Late community-acquired respiratory virus (CARV) infections in long-term allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) survivors carry sign

This study provides evidence that the RSV pre-F vaccine is highly effective against RSV-associated hospital admissions, including exacerbations of chronic disease, and in adults with immunosuppression.

An official journal of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Publishes research results on microbiology, immunology, and epidemiology; pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseas...

Studies on late community-acquired respiratory virus (CARV) infections in long-term allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) survivors are scarce, creating knowledge gaps on the epidemiology, risk of progression to lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD), and conditions linked...

Recent European Conference on Infections in Leukemia (ECIL) guidelines recommend a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) guided preemptive treatment approach to toxoplasmosis in seropositive recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Although qPCR might serve as a sensitive tool for early Toxoplasma detection, its role in treatment follow-up remains unknown.MethodsWe analyzed the qPCR kinetics of allo-HCT recipients experiencing either Toxoplasma infection (TI, n = 71) or disease (TD, n = 14) in relation to different parameters. We included 85 patients with available qPCR values expressed as quantitative cycle (Cq) from 4 large hematological centers from 2009 to 2023, and kinetic analysis was performed in a selection of 74 patients screened at least weekly with blood qPCR. Day 0 (D0) was the day of anti-Toxoplasma treatment start or (when untreated) day of diagnosis.ResultsTime to qPCR negativity was inversely proportional to the Cq value at D0 (P = .0063). Not reaching negativity at D10 was associated with a significantly higher mortality at D30 (P = .023). Patients with a high D0-parasitic load and patients with TD showed slower clearance (P < .001, P = .032). Time to negativity was not significantly different for patients started on prophylactic versus curative doses as first-line treatment regimen (P = .16).ConclusionsThis study underscores the predictive value of qPCR kinetics monitoring in allo-HCT patients with toxoplasmosis. With the aforementioned risk factors, clinicians can identify patients at high risk for worse outcome. Our results support to consider a therapeutic change or reinforcement if the parasitic load does not decrease after 10 days, supplementing existing clinical guidelines.

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The 35th Congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases was held in Vienna, Austria, from April 11 to 15, 2025. Syeda Saleha Hassan reports.

It is unknown whether within-patient Candida albicans diversity is common during bloodstream infections (BSIs).MethodsWe determined whole genome sequences of 10 C. albicans strains from blood cultures (BCs) in each of 4 patients. We performed detailed phenotypic studies on strains from 1 patient.ResultsBCs in 3 patients contained mixed populations of strains that differed by large-scale genetic variants, including chromosome (Chr) 5 or 7 aneuploidy and Chr1 loss of heterozygosity (n=1 each). In patient M, Chr7 trisomy (Tri7) strains were attenuated for hyphal and biofilm formation in vitro, due at least in part to NRG1 over-expression. Nevertheless, representative Tri7 strain M1 underwent filamentation during disseminated candidiasis (DC) in mice. M1 was more fit than euploid strain M2 during DC and mouse gastrointestinal colonization, and in blood ex vivo. M1 and M2 exhibited identical echinocandin minimum inhibitory concentrations, but M2 was more tolerant to micafungin in vitro. Furthermore, M2 was more competitive with M1 in mouse kidneys following micafungin treatment than it was in absence of micafungin. Tri7 strains represented 74% of patient M’s baseline BC population, but euploid strains were 98% of the population after 3d of echinocandin treatment. Findings suggest that echinocandin tolerant, euploid strains were a subpopulation to more fit Tri7 strains at baseline and then were selected upon echinocandin exposure.ConclusionsBCs in some patients are comprised of diverse C. albicans populations not recognized by the clinical lab, rather than single strains. Clinical relevance of C. albicans diversity and echinocandin tolerance merits further investigation.

A nationwide study suggests infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 have been virtually eliminated since vaccination began in 2008 – protecting even unvaccinated women.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo criticized school vaccine mandates, which every state has, and likened them to slavery.

Transplant centers hold the key to accelerating organ use and transplanting more patients more efficiently. However, not all transplant procedures are…

“When influential figures amplify falsehoods, they legitimize the anger that leads to violence,” writes former Surgeon General Jerome Adams.