Volume 224, Issue 9, 1 November 2021

Infectious diseases fellows’ futures have been uniquely imperiled by the pandemic. In this article, we issue a call to action to sustain their careers as the future leaders of infectious diseases inquiry.

Concurrent COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics pose unprecedented societal, economic, and public health challenges worldwide. Effective responses to these dual pandemics require a novel coordinated and collaborative global effort to accelerate biomedical research and implementation science to operationalize evidence-based interventions expeditiously.

Obesity is correlated with COVID-19 severity, SARS-CoV-2 viral load, and anti-spike IgG antibody responses. These findings offer new pathophysiological insights into the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 severity.

Vascular injury and aberrant proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine levels persisted and were significantly correlated with chest computed tomographic abnormalities and impaired pulmonary function 3 months after hospital discharge in patients recovered from coronavirus disease 2019, especially severe/critical disease.

Longitudinal follow-up of individuals infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reveals differences in the duration of antibodies to multiple antigens. Mathematical models of antibody waning and statistical algorithms can estimate an individual’s time since SARS-CoV-2 infection, and previous transmission waves in a population.

Incidence of influenza A/H1 and B were reduced by more than 60% in the United States during the first 10 weeks following implementation of NPIs. Potential large outbreaks of influenza may occur after the relaxation of NPIs.

Recipients of a herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) vaccine trial had antibodies to fewer viral epitopes compared with natural infection, HSV gD antibodies in cervicovaginal fluid at one-third the level of those in serum, and antibodies that mediated HSV-2–specific natural killer cell activation.

Serum albumin and 4 dietary antioxidants (vitamin A, B2, E, and folate) were inversely associated with high-risk HPV vaginal infection. The nutritional antioxidant score based on these 4 dietary antioxidants was also inversely associated with high-risk and low-risk HPV infection.

Given the epidemiological situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan in late 2020, using trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine to respond to cases caused by serotype 1 and 2 polioviruses offers substantial benefits.

Rotavirus group A surveillance in 7 US New Vaccine Surveillance Network sites during the 2014–2016 rotavirus season shows genotype G12P[8] as the most common strain over the 3 seasons, but predominance varied by year and study site.

Antibodies elicited by ZIKV DNA vaccination of individuals with no evidence of prior flavivirus experience had a limited capacity to bind or neutralize heterologous flaviviruses. More extensive cross-reactivity was observed in vaccinated individuals with prior flavivirus exposure.

Our study shows that endotoxin acts synergistically with Clostridioides difficile toxin B to increase IL-1β production. This effect varies among endotoxins from different gram-negative organisms and highlights a mechanism by which the gut microbiome can modify C. difficile disease severity.

In a patient with persistent methicillin-resistant S. aureus bacteremia associated with a septic aortic thrombus, adjunctive ticagrelor therapy resulted in immediate bacteremia clearance. In vitro experiments demonstrate that ticagrelor’s anti-infective properties are due to boosting of platelet-mediated killing, not antibiotic synergy.

In normal-weighted people with human immunodeficiency virus at combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation, higher body mass index, sub-Saharan African origin, living in a couple, and higher soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 and lower adiponectin concentrations are associated with becoming overweight or obese after 36 months of cART.

Injectable cabotegravir is highly effective for preventing human immunodeficiency virus infection. Infections can occur despite on-time injections and expected drug concentrations. Integrase strand transfer inhibitor resistance is observed in some cases. Viral load testing may help detect incident infections.

Continuous expression of HIV protein in lymphoid tissues despite prolonged viral suppression helps explain persistent immune activation and HIV-specific T-cell responses. Measuring HIV protein in tissues will likely be important for understanding mechanisms of persistence and evaluating future cure approaches.

Our data suggest that subsets of TIGIT⁺CD8⁺ T cells do not represent a state of immune exhaustion and maintain an intrinsic capacity to kill targets in human immunodeficiency virus–infected individuals in the absence of active viral replication.

In early stages of pregnancy (early second trimester), Plasmodium falciparum infections with the sextuple Pfdhfr/Pfdhps mutant haplotype affect the effectiveness of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine as intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy by lowering the birth weight of newborns.

Helminth infections are associated with decreased levels of angiogenic factors and their receptors, advanced glycation end products, and their ligands. These alterations are reversed following anthelmintic treatment. Strongyloides stercoralis infection could play a beneficial role by limiting or delaying the type 2 diabetes mellitus–related vascular complications.