EFFECT News: Edition 8 KM We are delighted to announce that we have successfully reached our recruitment target.

We invite you to read the latest edition of our EFFECT newsletter at the link below:
sway.cloud.microsoft/rLBzCsGpXSO1...

Tackling deadly fungal threats: Global training empowers clinicians and lab technicians Twenty-four clinicians and laboratory technicians have enrolled in a bespoke training programme designed to strengthen the diagnosis and treatment of deadly fungal diseases. With infections soaring gl...

Several members of our trial team participated in this mycology training workshop, hosted by @exeter.ac.uk MMC in collaboration with UCT, both as faculty and delegates. It was an excellent opportunity for learning, teaching and networking!
news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...

figure showing estimated proportion of cases in clusters, for each site. range from 0.04 to 0.93, mean estimate in random effects model is 0.57 [0.46,0.68]

#AMR #Klebsiella cause >100,000 neonatal deaths globally each year.

Our new preprint shows more than half of #Klebsiella pneumoniae neonatal sepsis cases in African and South Asian are nosocomial, acquired through transmission in neonatal units. #WAAW

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

The meta-analysis was led by @erkison.bsky.social, with 60 wonderful co-authors contributing data, ideas and interpretations, including @neleshg.bsky.social @pjplanet@bsky.social @ahmedmicrobes.bsky.social @evaheinz7.bsky.social @kelwyres.bsky.social and many others not on BlueSky

Enhanced detection of neonatal invasive infection clusters in South Africa using epidemiological and genomic surveillance data Introduction Invasive bacterial infections, particularly those caused by the ESKAPE group, account for a substantial proportion of neonatal deaths in low- and middle-income countries, yet the contribu...

@neleshg.bsky.social and the Baby GERMS-South Africa team explored transmission clusters of ESKAPE pathogens across 6 South African hospitals, and identified large outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant #Klebsiella ST152 and Acinetobacter baumannii ST1 & ST2 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

🎉to Charlotte Rabault - she published this after a 6-month fellowship in Joburg

In patients aged >90 days, prior antifungal use was associated with non-susceptible Candida bloodstream infection (OR 2.02). In young infants, hospital transmission was more influential.

wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...

Abstracts, Clinical Conundrums and FungArt for the Fungal Update conference in London (March 2026) are all now open for submission: mycologyconference.co.uk/abstracts/

Phylogenetic tree and Principle Component Analysis of African histoplasma isolates

Morphological characteristics of the Histoplasma Africa samples. We show the morphology of isolate SA1704, but all other isolates show similar characteristics. (A) Morphology of a 3-week-old Africa isolate growing on a plate of Sabouraud dextrose agar at 25°C. (B) Light microscope slide stained with lactophenol blue showing the mycelial stage of Histoplasma Africa. (C) A similarly prepared slide for T-3-1 which belongs to H. ohiense. (D) Culture of a 2-week-old Africa growing on brain heart infusion agar at 35°C. (E) Slide of electron microscopy image of a 2-week-old Africa (SA0297) growing on Sabouraud dextrose agar at 25°C showing the microconidia of mold form (magnification = ×2,000, extra high tension = 5.00 kV, working distance = 9.2 mm, Signal A = SE2, bar 10 µm). (F) Electron microscopy image of a 2-week-old Hcf (SA20VMK) growing on Sabouraud dextrose agar at 25°C showing a tuberculate macroconidium (magnification = x2,000, EHT = 5.00 kV, WD = 9.2 mm, Signal A = SE2, bar 10 µm).

Genomic epidemiology of Histoplasma in Africa

Rutendo Mapingo ... @neleshg.bsky.social Daniel Matute

Three genetically distinct lineages identified among African Histoplasma isolates

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Results from our CAST-NET cohort study published. Excellent national coverage of cryptococcal antigen screening in SA but real challenges to act on CrAg+ results to exclude meningitis and dispense pre-emptive antifungals

journals.lww.com/jaids/abstra...

Cumulative 6-month mortality amongst 146 adults with advanced HIV disease, stratified by baseline CMV viraemia status

Jayne Ellis presenting data from our cohort with CD4 <100 undergoing CrAg screening in SA at #IAS2025 (poster 2803)

59% (86/146) had CMV viraemia - strongly & independently associated with ⬆️mortality, more than quadrupling odds of death at 6-months (adjusted OR 4.02, 95%CI 1.27-12.7)

Progression from <em>Candida auris</em> Colonization Screening to Clinical Case Status, United States, 2016–2023 <em>C. auris</em> Colonization Screening to Clinical Case

During 2016–2023, among 21,195 US patients who tested positive for Candida auris skin colonisation, 6.9% were subsequently found to have a positive clinical specimen, 2.8% from blood

Probably an underestimate but useful to know

wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...

map showing the location of countries included in the study: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan

We brought together teams from 13 neonatal sepsis surveillance studies, conducted across 35 sites in South Asia and Africa, to pool data and estimate prevalence of capsule and O types amongst #Klebsiella pneumoniae causing sepsis in newborns, using Bayesian modelling.

Distribution of capsule and O types in Klebsiella pneumoniae causing neonatal sepsis in Africa and South Asia: meta-analysis of genome-predicted serotype prevalence and potential vaccine coverage Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae causes ~20% of sepsis in neonates, with ~40% crude mortality. A vaccine administered to pregnant women, protecting against 70% of K. pneumoniae infections, could aver...

I'm super happy to share this preprint on ‘Distribution of capsule and O types in #Klebsiella pneumoniae causing neonatal sepsis in Africa and South Asia: meta-analysis of genome-predicted serotype prevalence and potential vaccine coverage’
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Congrats to Serisha Naicker & our 🌍CryptoADAPT team
at Wits, UP, SUN, Imperial, CISM, UZ, Duke for the new @wellcometrust.bsky.social grant

Excited to dig into the environmental diversity of Cryptococcus in Africa

www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-...

South Africa Built a Medical Research Powerhouse. Trump Cuts Have Demolished It.

Must read from @stephanienolen.bsky.social @nytimes.com:

From #SouthAfrica Built a Medical Research Powerhouse. Trump Cuts Have Demolished It. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/h...

Hosted by a full panel of trial investigators from the @effecttrial.bsky.social

Great updates and learning at the histoplasmosis working group meeting at the tail end of ISHAM triennial conference

And new targets will be set...

The rising tide of fungal diseases Are we ready to fight off a new world of infections?

Great to contribute to this week's Naked Scientist podcast on the rising tide of fungal diseases

www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/nak...

Congratulations Lottie

"Considering this conflicting evidence, there is equipoise to support a clinical trial in which persons with AHD without overt symptoms suggestive of histoplasmosis and with Histoplasma antigenuria are randomized to pre-emptive antifungal therapy or to observation."

WHO trims top management ranks amid financial crunch The WHO, which faces an extraordinary financial crunch in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the agency, has dramatically trimmed its top management.

"How can WHO be expected to serve the whole world on the same budget as one hospital in a mid-sized European city?"

www.statnews.com/2025/05/14/w...

State-of-the-Art Review: Use of Antimicrobials at the End of Life Abstract. Navigating antibiotics at the end of life is a challenge for infectious disease (ID) physicians who remain deeply committed to providing patient-

Thanks for sharing.

There was also a recent State of the Art review in CID on the topic academic.oup.com/cid/article/...

Antimicrobials in serious illness and end-of-life care: lifting the veil of silence Global rates of antimicrobial consumption increased by 65% between 2000 and 2015, by 16% between 2016 and 2023, and are estimated to increase by an additional 52% by 2030. Antimicrobial use and misuse...

This recent article has really resonated with me - www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Her clinical team was reluctant to talk to us about the futility of curative treatment or end-of-life care. They wanted to continue as though she would walk out of hospital.

This didn't make sense. We wanted her to be comfortable, and not to end her life in a busy noisy bright surgical ICU.

In 2008, my wonderful 84-year-old grandmother died in hospital with perforated diverticulitis. I was a newly-qualified clinical microbiologist then. When it became clear that she wouldn't recover, I asked for her to be transferred out of ICU, to receive palliative care and to stop antibiotics...

Bad news...

"A draft budget for the department [HHS], obtained by The New York Times, proposes axing two journals published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Emerging Infectious Diseases and Preventing Chronic Disease."

Plasma Microbial Cell-free DNA Metagenomic Sequencing for Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases Among High-risk Outpatient and Inpatient Immuno New and minimally invasive tools to aid the diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases (IFD) are urgently needed as the immunocompromised population at highest risk increases. Advancements in molecular technology have rendered new diagnostics more readily available for clinical use.

Plasma Microbial Cell-free DNA Metagenomic Sequencing for Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases Among High-risk Outpatient and Inpatient Immunocompromised Hosts

#IDSky

It's staggering what has unravelled in a matter of months

Will climate change lead to more fungal infections? | News | Wellcome Fungi can keep us healthy or cause disease. As climate change drives fungi to adapt, learn how we can harness the benefits and tackle the threats.

Fungi can protect the environment, grow food and even develop new medicines. 🍄

But they can also cause disease.

As climate change spreads pathogenic fungi to new places, more people worldwide will be at risk.

Learn more in our explainer ⤵️
wellcome.org/news/will-cl...