home were exposed by someone other than their birth mother, a risk maternal screening alone would miss under the CDC’s revised birth dose recommendation.

Isavuconazole had a lower liver adverse event signal than voriconazole and posaconazole, while olorofim, manogepix, and rezafungin held activity against resistant molds.

Data being presented at IDWeek 2026 show zoliflodacin maintains high gonorrhea cure rates in patients co-infected with chlamydia. David Altarac, MD, discusses the therapy and the study being presented at the conference.

Oral pritelivir improved lesion healing and cut hospitalizations from 76% to 29.4% vs investigator's choice therapy in immunocompromised patients with refractory HSV.

Investigational cefiderocol-xeruborbactam inhibited 98.5% of carbapenem-nonsusceptible Acinetobacter and nearly all Enterobacterales in global surveillance data.

Oral zelicapavir cut time to complete RSV symptom resolution by up to 1 week in high-risk adults, but it did not meet its primary end point in a phase 2 trial.

Demonstrating a diagnostic test works is no longer enough. Clinicians and laboratories also need evidence on how to adopt it in everyday practice. Andrea Prinzi, PhD, MPH, SM(ASCP), explains how implementation science can help infectious disease and clinical microbiology teams turn evidence into routine care.

A real-world analysis of the OPERA cohort found no HIV infections among 315 women using long-acting cabotegravir for PrEP, despite frequent short delays in maintenance injections, reinforcing the regimen's real-world effectiveness.

Week 96 data from the LATA trial show Cabenuva was superior to daily oral therapy in adolescents with HIV, while new real-world OPERA cohort data reinforce comparable effectiveness in adults, both presented at AIDS 2026.

New research from Rutgers University suggests that bacterial responses to antibiotics vary significantly under nutrient-limited conditions, highlighting potential limitations of standard laboratory susceptibility testing and offering new insights into why some laboratory findings fail to predict clinical outcomes.

DOTS data on dalbavancin for complicated S aureus bacteremia and PETERPEN interim results for ESβL bloodstream infections provide potential options to revisit first-line therapy. Megan Klatt, PharmD, BCIDP, DPLA, discusses insights from these trials and how they can affect clinical practice and stewardship.

Lao-Tzu Allan-Blitz, MD, MPH, discusses treatment strategies including resistance-guided therapy with molecular gyrA assays and the goal of potentially reintroducing ciprofloxacin as therapy for this infection.

Preclinical findings demonstrate that the novel efflux pump inhibitor TXA14007 significantly enhances azithromycin activity against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, supporting a potential new oral treatment strategy for difficult-to-treat infections. Jesus Rosado-Lugo, PhD, offers insights on the study at ASM Microbe 2026.

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.