Chikungunya therapy shows promise in first-in-human study MUNICH — A monoclonal antibody being studied as a potential therapy for chikungunya virus infection showed potential as both a treatment for the mosquito-borne disease and as pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent infection, researchers said. Hugh Watson, PhD, president of Quayside Research in Lyon, France, and colleagues studied the mAb, called EVT894, in a first-in-human randomized,

The results indicate that EVT894 could protect someone against chikungunya infection for 4 to 8 months, making it potentially useful to contain epidemics of the disease and as a vaccine alternative for travelers.

Findings presented at #ESCMIDGlobal2026 👇

vist.ly/4z3tf

New study could change practice for treating sinusitis in adults MUNICH — A large observational study involving hundreds of thousands of patients in the United States saw no difference in treatment failure among adults who received one of two common antibiotic regimens prescribed for acute sinusitis.The finding is potentially practice-changing, one of the researchers said.

A large study saw no difference in treatment failure among adults who received one of two common antibiotic regimens prescribed for acute sinusitis.

The finding is potentially practice-changing, one of the researchers told attendees at #ESCMIDGlobal2026.

vist.ly/4z4j8

Numbers provided by the helpful comms team (except the robot, which we all saw).

ESCMID Global Congress Healio brings you highlights from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases' annual conference, ESCMID Global Congress.

Some stats from #ESCMIDGlobal2026:

Total registrations: 17,256

Printed badges: 13,628

Top countries: 🇩🇪, 🇬🇧, 🇺🇸, 🇪🇸, 🇮🇹, 🇫🇷, 🇨🇭, 🇳🇱, 🇨🇳

Published sessions: 745

Abstracts included in the program: 6,089

Robots: 1

A link to our ongoing coverage: www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Cognitive impairment from severe malaria in childhood lasts years MUNICH — Children who survive severe malaria can experience cognitive impairment for many years after the infection, according to new study findings.The study, conducted in Uganda, reassessed around 900 children aged 4 to 15 years after their bouts with severe malaria and found they had diminished overall cognitive and math scores.

Children who survive severe malaria can experience cognitive impairment for many years after the infection, according to new study findings presented at #ESCMIDGlobal2026.

vist.ly/4z3yj

Hey #ESCMIDGlobal2026 and #IDSky, can someone tell me if the art gallery is accessible without walking through the exhibition hall?

Under German law, non-health care professionals aren't allowed to see advertisements for prescription medication and I don't want to get tossed out on mein hintern.

Day 3 at #ESCMIDGlobal2026. Overcast but clearing outside.

💻 Our coverage inside continues. You can find it here: www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Two non-coverage plans today:

🤖 Find Ameca

🖼️ Visit the food safety art gallery

#IDSky

I'm from Philly, so I did pack some of my own.

Day 2 at #ESCMIDGlobal2026 is underway in Munich.

My tentative agenda:

💉 Late-breaking data on vaccine trials, including for Nipah, flu and chikungunya

🗣️ The keynotes

🚽 Hospital bathrooms and antimicrobial resistance

📝 The first ESCMID Global/JAMA session

🥨 Probably eat a pretzel

#IDSky

CDC pauses lab testing for dozens of diseases The CDC has paused diagnostic testing for more than two dozen infectious diseases —including rabies and pox viruses — according to the agency’s website.HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told Healio that the pause is temporary while the CDC “evaluates these assays as part of our routine review to uphold our commitment to high-quality laboratory testing.”

🧫The #CDC has paused lab testing for dozens of diseases, including #rabies and #mpox. An #HHS official says the pause is temporary. Read here ⬇️

vist.ly/4x8aa

White House delays picking CDC director despite deadline The White House did not nominate a new CDC director on Wednesday despite coming up against a federally imposed deadline to do so. White House Spokesperson Kush Desai told Healio that NIH Director Jay ...

🚨 The White House did not nominate a new CDC director on Wednesday despite coming up against a federally imposed deadline to do so.

A White House spokesperson said Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, will remain acting director until a permanent replacement is selected. 👇🏻

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

White House quiet as deadline to name CDC director looms As the White House approaches a federally mandated deadline to nominate a new CDC director, there have been no public signs indicating who the administration has in mind for the position, or even if i...

As the White House approaches a federally mandated deadline to nominate a new CDC director, there have been no public signs indicating who the administration has in mind for the position, or even if it plans to select someone.

Details of the legal timeline inside 👇🏻

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

Judge temporarily blocks changes to US vaccine schedule A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s recent overhaul of the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy also temporarily blocked 13 a...

A federal judge temporarily blocked the following in response to a lawsuit filed by the @ameracadpeds.bsky.social and others:

💉 HHS's overhaul of the childhood immunization schedule

👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 13 of Kennedy's appointments to the ACIP

✅ All votes made by those ACIP members

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

Poll: Public trusts career scientists over federal health officials Americans have a greater trust in the scientists working in federal health agencies than the Trump administration-appointed leaders running them, according to a poll.The poll from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania showed that 67% of Americans expressed confidence in career scientists working at federal health agencies, compared with their 43% confidence in

🚨A poll from @appc.upenn.edu says 67% of #Americans expressed their confidence in career scientists working at federal health agencies, compared with 43% confidence in agency leaders overall. Read here...⬇️

vist.ly/4uhsp

Two new drugs give clinicians hope against gonorrhea The quest to contain gonorrhea has been a decades-long struggle, but there is hope on the horizon in the form of new medications, clinicians said. In December, the FDA approved the first two new antib...

Recent news about gonorrhea:

❌ Doxy-PEP
❌ Vaccine
✅ New antibiotics

“There’s great hope and enthusiasm in the STI community for these new treatment options.” - Jodie A. Dionne, MD, MSPH

But should they be used right away? Answers to that and more 👇🏻

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Hope for gonorrhea vaccine wanes after failed trial DENVER — In 2017, researchers in New Zealand published the first evidence that a vaccine might be able to prevent gonorrhea, a wily STI that has confounded scientists with it ability to dodge just abo...

🗣️ “I have been working on this beautiful bacteria for 20 years and I will not give up hope.” - Kate L. Seib, PhD

🗣️ “I think we have to try to design a better vaccine.” - Jean-Michel Molina, MD, PhD

Bummer results from #CROI2026 👇🏻

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

SNAP improves adherence to HIV treatment, study shows DENVER — Researchers here presented what they said is the first evidence demonstrating that benefits paid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, can improve a person&rsq...

🍎 Researchers at #CROI2026 presented the first evidence that SNAP benefits can increase adherence to HIV treatment.

Presented by: @draaron.bsky.social

Comments from: @jenkatesdc.bsky.social

Details from Denver ⬇

#HIVSky #IDSky

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

🚨 🔊 Nothing like a shrieking fire alarm to fully wake you up for the morning sessions at #CROI2026.

(It was a false alarm. The fire department gave the all clear.)

#HIVSky #IDSky #MedSky

Always nice to see the Big Blue Bear.

We're at #CROI2026 in Denver, covering the latest research in HIV, STIs and more.

Check out our coverage this coming week and beyond at the link below 👇🏻

#IDSky #HIVSky #MedSky

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Guinea worm nears eradication, Carter Center says Only 10 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide in 2025 — the lowest number ever recorded.The Carter Center announced the historic data just after the 1-year anniversary of former President Jimmy Carter’s passing. The center, named for Carter and his wife Rosalynn, took over the global Guinea worm eradication effort in 1986, when there were approximately 3.5 million cases

❗#GuineaWorm is on track to be the second eradicated human disease —second only to smallpox — with just 10 human cases reported globally in 2025.

vist.ly/4sesi

Story: www.healio.com/news/infecti...

🚨 A meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that was scheduled for next week will not take place, HHS confirms to our @caitstulpin.bsky.social.

Story to follow. First reported by @statnews.com.

White House picks NIH director Bhattacharya to run CDC for now NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, has been picked to also serve as acting director of the CDC, a White House official confirmed to Healio. Bhattacharya will oversee both agencies until a permane...

“Both are 24/7 roles and in different cities. This continues the lack of onsite leadership for CDC and puts all of us at risk if our federal public health agency isn’t ready for the next health threat.”

Confirmation from the White House, and reaction to the news 👇🏻

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

South Carolina measles outbreak nears 1,000 cases A measles outbreak in South Carolina has become the largest in the United States in more than 30 years. As of Feb. 10, 933 measles cases have been reported in upstate South Carolina since September. T...

“I am concerned that we have shifted the balance between individual liberty and caring for our neighbors so far to the extreme that we no longer represent what was great about the U.S.”

#Measles continues to surge in the US 👇🏻

#IDSky #MedSky

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

US now has opposing childhood vaccine schedules: What to know When HHS overhauled the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule in January, it significantly reduced the number of vaccines recommended for all children, which experts said will reduce vaccination rates...

💉 The US now has opposing childhood vaccine schedules.

👩🏻‍⚕️ Physician groups and most states have rejected the Trump administration's recent overhaul of the CDC schedule in favor of the AAP schedule.

We put together a shot-by-shot explanation of the differences 👇🏻

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

CDC carries on without a permanent director More than a year into the second Trump administration, the CDC is still operating without a permanent director — which, former CDC officials said, puts national health and safety at risk.“...

Five-plus months have passed since Jim O’Neill became acting director of the CDC.

Federal law says he must be formally nominated or step down by the end of March.

There has been no indication he will be replaced by a permanent director.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Study: Insects can spread infections in health care settings Insects may play a role in transmitting pathogens in heath care settings, according to findings from a systematic review.The review of 73 studies from around the globe uncovered “limited but com...

“[Infection prevention programs] and health care epidemiologists should consider arthropods as potential contributors to outbreaks, especially when a source is elusive."

#IDSky 🪳 🪰 🐜

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Now that split is final, what if US wants to rejoin WHO? On Thursday, HHS announced that the United States has completed its withdrawal from WHO. The process began a year ago when President Donald J. Trump, on the night of his inauguration, announced plans ...

🌐 Now that the US-WHO split is final, what if a future administration wanted to rejoin? We spoke with Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, about the withdrawal and what would be required to reverse it.

#IDSky #MedSky

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Compensation, current events impact ID recruitment The number of physicians who matched in fellowship programs for adult infectious diseases declined in 2025, according to Match Day stats released in December. In all, 272 physicians matched with adult...

The number of physicians who matched in fellowship programs for ID declined again.

But ...

"This was an exceptionally difficult year for medicine and science overall ... and yet trainees are still choosing infectious diseases." - @darcy-id-doc.bsky.social

#IDSky

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Physicians sue to block changes to child vaccine schedule The American Academy of Pediatrics and five other medical professional societies are asking a court to undo HHS’s recent overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule. The AAP, American College of Physic...

“The litigation has a reasonable chance to succeed, including putting a pause on the change to the vaccine schedule. The postponement of the next ACIP meeting will be harder to win but still possible."

#IDSky #MedSky #PedsSky

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...