Top 5 Key Takeaways from ASM Microbe 2018

Reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been on the rise for the past decade, and identifying Legionella bacteria requires specialized testing in the microbiology lab. Here is a clinical overview of Legionella bacteria, including required testing, treatment, and reporting to public health officials.

The 18-year old resident of the state suffered from acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Pennsylvania numbers are surging with some of the highest state totals of measles cases in the country.

In its second disease cluster this summer, city officials are cleaning building towers in the South Bronx amidst an ongoing investigation and are rolling out measures to prevent future Legionnaires' cases.

The death was reported in Jefferson County where the coroner released a statement announcing it was in an unvaccinated woman.

Preliminary REMAP-CAP data suggesting oseltamivir may increase mortality in critically ill ICU influenza patients has sparked polarized reactions, but clinicians should await the full peer-reviewed manuscript before drawing broad conclusions, since the signal comes from a narrow, severely ill population and may reflect a therapeutic window effect rather than a blanket lack of efficacy.

The Vaccine Integrity Project, in collaboration with the American Medical Association, conducted a vaccine and immunization effectiveness and safety review for RSV, Influenza, and COVID-19 for the 2026-2027 season. JAMA published the review, and here is an overview of the data going into this year's seasonal respiratory virus season.

GSK will advance its investigational mRNA seasonal flu vaccine candidate, which targets both hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, into a phase 3 trial in September 2026 after the shot outperformed licensed flu vaccines in a phase 2 study.

The latest CDC numbers show a 5.4% increase of measles cases from week-to-week. This year has already become the worst for the number of measles cases in the US since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. With the start of respiratory virus season, case numbers are expected to continue to increase significantly.