AJI’s own Wendy Orent offers a critical review of Muddy Waters , a recent book arguing that COVID-19 emerged from a laboratory.

The past year has been a momentous one in the field of infectious diseases, particularly in the United States. Throughout, the Infectious Diseases Society of America journals have held strongly to the principles of scientific integrity and global health equity while working to encourage and spotlight rigorous and inclusive dialogue. [1] We as editors have also had the pleasure of supporting the development of timely content on topics worthy of attention from infectious diseases clinicians and scientists. As the new year begins, we wish to take a moment to draw your attention to some of that content.

Note: As a work of US government employees, the contents of this article are legally in the public domain. The LymeScience institutional repository contains a number of public domain articles that are...

Kennedy visited Samoa in 2019 when the Samoan government was restarting its childhood MMR immunization program. At his confirmation hearing in 2025, Secretary Kennedy assured Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) ...

Brazil accounts for >90% of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases reported in South America. VL is a notifiable disease in Brazil and patient records are captured in the Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN) database.MethodsWe reviewed 55 723 patient records from the SINAN system (2007–2023) to present temporal trends in patient demographics, drug regimens administered, and treatment outcomes. Disease incidence was modeled using a negative binomial regression, and predictors of mortality were assessed using logistic regression.ResultsThe VL incidence declined 6% annually (incidence rate ratio, 0.94 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.92–0.97]), primarily during 2019–2023. The median age at presentation was 10 years (interquartile range [IQR], 2–33 years) in 2007 and 32 years (IQR, 7–48 years) in 2023. The proportion of relapse at presentation also increased over time; compared to 2007–2009, the odds of relapse during 2019–2023 were 2.10-fold higher (95% CI, 1.87–2.37) adjusted for human immunodeficiency virus status. The use of liposomal amphotericin B increased markedly from 6.1% during 2007–2009 to 38.1% during 2019–2023, while antimony use declined from 68.0% to 32.7% over the same period. Following treatment, death from VL was highest among infants (<1y) (425/4125 [10.3%]) and those >50 years of age (1471/7615 [19.3%]), compared to the other age groups (3.5%, 2.2%, and 8.0% among ages ≥1 to <5, ≥5 to <15, and ≥15 to ≤50 years, respectively).ConclusionsThe shift toward older patients and increased relapse at presentation indicates a major change in disease epidemiology in Brazil. These findings highlight the need for prioritizing interventions for older and relapsing patients.

Conspiracy theorists often describe themselves as critical thinkers or skeptics, but they seem to lack these qualities when presented with obviously fabricated materials aligning with their beliefs. T...

​By cutting aid abroad and the social safety net at home, while spreading vaccine skepticism, the administration is ensuring that more children will suffer and die.

"Vaccines are radioactive now."

“Groundbreaking” study uncovers why adenovirus-based shots caused life-threatening blood clots and bleeding in some people

Chronic Lyme is not a genuine diagnosis . People who think they suffer from chronic Lyme ( but don’t ) are really suffering, however, an...

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BackgroundBorrelia mayonii, a Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) genospecies, is a cause of Lyme disease in the upper midwestern United States. B. mayoni...