This week we covered antibiotic de-escalation, the approved fecal microbiota options for prevention of recurrent Clostridioides difficile, the CDC's recommendations for HCV testing in the pediatric populations, and examining pragmatic approaches to skin and soft tissue Infections.
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.
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.
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.
