Top Infectious Disease News Stories Week of March 29 - April 4

As Infectious Disease Residency Matches Continue to Drop, What Can Attract Future Physicians to the Field?

Data from the National Resident Matching Program shows that fewer physicians applied for infectious disease (ID) fellowships compared to the 2021 pandemic surge. Over half of programs in 2025 did not fill their spots. This trend reflects a continued decline, with only 319 physicians applying for 2026, filling only about 60% of positions, down from 404 applicants in 2021.¹

Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Emerges as a Growing Men’s Health Crisis During STI Awareness Month

April is sexually transmitted infection (STI) Awareness Month, and with it brings renewed attention to these infections. One issue that is rapidly escalating beyond routine public health messaging: antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea. Once considered a straightforward infection to diagnose and cure, gonorrhea is evolving into a far more serious challenge—particularly for men. Experts now caution that this shift demands a reframing of the conversation, recognizing resistant gonorrhea not just as a general public health concern, but as a growing men’s health crisis with unique risks and consequences.

At the center of this concern is the speed at which gonorrhea has adapted to evade treatment.

Upcoming C diff Summit Features Discussions on Access to Therapeutics, Prevention

Earlier this week, the Peggy Lillis Foundation (PLF) released its agenda for its 11th Annual National C diff Summit and Lobby Day, which is set to take place April 13–14, in Washington, DC.

“In terms of this year's summit, if there was a theme, I would say it was the real world impacts of the progress and the setbacks that we've seen over the past 3 or 3 years,” said Christian John Lillis, co-founder and CEO of the Peggy Lillis Foundation.

In terms of the progress, he says the newer therapies being FDA-approved are important achievements and in terms of setbacks, he says access to therapies and prevention of infection, are both proliferating recurrent C diff.

Study Review of Omadacycline for Mycobacterium Abscessus Pulmonary Disease

The widely known antibiotic tetracycline was first introduced in 1953 and is the most commonly clinically utilized first-generation tetracycline.¹ The second generation tetracyclines, doxycycline and minocycline, were approved in 1967 and 1971 respectively and are available both orally and intravenously.¹ Over time, resistance developed to the tetracyclines, and third generation agents were developed to combat this threat.² Tigecycline was developed in 2006 in an effort to overcome resistance mechanisms to tetracyclines, however it is not available orally due to low bioavailability and is often bot utilized due to a black box warning of increased mortality.²

Combining Immunotherapy With Fungal Therapeutics: The Future of Treatment?

This is a short series discussing fungal infections including newer treatment concepts, the distinct geography of clades and the increasing spread of Candida auris, and insights around developing therapeutics for fungal infections.

There are inherent challenges in developing therapeutics for fungal infections, explains Jatin Vyas, PhD, MD, professor of Medicine, Columbia University, associate dean for Academic Innovation, and director of Physician- Scientist Programs at the Vagelos Institute for Biomedical Research Education.