Top Infectious Disease News Stories Week of December 27 - January 2

US Influenza Activity Accelerates Into the New Year as Hospitalizations Rise

As the United States enters the new year, seasonal influenza activity remains elevated and continues to increase nationwide, according to the latest influenza surveillance update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For Week 51 of the 2025–2026 season (ending December 20, 2025), multiple surveillance indicators showed sustained upward trends across outpatient, emergency department, and hospitalization data, while severity metrics remain relatively low to date. Influenza A(H3N2) viruses continue to predominate. Nationally, clinical laboratories reported that 25.6% of respiratory specimens tested positive for influenza, a sharp increase from the prior week. Percent positivity rose in all ten US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regions, ranging from 34.9% in Region 8 to 10.8% in Region 9. Influenza A viruses accounted for 94.7% of all positive clinical specimens reported during the week.

Antibiotic De-Escalation Demonstrates Advantages for Community-Onset Sepsis

De-escalating empiric broad spectrum antibiotics (BSA) at day 4 for clinically stable patients with community-onset sepsis without positive culture for multidrug-resistance was associated with fewer days of antibiotic therapy and of hospitalization, and similar all-cause mortality compared to longer periods of BSA, in two trial emulation studies.¹

Addressing the Three Pillars of PPE in Caring for Patients with High-Consequence Infectious Disease

Jill Morgan, RN, BSN, site manager, Serious Communicable Diseases Unit (SCDU), Emory University Hospital, says initially she was humbled by how little she knew about personal protective equipment when caring for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases (HCID).

“I realized that I hadn't paid any attention to that. I didn't know that there were different levels of masks or that there were different levels of gowns. I just in all my years of being a nurse, and there had been quite a few of them by then, it was just something that had escaped my notice. And I realized I'm not alone in that,” Morgan said. “An awful lot of people, both nurses, techs and physicians, really don't get much education about PPE, and so I think we need to do a better job, starting at the beginning, starting in nursing school and medical school, and really talking about what qualities are important, and what you should look for, and what that garment or article device can and can't do.”

Vigilance, Training, and Funding are Key for Outbreak and Pandemic Biopreparedness

Gavin Harris, MD, associate medical director, Serious Communicable Diseases Program (SCDP), Emory University, and director of Education and Outreach for the program, points out that although his unit was founded in 2002, it wasn’t until 2014 that they received their first viral hemorrhagic fever patients with Ebola. Emory Healthcare brought in patients with the disease to treat at their facilities that year, becoming the first US hospital institution to do so. They had trained for 12 years, carrying out continuous training drills and preparedness scenarios to be ready to care for patients when the time came.

“I can guarantee that if the team had not trained quarterly, these patients that we did take care of would not have done as well,” Harris said.

CDC's Latest Hepatitis B Vaccine Guidance Serves as Example for Future Federal Vaccine Policy

The current Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership has made it abundantly clear for their aims to reduce access to vaccines to Americans. A microcosm of this new federal public health policy can be seen with the recent events around the hepatitis B virus vaccine (HBV) during the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meetings earlier this month.

During these meetings, the committee voted on 3 recommendations around the birth dose of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine. The biggest and most newsworthy vote was the one that changed the previous CDC recommendation to move the first HBV immunization from a universal birth dose at 12-24 hours of life back to 2 months of age for neonates whose mothers tested negative for hepatitis B. Also, the committee emphasized individual-based decision-making after consultation between the mothers and clinicians on vaccination.