IDSA’s Journal of Infectious Diseases has launched a monthly roundup of JID papers with direct relevance to clinicians. Read on to learn more about what factors increase respiratory syncytial virus hospitalization risk, how differences in baseline median absolute neutrophil count can impact clinical management and other research ready to inform clinical practice. (Titles and summaries are adapted from the November 2025 issue of JID.)
This study, reporting a sharp increase in the incidence of RSV hospitalizations after age 70, emphasizes the striking morbidity and mortality of RSV infection as people age. People with underlying preexisting medical conditions, especially end-stage renal disease with dialysis and those with transplants, had at least triple the risk of hospitalization. Lower socioeconomic status also increased hospitalization risk. More than 90% of deaths were in those older than 60 years with an overall mortality of 10% among those hospitalized. These results support current RSV vaccine recommendations for adults.
Using two international tuberculosis treatment trials, the authors identified that the median ANC was lower in Black African participants than in Black non-African participants (p = 0.004). While enrollment in an African country was an independent factor associated with developing neutropenia during the treatment trials, this finding had no clinical impact. The results suggest that differences in baseline median ANC can lead to misclassification of adverse events and/or inappropriate clinical management. Thus, the development and use of population-specific normal values of the ANC for research and clinical management could improve patient care.
A pharmacokinetic model of levofloxacin was used to derive a pragmatic, weight-band dosing strategy to simplify administration of tuberculosis preventive therapy to children and adolescents exposed to MDR/RR-TB (resistant to the first-line drugs isoniazid, rifampicin). These dosing strategies have been included in World Health Organization guidance.
The Panton-Valentine leukocidin of S. aureus is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and is associated with severe and recurrent skin and soft tissue infections. Comparisons of Africans to Europeans revealed African neutrophils are more susceptible to PVL cytolysis. Further, Africans and Europeans display differential monocyte inflammasome responses, favoring IL-1β and IL-8 in Africans and IL-18 in Europeans. Collectively, these results likely contribute to more severe PVL-positive S. aureus SSTIs in Africans.
In Vivo Evolution of Candida auris Multidrug Resistance in a Patient Receiving Antifungal Treatment
This case report illustrates the sequential acquisition of multidrug resistance in Candida auris isolates from a lung transplant patient on antifungal therapy for a year. Sequencing revealed ERG11 and FSK1 gene mutations associated with fluconazole and echinocandin resistance.