Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Jul 14

✅ Say: "My manuscript has been metropolised"
❌ Don't say: "My manuscript has been rejected and so I've sent it to MDPI"

1 1

Reposted by David Helekal

Yonatan Grad @yhgrad.bsky.social · Jul 10

Now out in NEJM. Kudos to @dhelekal.bsky.social and @tatumdmortimer.bsky.social : www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...

1 13 23

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Jun 29

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Performance of deep-learning-based approaches to improve polygenic scores - Nature Communications

Polygenic scores aim to capture genetic risk but may miss nonlinear genetic and environmental interactions. Here, the authors show that neural networks detect limited nonlinearity and do not outperfor...

www.nature.com

3

Reposted by David Helekal

Tatum Mortimer @tatumdmortimer.bsky.social · Jun 26

If you are an early career research attending @stihiv2025.org and interested in learning more about data visualization in R, @odileharrison.bsky.social , Sim Dabee, and I are organizing a workshop during the conference (11:30am-1:30pm on Wednesday). Register here: forms.gle/e4UL1NG62PUD...

ECR Data Visualisation Workshop

Please complete this application to attend the Data Viz workshop. This event will be held at the 2025 STI & HIV World Congress in Montreal, Canada on Wednesday, July 30th from 11:30-13:30. Effective...

forms.gle

5 5

Reposted by David Helekal

Yonatan Grad @yhgrad.bsky.social · Jun 24

A fun conversation with Carl this afternoon about his excellent book AIR-BORNE--the recording is available at the HSPH youtube site: www.youtube.com/user/Harvard...

3 19

Reposted by David Helekal

senjutisaha.bsky.social @senjutisaha.bsky.social · Jun 23

One ceftriaxone-resistant #typhoid case last year set us on a path that is now live on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
47 cases in months, resistance rose from 0 to 5%. We spoke with patients, sequenced samples. 4.3.1.2.B1 lineage+blaCTX-M-15 on pCROB1. #AMR #PublicHealth
wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...

Outbreak of Ceftriaxone-Resistant Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi, Bangladesh, 2024

Ceftriaxone-Resistant Salmonella Typhi, Bangladesh

wwwnc.cdc.gov

1 6 2

Reposted by David Helekal

Volodymyr Minin 🇺🇦🇺🇸 @vmminin.bsky.social · Mar 31

Looking forward to my visit @ccdd-hsph.bsky.social!

2 3

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(10/10) Work with @tatumdmortimer.bsky.social & @yhgrad.bsky.social

2

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(9/10) As N. gonorrhoeae strains carrying high-level cephalosporin resistance on a tetM positive background have been emerging globally wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/..., the evident strength of selection for tetM may have created a favorable environment for their expansion in the US.

Emergence of Extensively Drug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, France, 2023

Extensively Drug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae

wwwnc.cdc.gov

1 2

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(8/10) This raises concern for genetic hitchhiking, whereby alleles that may be neutral or deleterious on their own actually increase in frequency due to their presence in lineages that carry another gene or allele that’s beneficial.

1 3

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(7/10) The number of major N. gonorrhoeae lineages carrying tetM also increased from one before 2020 that accounted for ~40% of all tetM+ isolates to 4 after 2020 that collectively accounted for ~80% of all tetM+ isolates. Two of these lineages carry penA variants that increase cephalosporin MICs.

1 2

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(6/10) This is consistent with a recent report out of Seattle, showing an increase in resistance in N. gonorrhoeae and an increase in S. aureus tetracycline resistance in those on doxy-PEP: academic.oup.com/cid/advance-... and www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Doxycycline to prevent bacterial sexually transmitted infections in the USA: final results from the DoxyPEP multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial and open-label extension

Doxy-PEP was effective in reducing bacterial STIs in this population of men who have sex with men and transgender women, including during an open-label extension when doxy-PEP efficacy was known. Doxy...

www.thelancet.com

1 2

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(5/10) By May 2024, the estimated proportion of isolates carrying tetM skyrocketed to ~35%, suggesting a large selective pressure for doxycycline resistance. The rise seems most pronounced in HHS regions 9 and 10.

1 1 3

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(4/10) To investigate the impact of the increased doxy use, we analyzed a collection of over 14000 N. gonorrhoeae genomes spanning 2018-mid 2024, collected and sequenced through CDC surveillance efforts -- GISP, eGISP, SURRG www.cdc.gov/gonorrhea/hc....

Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea

This page explains drug-resistant gonorrhea, changing treatments, and current challenges

www.cdc.gov

1 3

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(3/10) This is especially relevant for N. gonorrhoeae. In 2018, an estimated 10% of isolates carried the plasmid-borne gene tetM, which confers high-level tetracycline resistance (MIC ≥ 16 µg/mL) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC....

Effects of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis for prevention of sexually transmitted infections on gonorrhoea prevalence and antimicrobial resistance among men who have sex with men in the USA: a m...

Doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) has been shown to be efficacious for the prevention of bacterial sexually transmitted infections, but resistance implications for Neisseria gonorrhoeae rema...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

1 3

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(2/10) Over the past few years, the use of doxycycline to treat bacterial STIs has gone up in the US. Doxy became the recommended treatment for chlamydia (2020), it was used for syphilis treatment during bicillin shortages, and doxy-PEP was rolled out. What’s the impact on resistance?

1 2

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(1/10) New preprint: Expansion of tetM-carrying Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the US, 2018-2024; Link: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

1 7 14

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

Work with @tatumdmortimer.bsky.social & @yhgrad.bsky.social

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(9/10) As N. gonorrhoeae strains carrying high-level cephalosporin resistance on a tetM positive background have been emerging globally wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/..., the evident strength of selection for tetM may have created a favorable environment for their expansion in the US.

Emergence of Extensively Drug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, France, 2023

Extensively Drug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae

wwwnc.cdc.gov

1

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(8/10) This raises concern for genetic hitchhiking, whereby alleles that may be neutral or deleterious on their own actually increase in frequency due to their presence in lineages that carry another gene or allele that’s beneficial.

1

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(7/10) The number of major N. gonorrhoeae lineages carrying tetM also increased from one before 2020 that accounted for ~40% of all tetM+ isolates to 4 after 2020 that collectively accounted for ~80% of all tetM+ isolates. Two of these lineages carry penA variants that increase cephalosporin MICs.

1

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(6/10) This is consistent with a recent report out of Seattle, showing an increase in resistance in N. gonorrhoeae and an increase in S. aureus tetracycline resistance in those on doxy-PEP: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... and academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...

Potential Impact of Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis on Tetracycline Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Colonization with Tetracycline-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Group A Streptococc...

High-level tetracycline resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae is now widespread among men who have sex with men in King County, WA. Doxy PEP use was associated w

academic.oup.com

1

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(5/10) By May 2024, the estimated proportion of isolates carrying tetM skyrocketed to ~35%, suggesting a large selective pressure for doxycycline resistance. The rise seems most pronounced in HHS regions 9 and 10.

1

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(4/10) To investigate the impact of the increased doxy use, we analyzed a collection of over 14000 N. gonorrhoeae genomes spanning 2018-mid 2024, collected and sequenced through CDC surveillance efforts -- GISP, eGISP, SURRG www.cdc.gov/gonorrhea/hc....

Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea

This page explains drug-resistant gonorrhea, changing treatments, and current challenges

www.cdc.gov

1

David Helekal @dhelekal.bsky.social · Mar 28

(3/10) This is especially relevant for N. gonorrhoeae. In 2018, an estimated 10% of isolates carried the plasmid-borne gene tetM, which confers high-level tetracycline resistance (MIC ≥ 16 µg/mL).

1