At least 5 dead in Burundi from a mystery illness: Africa CDC Lab tests are negative for more than 200 pathogens, but testing continues.

“Testing showed that samples from patients tested negative for more than 200 pathogens..This includes Ebola and Marburg virus diseases, Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.” www.cidrap.umn.edu/misc-emergin...

Here are a couple of examples. Lung cancer survival rates for EGFR+ mutated Lung cancer.

He couldn’t think, eat or recover — and no one knew why Doctors were stumped by an Oregon man’s deterioration. Then an infectious disease specialist had an aha moment.

🧪 intriguing slightly macabre read for ID physicians, public health folks, or the the simply host microbe curious 🔬🧫 wapo.st/4twprKU

Mine are "Doxy" and "Mino"...

Doxy was mom, and she was pregnant (unknown to me when I picked her). So her derivative has to be another tetracycline 🐱

In this @ofidjournal.bsky.social paper, my @centerforhealthsecurity.org colleagues & I discuss the way AI can facilitate/accelerate the development of countermeasures for biothreat agents & the need to create a robust data ecosystem to enable such an endeavor academic.oup.com/ofid/article...

Bictegravir/Lenacapavir Combo Pill Could Replace Complex HIV Treatment The two-drug single-tablet regimen could enable people to switch from antiretroviral regimens containing multiple pills.

People taking more complex regimens to treat HIV could soon have a new once-daily single-tablet option. #CROI2026

www.poz.com/article/bict...

Unraveling the mechanism behind the probable extinction of the B/Yamagata lineage of influenza B viruses - Nature Communications Influenza B/Yamagata lineage has rarely been detected since COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions were introduced, while transmission of other influenza lineages resumed. Here, the authors investi...

This just in: the B/Yamagata lineage of influenza B is still extinct

Bird Flu Strikes California Elephant Seals for the First Time

“Seven elephant seal pups at Año Nuevo State Park have tested positive for the virus, known as H5N1, becoming the first recorded cases in northern elephant seals. They are among about 30 seals that have died at the park since late last week and the first to have been tested, said Roxanne Beltran”

Tecovirimat for the Treatment of Mpox | NEJM Tecovirimat is approved for smallpox treatment under the Food and Drug Administration Animal Rule on the basis of efficacy in nonhuman primate models of mpox (previously known as monkeypox). Howeve...

The STOMP/A5418 Trial is out:
- Clinical Resolution: 83% tecovirimat, 84% placebo
- No significant differences in pain, time to lesion healing, or viral DNA clearance
- Similar results to PALM007 for clade 1 MPXV

*Tecovirimat seems to lack efficacy in clade I and II

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

It's Day 1 of #CROI2026 and I'm already wanting to come back next year!

Of course, going to San Diego doesn't hurt 🌞

New from @cidjournal.bsky.social and Mayo Clinic, a modern cohort of Legionella PNA:

344 adults with Legionella (85% L pneumophila)

1/3rd ICU, 1/8 died at 30 days

Urine Ag only + test in 42.4%, but among those with +PCR/Cx, UAg+ in only 25.6%

#IDSky #Legionella

academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...

Individualized mRNA vaccines evoke durable T cell immunity in adjuvant TNBC - Nature In a phase 1 trial, personalized mRNA vaccines tailored to individual tumour mutations in triple-negative breast cancer induced robust, long-lasting T cell responses and improved prognosis.

Another example of how mRNA vaccine technology is revolutionizing medicine in real time. Individualized mRNA vaccination triggered robust anti-tumor T cell responses in triple negative breast cancer leading to durable cancer remission.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing

In people age 50+, the Covid booster halved hospitalization and deaths.
Waning of benefit after 3-6 months
For the mRNA BA.1 booster vs no shot after initial vaccination
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

*all studies were normal!

We need an edit button 😅

Whenever I am he ID consults, we occasionally get paged for a suspected "Zebra". 99% of the time it is not a "Zebra". Just a regular "Horse" that could have been solved by a good history, physical examination and chart review.
ID docs are not wizards we simply talk to patients and are thorough :)

My favorite consult was an outpatient ID referral for "blue legs" I saw with a preceptor.

Had purplish-blue legs from the hips down, symmetric, no pain. Vascular studies, CT scan, Ultrasound, labs all performed areceptor.

He had a new unwashed pair of jeans and the blue dye was rubbing off!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a physician. No other career I would choose.

But in the past 48 hours, friends/family have called/texted me about:
- "I had sepsis!" (they did not)
- seizure in the gym
- multiple children with febrile illness overseas
- anaphylaxis

Do I charge them coffee? 😅

Coffee and improved cognition, reduced dementia
>130,000 people followed 37 years
Benefit seen only with caffeinated coffee or tea and most pronounced ~2 cups/day
@jama.com ☕️☕️jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticl...

Brain swelling is one of measles’ nastiest side effects, and it’s happening in South Carolina The South Carolina measles outbreak has triggered rare but serious brain swelling in some children

The South Carolina measles outbreak has triggered rare but serious brain swelling in some children

Hepatitis B Outcomes After Switching to Long-Acting Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine in People With HIV: Reactivation, Incident Infection, and Liver Safety Across Diverse Serological Profiles This prospective cohort followed 741 people with HIV switching to long-acting intramuscular cabotegravir/rilpivirine. No hepatitis B virus (HBV) incident i

No #HBV reactivation/incident infxn in PLH w isolated anti-HBc after switching to CAB/RPV #HIV #IDSky #MedSky
academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...

Holy moly this chart: Cumulative US measles cases

Single-Dose Amphotericin B for HIV-Related Cryptococcal Meningitis Cryptococcal meningitis remains a life-threatening opportunistic infection among people with advanced HIV, even in high-resource settings. For decades, the standard induction regimen in the United Sta...

Is It Time to Use Single-Dose Amphotericin B for HIV-Related Cryptococcal Meningitis in the USA?

The answer is yes!
doi.org/10.1001/jama...

The whole circulatory system being reduced to a red square is what does it for me

🦠 Flu cases in the US have surpassed the last 5 flu seasons

🏥 Flu-related hospitalizations are rising rapidly

👶 The 2024-25 flu season was the deadliest on record for children

Stay informed on #flu, #measles, and emerging outbreaks in our weekly #TrackingReport ⬇️

mailchi.mp/messages/pan...

Oral 4′-fluorouridine rescues nonhuman primates from advanced Lassa fever - Nature Treatment with 4′-fluorouridine (also known as EIDD-2749) in an African green monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) model of Lassa disease resulted in complete clearance of infectious virus in a high proportion of cases and prolonged survival to the pre-determined study end-point in all cases.

🧵 Emerging viruses need antivirals. This new Lassa study is encouraging. A new Nature paper reports that an oral antiviral (4′-fluorouridine) rescued non-human primates from advanced Lassa fever—even when treatment started after animals were already sick and viraemic.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I don't understand why I need to increasingly pass a CAPTCHA to access a journal article?

Is this to prevent AI tools from capturing the data?

It's not too late to get your flu shot. Flu circulates year round but more intensely during flu season. For N. hemisphere:
Onset: October–November
Peak: December–February (most often January)
Decline: March
Tail end: April–May (occasionally later)
This is why we give shots until the end of February

New Glarus! Would get these after driving over from Rochester MN, great choice. Merry Christmas!

American Ingenuity - A Cardiology practice advertising on the Diner menu in a retirement community ❤️‍🩹

Somebody has to do the caths!