Highlights May 24 - from EID, JID, Lancet ID, Am Journal of Infection Control

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By way of overview, first up a study in May Emerging Infectious Diseases providing a detailed description of Hepatitis E viral dynamics in a group of asymptomatic people tested every 4 days, showing rapid viral load rises and declines with parallel antibody responses.

Next, a report in May EID of a cluster of invasive meningococcal disease caused by an expanding serogroup B strain in older adults in England, highlighting the critical role of genomic surveillance in linking cases and guiding public health responses.

Then, a study in May EID investigating the evolution and dynamics of Legionella pneumophila sequence type 1905 in Portugal, finding that this atypical strain has persisted since a major 2014 outbreak and continues to pose a public health risk for recurrent Legionnaires' disease cases and outbreaks and a note that something unusual is happening in legionella globally with many examples of locally persistent virulent strains.

Following that, an interventional study in May EID comparing COVID-19 incidence rates among cruise ship populations applying different sets of measures, finding a greater than 14-fold protection of passengers in ships that used masking and physical distancing.

Next, a study in April's American Journal of Infection Control using whole genome sequencing to investigate a hospital outbreak, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 remained infectious in aerosols for up to 5 hours after the room was vacated by an infected patient.

Then, a study in March's Lancet Infectious Diseases investigating fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 variants, finding that the BA.2.86 and JN.1 variants showed significantly higher rates of viral shedding compared to other variants,– potentially disrupting correlations between sewage viral concentrations and human disease rates.

Followed by a study in April's Journal of Infectious Diseases investigating the association between preceding SARS-CoV-2 infection and post-COVID-19–related symptoms among fully vaccinated Canadian paramedics, finding no association between prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and the prevalence of post-COVID-19–related symptoms.

Lastly we revisit the continued spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza among dairy cattle in the USA that we reported on last episode.

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