News

As France confirms the first documented human Shamonda virus infection, a fatal encephalitis in a stem cell transplant recipient, this FAQ explains what the virus is, where it has spread, how the case was diagnosed, how the patient was likely infected and what clinicians should watch for.

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.

CDC says the Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the DRC is the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, with 9735 confirmed cases and 4690 deaths.

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

Investigational asuptegravir cut HIV-1 RNA by up to 2.36 log10 copies/mL in 10 days, and adding fostemsavir boosted CD4 gains in immunologic nonresponders.

CDC lists 5 active multistate outbreaks tied to oysters, raw milk cheese, sprouts, and pet turtles, with recalls in effect for 4 of them.

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.

The latest CDC numbers show a 4.0% increase in measles cases from week-to-week, bringing the 2026 US total to 4588 confirmed cases. Ninety-six percent of cases are outbreak-associated.

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.

In the phase 3b ENCORE trial, adding amikacin liposome inhalation suspension (ALIS) to azithromycin and ethambutol significantly improved culture conversion in newly diagnosed MAC lung disease, while treatment-emergent amikacin (2.2%) and macrolide (1.1%) resistance stayed rare. Kevin Winthrop, MD, provides insights around the study.

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.

The FDA approved bepirovirsen (Hibsago; GSK) with nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy for chronic hepatitis B, based on B-Well 1 and 2 functional cure rates of 19% vs 0% with placebo.

In the phase 2 RePreve trial, Lumen Bioscience’s investigational oral biologic LMN-201 plus standard antibiotics achieved global cure in 83.3% of patients with C difficile infection vs 36.4% with placebo, and cut recurrence sixfold (9.1% vs 55.6%) with no drug-related serious adverse events.

The first animal model of neonatal sepsis to evaluate protection by maternal vaccination evidences transfer of immunity against virulent, often antibiotic-resistant Klebseilla pneumoniae.

The CHMP adopted a positive opinion on an extension of indication for AstraZeneca's H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine at its October meeting.

The company, Family Farmstead Dairy, issued a raw cheddar recall over potential contamination with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is happening across 7 states.

The guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have been updated with recent, evidence-based consensus of The Panel for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in Adults and Adolescents.