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The World Health Organization (WHO) recently warned about the limited pipeline of new antibiotics for drug-resistant bacteria in a report based on a review published by WHO in 2022. The report found that only 12 new antibiotics entered the market between 2017 and 2021. Additionally, the report found that although 27 experimental antibiotics for critical bacterial infections are in clinical development, only 6 of those are considered different enough from existing antibiotics to potentially be used against drug-resistant pathogens without concern. Without a steady stream of novel antibiotics entering the pipeline and market, bacterial infections will become increasingly dangerous as bacteria continues to develop resistance to existing drugs.
A new study from researchers at HDT Bio found that a new type of RNA vaccine against HIV and the Zika virus generated strong antibody responses in pregnant rabbits and their offspring. More studies will be necessary to confirm that vaccinating the mother alone is enough to protect against infection in the offspring, as well as to optimize vaccination timing and to see if the results can translate to humans. If successful, the vaccine could be an important tool in preventing mother-to-child transmission of these viruses and reducing the disease burden in newborns.
A new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, supported by the US National Institutes of Health, found that HIV can persist in myeloid cells, a subset of white blood cells, in people who have been virally suppressed for years through antiretroviral therapy. The researchers emphasized that these findings challenge the long-held idea that these cells are short-lived, proving instead that these cells may contribute to an HIV reservoir and could be an important target in the development of a cure. Larger studies with more diverse participant pools will be needed to identify the proportion of people who show latent HIV in myeloid cells, as well as the mechanisms that replenish this reservoir over time.