Show Notes
In this episode of Communicable, Josh Davis (Newcastle, Australia) and Emily McDonald (Montreal, Canada), plus invited guest, Steven Tong (Melbourne, Australia)—all practicing physicians and clinical trialists—assemble to discuss some of their ‘top infectious diseases papers published in 2025’. Bassam Ghanem (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), whom one might know better as Antibiotic Steward on social media, was also invited to share his favourite publications of 2025. Six papers that were most consistently picked by the panel are presented, explaining why they were picked and how they have shifted paradigms or changed their practice. This episode complements the previous episode, which presented ‘top clinical microbiology papers in 2025’, and was peer reviewed by Akshatha Ravindra of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India.
Resources CLARITY initiative website Papers presented (in order of presentation) Turner NA, et al. Dalbavancin for Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia. JAMA Meya DB, et al. Trial of High-Dose Oral Rifampin in Adults with Tuberculous Meningitis. NEJM Vodstrcil LA, et al. Male-Partner Treatment to Prevent Recurrence of Bacterial Vaginosis. NEJM Kreimer A, et al. Noninferiority of One HPV Vaccine Dose to Two Doses. NEJM Guglielmetti L, et al. Oral Regimens for Rifampin-Resistant, Fluoroquinolone-Susceptible Tuberculosis. NEJM Ross JDC et al, Oral gepotidacin for the treatment of uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhoea (EAGLE-1). Lancet ‘One liners’ (in order of presentation) Burdet C et al. Cloxacillin versus cefazolin for meticillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (CloCeBa). Lancet Lemiale V et al, Adjunctive corticosteroids in non-AIDS patients with severe Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PIC). Lancet Respir Med Luetkemeyer AF et al, Doxycycline to prevent bacterial sexually transmitted infections in the USA. Lancet Inf Dis Eyting M, et al. A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia. Nature Xie M, et al. The effect of shingles vaccination at different stages of the dementia disease course. Cell Pomirchy M, et al. Herpes Zoster Vaccination and Dementia Occurrence. JAMA Durbin AP et al, Daily Mosnodenvir as Dengue Prophylaxis in a Controlled Human Infection Model. NEJM Hook EW et al, One Dose versus Three Doses of Benzathine Penicillin G in Early Syphilis. NEJM Opdam MAA et al, Continuation versus temporary interruption of immunomodulatory agents during infections in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Clin Infect Dis Arundel C et al, Negative pressure wound therapy versus usual care in patients with surgical wound healing by secondary intention in the UK (SWHSI-2). Lancet Honourable mentions Chaccour C, et al. Ivermectin to Control Malaria. NEJM Lucinde RK, et al. A Pragmatic Trial of Glucocorticoids for Community-Acquired Pneumonia. NEJM Morel J, et al. Effect of a 1-month methotrexate delay on pneumococcal vaccine immunogenicity and disease control in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (VACIMRA). Lancet Rheumatol Haukoos J, et al. Hepatitis C Screening in Emergency Departments. JAMA Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium (METRC). Oral vs Intravenous Antibiotics for Fracture-Related Infections: The POvIV Randomized Clinical Trial, JAMA Surg Anderson CS, et al. Influenza vaccination to improve outcomes for patients with acute heart failure (PANDA II). Lancet St Peter SD, et al. Appendicectomy versus antibiotics for acute uncomplicated appendicitis in children. Lancet Pan CQ, et al. Tenofovir and Hepatitis B Virus Transmission During Pregnancy. JAMA Gohil SK, et al. Improving Empiric Antibiotic Selection for Patients Hospitalized With Abdominal Infection. JAMA Surg Related podcast episodes Communicable E44: Top clinical microbiology papers in 2025 https://share.transistor.fm/s/6e5c26ae Communicable E29: Bacterial vaginosis & male partners, https://share.transistor.fm/s/3de4f5c3 Communicable E28: Late-breaker trials at ESCMID Global: Should t
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In this episode of Communicable, Emily McDonald returns for another ‘Quarterly catch-up’ and is joined by Angela Huttner as co-host. Together, they review four recent randomised clinical trials, focusing on antibiotic treatment duration and different treatment approaches across a range of infections and patient populations [1–4]. They discuss the results and weigh in on their implications for clinical practice. References Johnson, et al. Vancomycin Taper and Pulse or Fidaxomicin for Recurrent C. difficile Infection. NEJM Evid. DOI: 10.1056/EVIDoa2600016 Bundgaard, et al. Response-Tailored or Standard-Duration Antibiotic Treatment for Infective Endocarditis (POET II). NEJM. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2607887 Bielicki, et al. Oral step-down, optimal drug, and total duration of antibiotic treatment in African children hospitalised with severe community-acquired pneumonia (PediCAP): a factorial randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2026. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00879-2 Carlsen, et al. Individualized Duration of Antibiotic Treatment in Culture-Negative Early-Onset Sepsis in Late Preterm and Term-Born Neonates in Denmark: A Multicenter, Open-Label, Randomised, Controlled Non-Inferiority Trial. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. DOI: 10.1016/S2352-4642(26)00118-5
In this episode of Communicable, hosts Emily McDonald and Marc Bonten are joined by Sylvain Lother and Valentijn Schweitzer for a discussion on the use of macrolides in community-acquired pneumonia. Together, they examine the evidence for adding a macrolide to beta-lactam therapy, which patients may benefit from combination treatment, and how available evidence can inform clinical practice. Resources: AMMI Canada, https://ammi.ca/en/home/ Further reading Postma DF, et al. Antibiotic Treatment Strategies for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults (CAP-START). NEJM 2015. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1406330 Qian ET, et al. Cefepime vs Piperacillin-Tazobactam in Adults Hospitalized With Acute Infection: the ACORN Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA 2023. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.20583 Schweitzer VA, et al. Narrow-spectrum antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in Dutch adults (CAP-PACT): a cross-sectional, stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised, non-inferiority, antimicrobial stewardship intervention trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2022. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00255-3 van Daalen FV, et al. Management of community-acquired pneumonia in adults: Practice Guideline from The Dutch Working Party on Antibiotic Policy and Dutch Association of Chest Physicians. CMI Comms 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmicom.2026.105206
At the Critical Care Reviews meeting in Belfast in June this year, REMAP-CAP investigators presented results suggesting that oseltamivir may be harmful in critically ill patients with influenza, upending a long-standing clinical practice in intensive care [1]. In this fourth collaboration between SIDP’s Breakpoints and ESCMID’s Communicable podcasts, hosts Erin McCreary and Josh Davis are joined by Steve Webb (Monash University), senior REMAP-CAP investigator and 'godfather of adaptive trial design', and Steve Tong (University of Melbourne), esteemed clinical trialist and friend of both podcasts. Together, they walk through the trial domain’s design, outcomes and results, also highlighting how these findings demonstrate the importance and clinical impact of randomised clinical trials. At the time of this episode recording in August, the results discussed were available as a preprint version [1]. Resources REMAP-CAP: A Randomised, Embedded, Multi-factorial, Adaptive Platform Trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia, https://www.remapcap.org/ References Murthy S, et al. Oseltamivir for Critically Ill Patients with Influenza: A Randomised Trial. Lancet 2026. Preprint http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7172531
In this episode of Communicable, Emily McDonald and Josh Davis host Henning Bundgaard and Sami El-Dalati for a discussion on early oral antibiotic switch for endocarditis, focusing on the POET trial, led by Bundgaard, and its clinical impact seven years after the results were first published in 2019 [1]. The episode also covers the ‘prose’ and cons of early oral switch therapy, as well as broader challenges of implementing new evidence in practice when it goes against long-standing dogma. References Iversen K, et al. Partial Oral versus Intravenous Antibiotic Treatment of Endocarditis, NEJM 2018. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1808312 Further reading: Pries-Heje MM, et al. Five-Year Outcomes of the Partial Oral Treatment of Endocarditis (POET) Trial, NEJM 2022. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2114046 El-Dalati S, et al. Partial Oral Versus Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy for Endocarditis With Management by a Multidisciplinary Team: A Retrospective Cohort Study, OFID 2025. DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofaf625 McDonald EM, et al. Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Infective Endocarditis in Adults: A WikiGuidelines Group Consensus Statement, JAMA Netw Open 2023. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.26366 European Society of Cardiology (ESC). 2023 ESC Guidelines for the management of endocarditis, 2023.
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