Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a major global cause of neonatal, infant, and maternal infections. In Japan, national guidelines based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations mandate culture-based screening and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) for GBS-positive pregnant women. Despite initial reductions in GBS infections, the incidence has plateaued, and there are notable limitations in current prevention methods. Approximately 15% of pregnant women are not screened for GBS, and intermittent colonization undermines screening accuracy, contributing to early-onset disease. IAP does not prevent late-onset disease, the incidence of which is increasing in Japan. This study reviewed maternal and neonatal GBS colonization using polymerase chain reaction, evaluated capsular type distributions, and explored late-onset disease infection routes. Among 525 mother-neonate pairs, the study found a higher detection rate of GBS via polymerase chain reaction compared to culture methods and identified significant discrepancies between antepartum and intrapartum colonization. GBS was detected in 3.5% of neonates from initially negative mothers at 4 days of age. Capsular types varied between mothers and neonates, indicating potential horizontal transmission. This study underscores the need for improved rapid diagnostic tests and highlights the potential of maternal GBS vaccination as a future prevention strategy.

As astroviral infection rapidly increased in the summer of 2022 in Korea, this study aimed to determine the cause and genotype of astroviruses during this period. From January to December 2022, we tested 43,312 stool samples from patients with acute gastroenteritis utilizing multiplex PCR to detect HAstV. For the HAstV-positive samples, we determined the genotypes of the HAstVs by PCR and sequencing. The monthly positive rate from 2015 to 2022 showed a notable and abrupt increase of HAstV infection between June and August 2022, peaking at 9.8% in July 2022. The annual positivity rate of HAstV remained at 2–3% between 2015 and 2019, and then decreased to 0.5% in 2020, followed by an increase to 1.5% in 2021 and 3.6% in 2022.The genotyped astroviruses in 2022 were all identified as HAstV-1 type, and the nucleotide identity% among them was >99%. The GenBank accession number for the strain genetically closest to the strains identified in our study was ON571597.1, which was HAstV-1 isolated from Pingtan in 2019. Our results provide recent epidemiological data on HAstVs in Korea. The decline and surge in astrovirus positivity in recent years may be related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) causes invasive E. coli disease (IED), including bacteraemia and (uro)sepsis, resulting in a high disease burden, especially among older adults. This study describes the epidemiology of IED in England (2013–2017) by combining laboratory surveillance and clinical data. A total of 191 612 IED cases were identified. IED incidence increased annually by 4.4–8.2% across all ages and 2.8–7.6% among adults ≥60 years of age. When laboratory-confirmed urosepsis cases without a positive blood culture were included, IED incidence in 2017 reached 149.4/100 000 person-years among all adults and 368.4/100 000 person-years among adults ≥60 years of age. Laboratory-confirmed IED cases were identified through E. coli-positive blood samples (55.3%), other sterile site samples (26.3%), and urine samples (16.6%), with similar proportions observed among adults ≥60 years of age. IED-associated case fatality rates ranged between 11.8–13.2% among all adults and 13.1–14.7% among adults ≥60 years of age. This study reflects the findings of other published studies and demonstrates IED constitutes a major and growing global health concern disproportionately affecting the older adult population. The high case fatality rates observed despite available antibiotic treatments emphasize the growing urgency for effective intervention strategies. The burden of urosepsis due to E. coli is likely underestimated and requires additional investigation.

In 2023, Bangladesh experienced its largest and deadliest outbreak of the Dengue virus (DENV), reporting the highest-ever recorded annual cases and deaths. Historically, most of the cases were recorded in the capital city, Dhaka. We aimed to characterize the geographical transmission of DENV in Bangladesh. From 1 January–31 December 2023, we extracted and analyzed daily data on dengue cases and deaths from the Management Information System of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. We performed a generalized linear mixed model to identify the associations between division-wise daily dengue counts and various geographical and meteorological covariates. The number of dengue cases reported in 2023 was 1.3 times higher than the total number recorded in the past 23 years (321,179 vs. 244,246), with twice as many deaths than the total fatalities recorded over the past 23 years (1705 vs. 849). Of the 1,705 deaths in 2023, 67.4% (n = 1,015) died within one day after hospital admission. The divisions southern to Dhaka had a higher dengue incidence/1000 population (2.30 vs. 0.50, p <0.01) than the northern divisions. Festival-related travel along with meteorological factors and urbanization are likely to have contributed to the shift of dengue from Dhaka to different districts in Bangladesh.

Hong Kong is an intermediate tuberculosis (TB) endemicity city dominated by reactivation diseases. A cross-sectional study on the clinical and epidemiologic data of newly diagnosed TB cases was conducted in such a setting, to examine the association between ambient PM2.5 and TB reactivation. After the exclusion of cases most likely resulting from recent infection, four distinct TB population phenotypes were delineated by latent class analysis based on their reactivation risk and clinical profiles (N = 2,153): ‘Elderly male’ (26%), ‘Otherwise healthy younger adult’ (34%), ‘Older female’ (19%) and ‘Male smoker’ (21%). Overall, exposure to high concentrations of ambient PM2.5 6 and 12 months before the notification was significantly associated with ‘Otherwise healthy younger adults’ membership (OR = 1.07 and 1.11, respectively) compared with ‘Elderly male’. Such association was less evident for other phenotypes. The differential pattern of association between ambient PM2.5 exposure and TB population phenotypes suggested the role of ambient PM2.5 in TB reactivation.

This study explored the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy on neonatal outcomes among women from the general Dutch population. VASCO is an ongoing prospective cohort study aimed at assessing vaccine effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination. Pregnancy status was reported at baseline and through regular follow-up questionnaires. As an extension to the main study, all female participants who reported to have been pregnant between enrolment (May–December 2021) and January 2023 were requested to complete an additional questionnaire on neonatal outcomes. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were used to determine the associations between self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, adjusted for age, educational level, and presence of a medical risk condition. Infection analyses were additionally adjusted for COVID-19 vaccination before and during pregnancy, and vaccination analyses for SARS-CoV-2 infection before and during pregnancy. Of 312 eligible participants, 232 (74%) completed the questionnaire. In total, 196 COVID-19 vaccinations and 115 SARS-CoV-2 infections during pregnancy were reported. Infections were mostly first infections (86; 75%), caused by the Omicron variant (95; 83%), in women who had received ≥1 vaccination prior to infection (101; 88%). SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy was not significantly associated with gestational age (β = 1.7; 95%CI: −1.6–5.0), birth weight (β = 82; −59 to 223), Apgar score <9 (odds ratio (OR): 1.3; 0.6–2.9), postpartum hospital stay (OR: 1.0; 0.6–1.8), or neonatal intensive care unit admission (OR: 0.8; 0.2–3.2). COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy was not significantly associated with gestational age (β = −0.4; −4.0 to 3.2), birth weight (β = 88; −64 to 240), Apgar score <9 (OR: 0.9; 0.4–2.3), postpartum hospital stay (OR: 0.9; 0.5–1.7), or neonatal intensive care unit admission (OR: 1.6; 0.4–8.6). In conclusion, this study did not find an effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy on any of the studied neonatal outcomes among a general Dutch, largely vaccinated, population. Together with data from other studies, this supports the safety of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.

This study investigated cases of pregnancy-related listeriosis in British Columbia (BC), Canada, from 2005 to 2014. We described all diagnosed cases in pregnant women (n = 15) and neonates (n = 7), estimated the excess healthcare costs associated with listeriosis, and calculated the fraction of stillbirths attributable to listeriosis, and mask cell sizes 1–5 due to data requirements. Pregnant women had a median gestational age of 31 weeks at listeriosis onset (range: 20–39) and on average delivered at a median of 37 weeks gestation (range: 20–40). Neonates experienced complications but no fatalities. Stillbirths occurred in 1–5 of 15 pregnant women with listeriosis, and very few (0.05–0.24%) of the 2,088 stillbirths in BC in the 10 years were attributed to listeriosis (exact numbers masked). Pregnant women and neonates with listeriosis had significantly more hospital visits, days in the hospital and physician visits than those without listeriosis. Pregnant women with listeriosis had 2.59 times higher mean total healthcare costs during their pregnancy, and neonates with listeriosis had 9.85 times higher mean total healthcare costs during their neonatal period, adjusting for various factors. Despite small case numbers and no reported deaths, these results highlight the substantial additional health service use and costs associated with individual cases of pregnancy-related listeriosis in BC.