Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 9h

“One hope is that AI could speed up drug discovery— researchers are using AI tools to help design the next generation of antibiotics, but making antibiotics in the laboratory can be challenging” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The rise of ‘nightmare bacteria’: antimicrobial resistance in six charts

Data reveal how the global challenge to reduce deaths and infections from drug-resistant bacteria is not going according to plan.

www.nature.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 9h

“The AI bot has helped nearly 10 000 young South Africans with 24/7 information on where to find the daily anti-HIV pill and how to use it correctly.” bhekisisa.org/health-news-...

Meet the AI chatbot that’s talking to young South Africans about sex, HIV and self-harm - Bhekisisa

Young women are contracting HIV faster than anyone else in South Africa, with about four out of every 10 new infections coming from just this group, even though they make up only about 8% of the total...

bhekisisa.org

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 9h

“Within these sensors, thymol is in a protected state that prevents its release unless exposed to the viral neuraminidase, which leads to cleavage of the glycosidic bond that the user perceives as a taste signal.” www.news-medical.net/news/2025100...

Taste-based flu test that detects infection within minutes

Researchers examine the effectiveness of a novel taste-based sensor for the early detection of influenza infection.

www.news-medical.net

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 9h

“Patients have also been telling Your Voice, Your BBC News that they have been receiving text messages from the NHS and their GP asking them to come forward for their Covid jab despite not being eligible.” www.bbc.com/news/article...

Pharmacies facing angry patients over Covid jab confusion

Up to half of patients coming to some pharmacies are being turned away because they are not eligible.

www.bbc.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 9h

“vaccinating infants and toddlers is proving more challenging..Walgreens offers Covid vaccinations only for kids ages 3 and up, and CVS’ minimum age is 5 years (Some states, such as Kansas and Illinois, have even higher age requirements.)” www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

People are finding ways to get Covid shots despite new limits on eligibility

Younger adults are getting Covid shots at pharmacies by attesting that they’re eligible. But parents are having more difficulty getting infants and toddlers vaccinated.

www.nbcnews.com

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Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 9h

“The CDC defines health care professional pretty broadly to include not only doctors but also nurse practitioners and pharmacists.” www.npr.org/2025/10/07/n...

What to know about getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine

Now that the CDC has finally issued final guidelines for the updated COVID-19 vaccines, at least some of the confusion on eligibility should clear up.

www.npr.org

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Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 10h

“The greatest reduction in age-specific annual mortality rate (per 100,000) occurred among infants aged less than 1 year, from 8.3 to 3.1 between 1999 to 2020 increasing to 3.7 in 2023.” www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com/news/us-pedi...

US Pediatric Pneumonia-Related Mortality Rates Declined From 1999 to 2023

www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 10h

“aged 18 to 24 years had an increased menstrual duration of 1.15 (95% CI, 0.86-1.46) days” www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com/news/adolesc...

Adolescent, Young Adult Menstrual Cycles More Prolonged After COVID-19 Vaccination

Adolescents and young adults were more susceptible to changes in their menstrual cycle following COVID-19 vaccination compared with older women.

www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 10h

“Do all HIV professionals become gerontologists too? Should all geriatricians be trained in providing HIV care?” www.idsociety.org/science-spea...

HIV and aging: Addressing new challenges and questions

Evan Thornburg, MA, highlights key challenges and questions for the community to address in providing care for people who are aging with HIV.

www.idsociety.org

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“It is very unusual for doctors to have to navigate a disagreement between the recommendations of the C.D.C. and the A.A.P” — the CDC is an anti-vaccine organization; stick with the AAP
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/w...

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

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Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“Within the carbapenem-resistant subset, 9 (14%) of 64 patients in the cefiderocol group died within 14 days, compared with 6 (10%) of 63 patients in the standard-of-care group, for an absolute risk difference of 5 percentage points (95% CI, –7 to 16).” www.cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobia...

Trial finds cefiderocol isn't superior to standard antibiotics for bloodstream infections

Cefiderocol was found to be efficacious in patients with gram-negative bloodstream infections, but more evidence is needed in patients with carbapenem-resistant infections.

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“There have been 54 confirmed human West Nile virus cases in the state this year, 5 of them in Placer County, where county officials said high numbers of West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes and dead birds have been found.” www.cidrap.umn.edu/west-nile/we...

West Nile death reported in California

The death, in a county where high numbers of West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes and dead birds have been found, is the fifth West Nile virus-related death in the state this year.

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“Mapping reveals that school districts and private schools with alarmingly low vaccination coverage are often located within counties where the overall coverage meets or approaches the 95% target” www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/stat...

State, county MMR vaccination data mask wide disparities in school uptake, researchers say

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“Seasonal increases of imported malaria during the summer months further intensify the potential for local transmission as competent vector populations simultaneously expand with increases in temperature," www.cidrap.umn.edu/malaria/loca...

Locally transmitted US malaria cases highlight increased risk, CDC report suggests

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“under Kennedy more childhood vaccines will be in jeopardy, including newborn hepatitis B” www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

Past surgeons general warn HHS Secretary Kennedy must go

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“in contemporary ICU settings with established treatment protocols and timely empiric broad-spectrum therapy, clinicians should not automatically anticipate poorer outcomes solely based on the detection of multiple pathogens," www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

Are Polymicrobial Infections Linked to Worse ICU Outcomes?

A retrospective study finds that critically ill patients with monomicrobial and polymicrobial bloodstream infections have similar mortality and clinical outcomes.

www.medscape.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“The whole process of discovering a candidate, creating it in the laboratory and testing it in cells can be done “within a week or two”” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AI has designed thousands of potential antibiotics. Will any work?

Machine learning can speed up the discovery of potential antibiotics but challenges remain.

www.nature.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“a pilot approach to the authorities: protecting all children through malaria vaccination, long-term preventive treatment, and the provision of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, all at the same time” www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/three...

A three-pronged approach to combat malaria in Burundi

MSF is supporting 20 health centers where children will receive vaccinations, chemopreventative therapy, and insecticide-treated bed nets.

www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“Data collected between 2022 and 2024 in Haiti shows the rabies virus continues to pose a serious threat to public health where more than 8,000 suspected cases in dogs were investigated.” news.un.org/en/story/202...

Haiti battles rabies with vaccines and vigilance

Health authorities in Haiti are turning deaths caused by rabies-infected dogs into a public health awakening with the support of the UN’s health agency in the region, PAHO.

news.un.org

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Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“compare the efficacy, safety and tolerability of..pyronaridine-artesunate (PA) & dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP), which are both approved for the general population but lack sufficient data for use in early pregnancy – to artemether-lumefantrine” www.mmv.org/newsroom/new...

First patient enrolled in historic Phase 3 clinical trial to treat malaria in first-trimester pregnancy | Medicines for Malaria Venture

A major milestone in Africa’s first-ever study assessing malaria treatments in early pregnancy.

www.mmv.org

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“The idea that a choice my parents made has resulted into something like this has been really hard to understand and deal with.” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Their parents never got them vaccinated. As young adults, they faced a choice.

Falling vaccination rates around the country mean more will grow up without protection from debilitating diseases until they are old enough to decide for themselves, typically at age 18.

www.washingtonpost.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“Just to be part of this extraordinary response is such a big — I guess I'll say, a big opportunity," www.npr.org/sections/goa...

A bold doctor sent her kids away and helped beat one of the world's deadliest viruses

A year ago, Rwanda faced its first outbreak of Marburg virus. Dr. Tsion Firew remembers how scared she was — and how that didn't stop her from playing a key role in the remarkably effective response.

www.npr.org

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“Marrazzo’s firing for allegedly opposing the Trump administration’s anti-vaccine agenda mimics that of Susan Monarez” www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/lead...

Leader of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases fired in alleged whistleblower retaliation

Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., the former director of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH's) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was fired from her position three weeks afte | ...

www.fiercebiotech.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“Major medical societies continue to recommend shots for younger children, pregnant women & others at higher risk of severe illness..the Trump administration's discussion of risk overemphasizes rare side effects” www.post-gazette.com/news/politic...

CDC stops recommending COVID-19 shots for all, leaves decision to patients

NEW YORK — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted recommendations by a new group of vaccine advisers, and stopped recommending COVID-19...

www.post-gazette.com

Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 1d

“As for standard vaccines, he said: “I don’t see any reason or any benefit to making it more difficult to get them. If it has the potential to be a benefit to somebody, it should be made easier to get, if anything.”” triblive.com/news/health-...

Though wary of covid shots, these Trump voters balk at restricting traditional vaccines

Chad Hill thinks some questions need to be asked about vaccines. Hill has harbored doubts about the covid-19 vaccine since it was introduced, due to how quickly it was developed and released. He suspe...

triblive.com