September 18, 2025

Measles

Tracking County-Level Measles Cases in the U.S.
Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine, more than 90% of U.S. residents were infected with the measles virus before the age of 15 years, with the 3 million to 4 million annual cases of measles resulting in approximately 48 000 hospitalizations. Building on their experience with timely infectious disease surveillance through the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) COVID-19 Dashboard, they developed an infrastructure to track confirmed measles cases as they are publicly reported across all affected counties in the U.S. For the most affected states, they present state-level cumulative and weekly incidence curves. National-level distributions of vaccination status and age group for all confirmed cases is presented. All dashboard components and underlying data are directly downloadable.

Influenza

Efficacy of Baloxavir Treatment in Preventing Transmission of Influenza
This is a multi-country, phase 3b trial to assess the efficacy of single-dose baloxavir treatment to reduce influenza transmission from index patients to household contacts. Overall, 1,457 index patients and 2,681 household contacts were enrolled across the 2019–2024 influenza seasons; 726 index patients were assigned to the baloxavir group, and 731 to the placebo group. By day five, transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza was significantly lower with baloxavir than with placebo (adjusted incidence, 9.5% vs. 13.4%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.68; 95.38% confidence interval [CI], 0.50 to 0.93; P=0.01), with an adjusted relative risk reduction of 29% (95.38% CI, 12 to 45). The adjusted incidence of transmission of influenza virus by day five that resulted in symptoms was 5.8% with baloxavir and 7.6% with placebo; however, the difference was not significant (adjusted odds ratio, 0.75; 95.38% CI, 0.50 to 1.12; P=0.16). Emergence of drug-resistant viruses during the follow-up period occurred in 7.2% (95% CI, 4.1 to 11.6) of the index patients in the baloxavir group; no resistant viruses were detected in household contacts. No new safety signals were identified.

COVID: Active Vaccination/Immunity

Adverse Events Associated with COVID-19 Vaccination or Diagnosis among Pregnant and Non-pregnant Women in the United States, 2021-2022
Authors looked at a cohort study of >1 million women, 11 December 2020–30 September 2022, United States. They identified 3,556 (120.6 per 10,000) adverse events among pregnant women, with near-identical incidence rates between those unvaccinated and vaccinated given COVID-19 vaccination (120.5 and 120.7 per 10,000; adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.04 [95%CI 0.96,1.13]). More adverse events occurred given COVID-19 diagnosis, including pericarditis (pregnant: aOR=5.35, 95%CI 2.24,12.79; non-pregnant: aOR=5.57, 95%CI 3.02,10.27) and acute myocardial infarction, (pregnant: aOR=3.15, 95%CI 1.56,6.37; non-pregnant: aOR=4.34, 95%CI 2.79,6.76). The study reinforces the safety of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women and the increased risks with COVID-19 during pregnancy.

COVID: Early Viral Phase

Rapid Elimination of Culturable SARS-CoV-2 with Intramuscular or Intravenous Administration of Antiviral Monoclonal Antibody Therapy
Investigators evaluated intramuscular (IM) versus intravenous (IV) administration of tixagevimab/cilgavimab (Evusheld) in early COVID-19. Following treatment the differences between groups became evident. One day after mAb infusion (Day 1), SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels were not statistically different between groups (IV/IM vs placebo: 5.8 vs 7.5 log₁₀ copies/mL; P=0.2), but those receiving mAbs were less likely to have culture positivity (6.3% vs 62%; P=0.007). On day 2, 50% of placebo participants were still culture positive, compared to none in the combined mAb group. They report that both IM and IV administration of T/C lead to rapid elimination of culturable SARS-CoV-2.

COVID: The Late Phase/PASC/Long COVID

CSF Immune Cell Alterations in Women with Neuropsychiatric Long COVID
Twenty-two women with and ten women without NP-Long COVID were enrolled from New Haven, CT, and the surrounding region and consented to a blood draw and large volume lumbar puncture. Total RNA was extracted from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Polyadenylated RNA was sequenced, and differential expression analyses were performed. Both CSF and PBMC samples showed differential gene expression associated with Long COVID status. There were CSF-specific differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in people with Long COVID, including in genes related to oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, and P53 response, indicating compartment-specific immune responses. Some pathways were dysregulated in both the CSF and PBMC of Long COVID compared to controls, including those related to androgen response, MTORC1 signaling, and lipid metabolism.