Top Infectious Disease News Stories Week of March 8 - March 14

Phage-Antibiotic Combinations: What We Know, What We Don’t, and Where the Field Must Go Next

Antimicrobial resistance continues to outpace antibiotic development, leaving clinicians with increasingly limited options for multidrug-resistant infections.^1-3 In this context, bacteriophages have reemerged as a potential adjunctive therapeutic strategy rather than a replacement for antibiotics.

Phage-antibiotic combinations (PACs) have gained attention for their ability to enhance bacterial killing, limit the emergence of resistance, and, in some cases, restore susceptibility to existing antibiotics. At the same time, clinical implementation remains highly variable and the supporting evidence base is fragmented. This piece focuses on the current state of the field, emphasizing what is known, what remains uncertain, and what is needed to translate biological promise into reproducible clinical impact.

Measles Update: March 13, 2026

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported there were 1,362* cases of measles in the US as of March 12, 2026. Week-over week, that is an additional 81 cases and a 6.3% increase. Last week, the federal agency reported there was 1,281* confirmed cases.¹ This marks a significant decrease in the number of cases from the previous week that saw a 12.76% increase in cases the week ending, March 5.

FDA VRBPAC Votes to Recommend Influenza Vaccines for 2026-2027 Season

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) unanimously voted for a trivalent vaccine composition for use in the US, protecting against influenza A (H1N1 and H3N2) and influenza B (Victoria lineage).

Extended, Tapered Vancomycin Regimen Reduces C diff Recurrence

Tapering vancomycin dosing for 2 weeks after a 2-week standard dose treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) resulted in a lower rate of recurrent infection, in a recent randomized controlled trial conducted at 12 Canadian Hospitals.¹ Lead author Emily McDonald, MD, MSc, McGill University Health Centre, Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and colleagues explain that even with initially successful treatment, approximately 20 to 25% of patients develop recurrent CDI within 8 weeks.

The Evolving Childhood Vaccine Schedule: Current ACIP’s Differing Meeting Approach

Our roundtable series, Clinical Insights: Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes, discusses the ongoing changes being made to the pediatric vaccine schedule, the inner workings of the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and how all of this is impacting US public health.