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Microregistrar Infection Newsletter — Sunday Weekly Edition · Sunday 18 October 2026
ECDC: the EU’s most intense West Nile season on record, with 1,715 locally acquired cases and 130 deaths.
An ECDC press release (15 Oct, not covered in our earlier issues) reports 1,715 locally acquired human West Nile virus cases in EU countries as of 7 Oct (Italy 748) and 130 deaths. The virus is spreading north: the Netherlands has 59 human cases and Belgium 15, its first locally acquired cases. ECDC sees no sign of increased severity. Separately, Kenya now has 7 confirmed Ebola cases, including three health workers, and the DRC’s SitRep 154 puts the outbreak at 9,348 / 4,510. UK surveillance is unchanged.
Counted from today’s digest. New journal items are the ones on the Journals tab (4 CMI, 2 IJID, 2 ICHE, 2 ASHE, 1 Lancet Microbe). The new EID early releases are on the Agencies tab under CDC and aren’t counted. Weekly X insights are 5 case challenges, 7 teaching posts, 7 paper reviews and 12 organisation posts; today’s 4 X signals are listed separately on the same tab. Links are unique content links across the issue, not counting our two website links. Gaps come from the Coverage gaps list; reports that simply aren’t due yet aren’t counted.
Also today
The other headlines from today’s issue. Each one links through to the full summary. In the UK it’s quiet: flu/COVID-19 (week 42: flu 6.0%, COVID 8.8%, RSV 1.0%), measles (1,030) and Salmonella Enteritidis t5.9411 (439) are unchanged, and week 43 is due on 22 Oct.
Stah aureus (updated)
An updated S. aureus teaching item (17 Oct 2026; title exactly as on the sheet).
Guidance for UEMS European Microbiology exam
Exam guidance (15 Oct 2026). Registration for the UEMS exam closes on 20 Oct; the exam is on 28 Nov.
Kenya: 7 cases, including 3 health workers
Four new cases on 17 Oct, all found in quarantine; the first known infections acquired inside Kenya. Kenya’s health ministry reports no evidence of community transmission.
DRC: 9,348 confirmed, 4,510 deaths
Data to 15 Oct: +71 cases and +32 deaths; the 7-day average is 71.9 cases a day.
Not yet confirmed by WHO or ECDC: we took this from an archive of the national bulletins, and ECDC’s page is still at 9,277 / 4,478.
Yellow fever: Ghana new, Colombia updated
Level 2 notices (16 Oct). Relevant to pre-travel advice and fever in returning travellers.
Human H5N1 case after dairy-cow exposure
Reported by county officials on 15 Oct; not seriously ill.
Not confirmed by CDC: sourced from CIDRAP and the county release.
Lower-dose co-trimoxazole for PCP
No worse 30-day mortality and less hyperkalaemia in a target-trial emulation of 4,572 patients.
The week at a glance
Ebola’s steady climb and Kenya’s rise from 1 to 7 cases; the UK encephalitis guideline, MRSA naming statement and MHRA echinocandin–CRRT alert; flu and COVID-19 flat at low levels.
31 posts worth a look
Case challenges, teaching material, paper reviews and organisation news from the past week, plus today’s signals.
What we could not confirm
The DRC’s SitRep 154 figures come from an archive of the national bulletins, not the official PDF, and ECDC hasn’t updated since 16 Oct. The 2 North Ubangi cases are still media-only. The Washington H5N1 case isn’t confirmed by CDC, because CDC’s bird-flu page timed out. There’s no WHO statement yet on Kenya’s 17 Oct cases. On Irkutsk, the cause is still undetermined.
Week in review
Our look back over Mon 12 – Sun 18 Oct 2026 for this Sunday Weekly Edition, drawn from our daily issues for 12–17 Oct, plus today’s checks.
Headline movements
| Story | Start of week (12 Oct issue) | End of week (18 Oct) | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebola Bundibugyo, DRC | 8,978 / 4,336 (SitRep 149, data to 10 Oct) | 9,348 / 4,510 (SitRep 154, data to 15 Oct) | +370 cases / +174 deaths in 5 reporting days; ~72 cases a day; CFR steady at ~48% |
| Kenya | 1 imported fatal case; 108/122 contacts quarantined | 7 confirmed / 1 death (2nd on 14 Oct, 3rd on 16 Oct, 4th–7th on 17 Oct, including 3 HCWs); 128/130 contacts quarantined | Escalated; all secondary cases found in quarantine |
| North Ubangi (DRC) | — | 2 cases reported by officials to Reuters (15 Oct); not official | Possible 8th province |
| UK flu (hospital lab positivity) | 6.5% (week 41, later revised to 6.2%) | 6.0% (week 42) | Stable at baseline |
| UK COVID-19 (hospital lab positivity) | 9.1% (week 41, revised to 9.0%) | 8.8%; admissions up to 2.46/100,000 (from 2.13) | Stable and low; admissions edging up |
| UK RSV | Baseline | 1.0% (from 0.4%) | Rising, still at baseline |
| Measles, England | 1,003 (to 14 Sep) | 1,030 (to 12 Oct); 19 cases with onset in the last 4 weeks | +27; stabilised after the May peak |
| S. Enteritidis t5.9411 (egg-linked) | 428 | 439 (to week 41); 1 death | +11 |
| US measles | 4,080 (to 8 Oct) | 4,410 (to 15 Oct) | +330 (+8%) |
| RCPath exams | No news | No news | Unchanged all week |
The week’s stories
A steady climb in the DRC, and escalation in Kenya
DRC transmission continued at ~70 confirmed cases a day, with Ituri dominant and Nord-Kivu rising. Contact follow-up stayed around 78%, against a 95% target. Kenya went from one imported death to seven cases, including three health workers infected before the index case was recognised. The main technical items were WHO’s filovirus contact-tracing guidance (9 Oct) and Lancet ID data on Ervebo T-cell and neutralising cross-reactivity to Bundibugyo virus. ECDC’s latest CDTR rates the risk as low for EU/EEA residents travelling to affected areas and very low for people living in the EU/EEA; UKHSA updated Kenya on its HCID country risk list (15 Oct).
No high-threat pathogen in contacts
DON620 (10 Oct) and the CDTR week 42 follow-up: no high-threat pathogen found in contacts.
Not confirmed: the cause is still undetermined.
Saudi Arabia, plus new EID data
WHO DON (15 Oct): 8 cases and 1 death in Saudi Arabia in 2026, with no secondary cases. EID added MERS genomics, Dutch serology cross-reactivity and camel data from Kazakhstan.
A record West Nile season, and more
ECDC reported a record WNV season (1,715 EU cases, 130 deaths, Belgium’s first cases). Chikungunya in France and dengue in Italy continued (CDTR week 42), and clade I mpox rose in September (342 EU/EEA cases).
The week’s guidance
- 12 Oct: UK Joint Societies adult infectious and autoimmune encephalitis guideline (J Infect). At minimum, CSF PCR for HSV-1/2, VZV and enterovirus; aciclovir within 6 h, for ≥14 days, with no oral step-down.
- 13 Oct: ISAC/ESCMID MRSA nomenclature (mec-MRSA; MRLM, split into HBSA and MODSA; OS-MRSA; treat MODSA and OS-MRSA as MRSA). Highly exam-relevant.
- 14 Oct: MHRA DSI/2026/014: give echinocandins ≥6 h after a new PAN CRRT filter.
- 14–15 Oct: UKAP consultation on HCWs with HIV who do EPPs (closes 8 Nov); Ebola returning workers scheme (Uganda areas); UKHSA HCID risk list (Kenya).
- 16 Oct (CDC): yellow fever travel notices (Ghana new, Colombia updated).
- Quiet all week: UK SMI news, Green Book chapters, NICE infection guidance, EUCAST (v16.1) and RCPath exams.
Five new items
12 Oct Interactive HYN: CMV colitis → 13 Oct Interactive HYN: Viral syndromes → 14 Oct REMAP-CAP trial review → 15 Oct Guidance for UEMS European Microbiology exam (added late) → 17 Oct Stah aureus (updated).
Worth catching up on
- Lancet ID: the ExPEC9V E. coli vaccine phase 3 failed (VE 14.6%, stopped for futility).
- J Infect: the UK encephalitis guideline, the El Niño and UK infection services editorial, and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant N. meningitidis in China.
- CMI: MRSA nomenclature.
- Lancet ID: Ervebo cross-reactivity to Bundibugyo virus.
- NEJM: IMPALA, long-acting cabotegravir/rilpivirine non-inferior in African adults with adherence problems.
- CID: linezolid restriction, with less resistance but a mortality signal in VRE-colonised patients.
- Eurosurveillance: XDR Shigella in the Netherlands.
- EID: metastatic C. auris, the five-biomarker definition of hypervirulent K. pneumoniae, and S. pyogenes M1UK/M1 13SNPs toxic shock.
- J Infect: the nanopore 16S workflow.
- CMI: lower-dose co-trimoxazole for PCP.
Five things to carry into the week
- Kenya now has secondary transmission, including in health workers. Treat Kenya as a VHF risk-assessment country and take detailed exposure histories, especially from returning HCWs.
- DRC Bundibugyo is still growing steadily (~72 cases a day; 9,348 cases). The North Ubangi spread is unconfirmed.
- UK winter viruses are flat at low levels, and RSV is starting to rise. Week 43 data come out on 22 Oct.
- Learn the new MRSA terms (HBSA, MODSA, OS-MRSA) and the MHRA echinocandin–CRRT timing advice. Both are exam- and practice-relevant.
- Exams: nothing new from RCPath. UEMS European microbiology exam registration closes on 20 Oct (exam 28 Nov), and Moodle has added a guidance page.
Microregistrar Moodle update
Two new entries since our last check, newest first.
Stah aureus (updated)
An updated Staphylococcus aureus teaching item. The title is exactly as it appears on the sheet; it’s presumably S. aureus.
Guidance for UEMS European Microbiology exam
Exam guidance, dated before our last check. It’s timely: ESCMID says registration for the 3rd UEMS European Examination in Medical Microbiology closes on 20 Oct, and the exam is on 28 Nov (see Weekly X insights).
The full list is in the Microregistrar moodlecloud sheet ›
Watched pages
We check nine pages every morning for anything new, compared with what we saw last time (checked 18 Oct 2026 08:08 BST; all 9 were reachable). Nothing meaningful is new today, and RCPath exams are unchanged.
Health Protection Report (UKHSA)
No changeNo new reports (still volume 20 issue 9, 24 Sep).
UK SMI News (RCPath)
No changeNo new items.
RCPath Examinations
No changeNo new exam news. No new or changed documents on the examinations pages.
Green Book
No changeNo new or updated chapters.
UKHSA organisation page (GOV.UK)
No changeNo new items.
NICE published guidance
No changeNo new infection or antimicrobial items.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
No changeNo new items.
Journal of Infection
No changeThe nanopore 16S pathogen-detection paper reappeared under its ScienceDirect link. We covered it on 17 Oct, so it isn’t repeated here.
Journal of Hospital Infection
No changeNo new items.
Agencies & guidance
ECDC’s record West Nile season is today’s main official item. Kenya’s four new Ebola cases, three in health workers, are the week’s biggest change. UK surveillance is unchanged.
Guidance changes
Still open and still current
- No new UK SMI, Green Book, NICE infection/AMR or EUCAST changes. EUCAST breakpoints remain v16.1.
- Still open: the UKAP consultation on healthcare workers living with HIV who perform exposure-prone procedures (closes 8 Nov 2026). Consultation ›
- Still current: MHRA DSI/2026/014. Where possible, give echinocandins ≥6 h after CRRT starts or after a new PAN filter circuit, without delaying CRRT. MHRA alerts ›
- CDC yellow fever travel notices (Ghana new, Colombia updated, 16 Oct): relevant to UK pre-travel advice and fever in returning travellers. See the CDC section.
ECDC
The most intense EU West Nile season on record (15 Oct)
1,715 locally acquired human cases in EU countries as of 7 Oct (Italy 748), and 130 deaths. Greece and France had their highest-ever counts. The virus is spreading north: the Netherlands has 59 human cases and Belgium 15, its first locally acquired cases. ECDC sees no sign of increased severity: the proportions hospitalised, with neurological disease or dying are below the previous decade’s levels. We hadn’t covered this in earlier issues.
Last updated 16 Oct 16:11
ECDC updates on weekdays only. Still 9,277 / 4,478 (data to 14 Oct). It notes the North Ubangi media reports, and lists Kenya’s second case but not the 16–17 Oct cases. The CDTR is still week 42 (16 Oct); week 43 is expected around 23 Oct.
UKHSA / England
Week 42 still the latest
Data to 11 Oct: hospital lab positivity flu 6.0%, COVID-19 8.8%, RSV 1.0%. Week 43 is due on 22 Oct 2026.
England: 1,030 cases
Lab-confirmed cases, 1 Jan–12 Oct 2026.
S. Enteritidis t5.9411: 439 cases
Data to week 41.
Still week 41
No newer release.
Use the HCID country risk list for returning travellers
There’s been no new UKHSA statement since Kenya’s 17 Oct cases. Kenya’s entry on the HCID (high consequence infectious disease) country-specific risk list was updated on 15 Oct. Use it for returning-traveller VHF (viral haemorrhagic fever) risk assessment, especially for healthcare workers coming back from Kenya. MHRA has no new infection-relevant alert.
Global — Ebola (Bundibugyo)
Kenya: 7 confirmed cases, 1 death (17 Oct)
- Four new cases, seven in total, including the index patient, who died. One is a close male relative (in quarantine since 6 Oct). Three are health workers (2 men and 1 woman, aged 29, 35 and 32) who managed the index case on 3–4 Oct, before he died on 5 Oct; they had been in quarantine since 9 Oct.
- All four had fever as their first symptom in quarantine and were isolated straight away. All tested positive at both the National Virology Reference Laboratory and KEMRI. Cases 2 and 3 are stable on supportive care.
- 128 of 130 contacts (98.5%) are in quarantine, up from 127 of 130; 2 are still being traced. More cases among quarantined contacts are possible until 21-day monitoring ends. There are no travel, trade or gathering restrictions, and the health ministry reports no evidence of community transmission.
- IPC take-home: these are the first known infections acquired in Kenya. They show health workers were exposed before Ebola was recognised in a patient who had travelled from the DRC through Uganda. Africa CDC stresses IPC, PPE and training for frontline staff.
Kenya’s health ministry statement, as reported by KBC, Reuters and the Daily Nation, and by Africa CDC. There’s no WHO DON on these cases yet.
DRC: 9,348 confirmed, 4,510 deaths (data to 15 Oct, published 16 Oct)
CFR 48.2%. In 24 h: +71 cases / +32 deaths (Ituri 41, Nord-Kivu 22, Tshopo 7, Haut-Uélé 1). 2,507 recovered; 916 in treatment centres. The 7-day average is 71.9 cases a day, against 67.0 the week before. There’s been no new health zone since 8 Oct (65 zones in 7 provinces), and Tshopo is up to 71 cases. SitRep 155 hadn’t been posted when we compiled this issue.
Not yet confirmed by WHO or ECDC: these national figures come from an archive of the DRC’s bulletins, and we didn’t open the official PDF. ECDC is still at 9,277 / 4,478, and CDC’s page (updated 13 Oct) is behind.
Possible eighth province
Reuters (15 Oct): 2 cases after suspected deaths in a mining area in Wapinda health zone.
Not confirmed: still media-only, and not yet in official DRC reporting.
WHO
No new Disease Outbreak News
Nothing since MERS-CoV, Saudi Arabia (15 Oct), and no WHO DON yet on Kenya’s 17 Oct cases.
CDC / US
Yellow fever notices (16 Oct)
- Level 2, yellow fever in Ghana (new): an outbreak in the Upper West Region. Travellers should be vaccinated at least 10 days before travel and avoid mosquito bites. CDC notice ›
- Level 2, yellow fever in Colombia (updated): more cases reported. CDC notice ›
- Ebola notices unchanged: Level 4 for Ituri/Nord-Kivu and Level 3 for Haut-Uélé/Tshopo (both 4 Aug), Level 2 for the rest of the DRC and Uganda. No Kenya Ebola travel notice was listed. Travel notices ›
Human H5N1 case, Washington State (reported 15 Oct)
A Yakima County resident exposed to infected dairy cows; not seriously ill and isolating at home. It came a week after the state’s first H5N1 detections in dairy cattle (two Yakima County farms). The public risk is described as low.
Not confirmed by CDC: sourced from CIDRAP, citing the county release; CDC’s bird-flu page timed out.
Florida: 368 locally acquired cases
This year through 10 Oct (+72 in the latest week), the largest US dengue outbreak in decades, mostly in Hillsborough County (310). From the same CIDRAP round-up.
Situation page behind
Updated 13 Oct, counts as of 14 Oct: DRC 9,277 / 4,478; Kenya 2 / 1. US entry restrictions for travellers recently in the DRC are still in place.
4,410 US cases (as of 15 Oct)
Page updated 16 Oct; the next update is due around 22–23 Oct.
No new advisory
Web search found no October HAN; the latest is still CDCHAN-00533 (rabies PEP, 10 Sep). The MMWR feed still shows the 15 Oct issue as the latest (DTaP effectiveness in Alaska; dengue in the US Virgin Islands; Cladophialophora bantiana), with no Early Release since.
EID early releases we hadn’t covered
- Post-COVID expansion of S. pyogenes lineages causing streptococcal toxic shock, Japan, 2023–24 (n=919): the resurgence was driven by M1UK (49.8%) and the emerging M1 13SNPs (37.4%), which are replacing M1global. M1 13SNPs was linked to younger age and higher mortality (unadjusted). Relevant to UK iGAS (invasive group A streptococcal) surveillance. EID ›
- Fatal Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis in a 3-year-old on ALL chemotherapy (Georgia, USA): diagnosed by plasma microbial cell-free DNA sequencing during febrile neutropenia. Remember tick-borne infections in immunocompromised hosts. EID ›
- MERS-CoV detected by RT-qPCR in 38 symptomatic camels, Kazakhstan, 2025: active circulation in Central Asia, outside the classic Middle East/Africa range. EID ›
- Dirofilaria asiatica microfilaraemia in humans, Sri Lanka (two reports): found during lymphatic filariasis night-blood surveillance; a novel species (Candidatus D. honkongensis). EID › · EID ›
No newer items dated 17–18 Oct.
Journals
Eleven new items from five journals, online 16–17 Oct. Items posted on 16 Oct that we missed yesterday are marked “catch-up”. We found no new NEJM, Lancet Infect Dis, JAMA, CID, JAC, JAC-AMR, J Hosp Infect or Eurosurveillance infection items for 17–18 Oct.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection — new
Co-trimoxazole (TMP-SMX) dose for Pneumocystis pneumonia (Epic Cosmos, n=4,572)
Compared with high-dose treatment (≥15 mg/kg/day TMP), 30-day mortality wasn’t significantly different with low dose (≤10 mg/kg/day; HR 0.79, 0.57–1.08) or intermediate dose (HR 0.93). Hyperkalaemia was less common with low dose (HR 0.60) and occurred in 27.4% overall.
Takeaway: supports the move to lower doses, though RCTs (randomised controlled trials) are still needed.
Linked acute genotype F1b hepatitis B in people living with HIV or on PrEP (France, 2022–2025)
16 men; 14 shared a highly homologous F1b strain (a Latin American genotype, rare in France). 3 were on long-acting cabotegravir/rilpivirine, which has no activity against HBV, and 9 had been vaccinated, 6 of them with anti-HBs of 10–100 IU/L. No known escape mutations.
Takeaway: check HBV status and immunity before switching to ARV (antiretroviral) regimens without HBV activity.
STI prevalence in females presenting after sexual assault in Europe (15 studies, n=2,992)
Pooled prevalence: C. trachomatis 7.5% (urogenital 9.2%, anorectal 4.4%, pharyngeal 1.0%); T. vaginalis 4.5%; M. genitalium 3.6%; N. gonorrhoeae 1.6%. Infections can’t be assumed to come from the assault.
Takeaway: supports full STI testing after assault.
One-year outcomes of long-acting cabotegravir PrEP in Milan
Title-level only; abstract not retrieved.
IJID — new
Repeat AST on serial isolates: a review
Susceptibility profiles are generally stable over short intervals, and P. aeruginosa varies most. Small MIC shifts near breakpoints can cause category changes without true resistance.
Takeaway: reusing a recent AST result may be acceptable in low-risk settings, with overrides for persistent or recurrent infection. Relevant to lab SOPs on repeat testing.
Global spread of the influenza A(H3N2) K lineage, 2025–26 (170,793 HA sequences)
The K lineage replaced J.2 sublineages within one season, spreading out from the US rather than the usual East–Southeast Asia source. It has several antigenic-site changes but no complete antibody escape.
Takeaway: background for this winter’s H3N2 and vaccine-match discussions.
ICHE and ASHE — catch-up
MALDI-TOF + AST vs WGS for predicting healthcare transmission (Pittsburgh, 2,656 isolates)
A machine-learning model on MALDI-TOF spectra gave NPV 99.5% but PPV 1.6%, with sensitivity of 20%.
Takeaway: it may help rule transmission out where WGS isn’t available, but it can’t confirm it.
MRSA nasal PCR in solid organ transplant recipients (n=318)
Specificity 0.95 and NPV 0.98 for MRSA in clinical cultures.
Takeaway: a negative swab may support stopping anti-MRSA therapy in low-risk SOT patients.
Conditional urine culture based on pathological urinalysis (n=3,969 episodes)
Leucocyte esterase or nitrite positivity: sensitivity 92.8%, NPV 95.9%, specificity 51.5%.
Takeaway: supports urine culture pathways guided by symptoms plus urinalysis.
Piperacillin-tazobactam stewardship
After susceptibility fell (P. aeruginosa pip-tazo 95%→77%), the stewardship programme cut pip-tazo use 11-fold, increased cefepime 2.6-fold and ceftriaxone 1.7-fold, and reduced meropenem 1.5-fold.
Lancet Microbe — new
“Bourbon virus: an expanding tick-borne threat hidden by diagnostic blind spots”
Title-level only.
Weekly X insights
The best of the past week on X (11–18 Oct 2026): 31 posts in four groups, plus today’s signals. On Sundays this tab replaces the usual On X tab.
Today’s signals · 4
Four new Ebola cases confirmed
(17 Oct) Total 7, including 1 death; all were in quarantine; no evidence of community transmission.
Three of the four are health workers
(17 Oct) Africa CDC is deploying support. A key indicator is whether new cases come from the contact list.
Quick takes
(16 Oct) US human H5N1 case (Washington), Florida dengue, plague in Madagascar, MERS in Saudi Arabia, new polio cases.
Vaginal oestrogen and recurrent UTIs
(18 Oct) World Menopause Day messaging on reducing recurrent UTIs during and after menopause. Not new guidance.
Case challenges · 5
“Can you identify the organism?”
(15 Oct 2026, 12:08 BST) An image quiz: urine culture on CLED agar (Gram-negative).
Cheek plaque after a tragus piercing
(16 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST) An 18-year-old, pierced 6 months earlier, with a fluctuant violaceous plaque not improved by drainage and cephalexin; granulomas, no AFB on biopsy. “Diagnosis?”
MGH Case Record
(17 Oct 2026, 22:00 BST) A 19-year-old woman with fever, cervical lymphadenopathy and leukopenia.
Exam-style MCQ: liver abscess differential
(17 Oct 2026, 00:52 BST) A daily toddy drinker with 2 weeks of fever and right upper quadrant pain, tender hepatomegaly and leucocytosis. Pairs with Moodle’s liver abscess items.
Urine cytology: what type of crystal?
(13 Oct 2026, 22:05 BST) An image quiz, more lab medicine than micro.
Teaching material · 7
Micro rounds: Bacteroides fragilis cellulitis
(16 Oct 2026, 23:48 BST) Cleveland Clinic ID: postoperative cellulitis due to B. fragilis.
Multimodal imaging in endocarditis
(14 Oct 2026, 20:02 BST) A review of multimodal imaging in infective endocarditis.
Infections in haematological malignancy
(13 Oct 2026, 20:37 BST) Including myeloma patients having CAR-T.
BSAC antifungal stewardship eLearning
(14 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST) RCPath CPD approval for BSAC’s new 3-week course “The Role of Antifungal Stewardship”.
“Go Narrow” antibiotic game
(14 Oct 2026, 21:23 BST) Spectrum, targets and resistance mechanisms.
Online course: anaerobes
(15 Oct 2026, 14:05 BST) AMR, virulence and clinical role; register by 19 Oct.
EUCIC course: surveillance and IPC
(12 Oct 2026, 14:50 BST) An onsite course on ID surveillance and IPC.
Paper reviews · 7
MRSA nomenclature in CMI
(15 Oct 2026, 09:30 BST) The ESCMID-ESGS/ISAC-SAWG statement, aimed at standardising AST interpretation.
Serial C. auris bloodstream isolates, London ICU
(16 Oct 2026, 14:09 BST) Two patients: heteroresistance, CRZ1 escape mutations and drug-induced polyploidy despite wild-type FKS1 and susceptible MICs.
WikiGuidelines UTI
(15 Oct 2026, 18:17 BST) The lead author: population antibiograms may not reflect an individual patient’s resistance risk.
Antifungal prophylaxis for influenza-associated aspergillosis?
(12 Oct 2026, 05:29 BST) Does early prophylaxis reduce influenza-associated pulmonary aspergillosis in ICU patients?
GBS bacteraemia in adults, Japan
(16 Oct 2026, 04:55 BST) Editor’s Choice: 2015–2024, mortality predictors.
Metagenomic NGS for UTI stewardship
(15 Oct 2026, 17:17 BST) An authors’ post on clinical actionability.
“Social norm” messaging and antibiotics
(16 Oct 2026, 21:54 BST) Messaging alone didn’t change intentions to use antibiotics inappropriately.
Dedicated clinician critique threads were scarce again, so this section is mostly journal, society and author posts.
Organisation news · 12
UEMS European microbiology exam
(13 Oct 2026, 09:00 BST) The 3rd UEMS European Examination in Medical Microbiology is on 28 Nov; register by 20 Oct.
Trainees’ Advisory Committee
(16 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST) Applications by 6 Nov, 5 pm.
Free Educational Update (6 Nov)
(15 Oct 2026, 14:00 BST) Online, on AI in pathology training and assessment.
#IPD2026 poster competition
(17 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST) Deadline midnight GMT, 27 Oct.
“Welcome to the Lab” webinars
(13 Oct 2026, 17:01 BST) 13 free webinars (2–30 Nov), including microbiology.
#UKHSAVirusWatch
(15 Oct 2026, 17:19 BST) Flu lab positivity stable at 6.0% (from 6.2%).
Maternal RSV vaccination
(14 Oct 2026, 11:25 BST) Reduces severe RSV lung infection in infants by 80%.
Epi Alert
(14 Oct 2026, 06:30 BST) Bundibugyo in the DRC, global measles, rickettsiosis in Mexico, the Russian pneumonia case, local dengue in Italy, a Bangladesh outbreak.
Call for guideline contributors
(12 Oct 2026, 11:10 BST) Open until 10 Nov.
Support to Kenya
(17 Oct 2026, 20:45 BST) After four new cases, including three HCWs.
IDBugBowl at IDWeek 2026
(16 Oct 2026, 23:16 BST) The University of Utah ID team is entering.
Accounts we couldn’t cover
@CDCgov had no infection-specific original posts in the window (only a general check-up post). @TheLancet, @NEJM and @JAMA_current posted no infection-specific research. @TheLancetInfDis, @ECDC_EU, @BSACandJAC and @gmcuk had 0 original posts. The British Infection Association handle we tried (@BIAinfection) returned nothing. Broad “teaching/quiz” and “thread/paper” searches were mostly non-ID noise, so we discarded them.
What we could not confirm
We want you to know exactly where today’s issue has limits, so here are the 5 gaps we couldn’t close and what went wrong.
| Source | Issue |
|---|---|
| CDC | The HAN archive, MMWR, measles and newsroom pages refused our access. We covered MMWR via its feed and measles via CDC’s syndicated page, but we didn’t review the CDC newsroom. CDC’s bird-flu page timed out, so the Washington H5N1 case comes only from CIDRAP and the county. |
| DRC bulletins | The SitRep 154 figures come from an archive of the national bulletins; we didn’t open the official PDF. SitRep 155 (data 16 Oct) wasn’t available yet. North Ubangi is still media-only. |
| WHO | No DON or statement found on Kenya’s 17 Oct cases, and we didn’t re-check WHO AFRO after 16 Oct. |
| Journals | The CID, JAC-AMR and JAMA Network Open feeds weren’t available, and the Eurosurveillance and ICHE feeds were empty. We used Crossref instead, which found no new CID, JAC, JAC-AMR, OFID or J Hosp Infect papers since 16 Oct. The Lancet Microbe Bourbon virus paper and the CMI Milan cabotegravir PrEP paper are titles only. |
| Weekly X | Some organisation accounts were silent or couldn’t be found (see the Weekly X insights tab); the rest of the sweep was complete. |
Sources
Today’s digest doesn’t include a sources checklist, so we can’t show ticked and open checks this time. These are the sources it draws on, as described in the issue.
- Watched pages (9 pages, all reachable, checked 18 Oct 08:08 BST)
- Microregistrar Moodle sheet (2 new items)
- ECDC: West Nile virus press release, Ebola page, CDTR
- UKHSA GOV.UK: week 42 flu/COVID-19 report, measles, Salmonella, Outbreaks under monitoring, HCID country risk
- MHRA drug and device alerts
- Kenya health ministry via KBC, Reuters and the Daily Nation; Africa CDC; DRC bulletins via ebola-tracker.org and the DRC MoH page; WHO Disease Outbreak News
- CDC: travel notices, Ebola, measles, HAN, MMWR feed, EID early releases; CIDRAP
- Journal sweep (RSS and Crossref) plus watched journal feeds
- Week in review: our daily issues for 12–17 Oct
- Weekly X insights (11–18 Oct)