IDSA’s Journal of Infectious Diseases has launched a new monthly roundup of JID papers with direct relevance to clinicians. Read on to learn more about how clinical trials have advanced vaccine development, the effectiveness of a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and other research ready to inform clinical practice. (Titles and summaries are adapted from the May 2025 issue of JID.)
Controlled Human Infection Studies Accelerate Vaccine Development
Clinical trials that employ human challenge have rapidly advanced vaccine development for multiple pathogens, including at least 30 disease models. These studies can efficiently advance vaccine development while preserving participant safety and maximizing scientific outputs.
In a nationwide real-world study of U.S. community-dwelling Medicare-covered older adults during the BA.1/BA.2 Omicron-dominated period, protection of three doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines against COVID-19-related hospitalization was substantially higher than two doses regardless of prior medically attended COVID-19 diagnoses.
The authors conducted a matched retrospective cohort study comparing mortality among individuals receiving a false-positive tuberculosis diagnosis (n = 3701) to individuals correctly diagnosed with TB (n = 8595) in Brazil from 2007 to 2016. Over an average 5.4-year follow-up period, the estimated mortality rate ratio was 1.95 (95% confidence interval: 1.80, 2.11) for individuals incorrectly diagnosed with TB compared to controls. The leading causes of death among the misdiagnosed were malignant neoplasms (40.9%) and respiratory system disorders (15.9%). These findings highlight the need for improved follow-up care after identification of false-positive cases to increase survival for this high-risk population.
Biomarkers for safe withdrawal of antiviral therapy are desirable to optimize benefits versus risks. Unquantifiable HBV RNA at end of treatment was highly predictive of withdrawal outcomes, including ALT flares (combined with age) and sustained partial cure (combined with qHBsAg). If HBV RNA was quantifiable at end-of-treatment, the likelihood of sustained partial cure was only 3%, whereas if HBV RNA was unquantifiable and qHBsAg <100 IU/mL, this likelihood was 73%.
The Effect of COVID-19 Vaccination on the Risk of Persistent Post–COVID-19 Condition: Cohort Study
In this population-based cohort study set in Stockholm, Sweden, COVID-19 vaccinations were strongly associated with a reduced risk of persistent post COVID-19 condition. The adjusted risk ratio (95% CI) for developing persistent PCC compared with unvaccinated individuals was 0.81 (0.59-1.10) for one dose, 0.42 (0.35-0.52) for two doses and 0.37 (0.27-0.52) for three doses. Reduced risks for vaccinated individuals were also observed when restricting the analyses to pre-Omicron and Omicron, as well as all subgroups including sex, age and previous infection.