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Infection rates from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” rose almost 70% between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists. Bacteria that are difficult to treat due to the so-called NDM gene primarily drove the increase, CDC researchers wrote in an article published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Only two antibiotics work against those infections, and the drugs are expensive and must be administered through an IV, researchers said. “The rise of NDMs in the U.S. is a grave danger and very worrisome,” said David Weiss, an Emory University infectious diseases researcher, in an email. (Stobbe, 9/23)

New data from a network of US laboratories shows incidence of a multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogen has surged in recent years. In a review of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Laboratory Network, researchers from the CDC and state health departments report that the age-adjusted incidence of carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CP-CRE) clinical cultures reported to the network rose by 69% from 2019 through 2023. In addition, incidence of a particular type of carbapenemase gene that was once rare in the United States saw a more than four-fold increase. (Dall, 9/23)

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) yesterday reported a Powassan virus infection in a state resident, who became seriously ill, for the first time. In a statement, the IDPH said investigators are still trying to determine if the patient was exposed to a tick bite in Illinois or another state. Officials will conduct tick surveillance, including dragging and testing ticks for Powassan and other viruses, in parts of Illinois where the patient spent time before symptoms began. (Schnirring, 9/23)

Out of the 41 reported cases of measles in Utah this year, four cases have been detected in the Bear River Health Department’s jurisdiction. Over the weekend, they helped 11 babies who were unvaccinated get treated for possible exposure to the measles virus. ... Jordan Mathis with the Bear River Health Department said this type of post-exposure vaccine treatment is unique, and not something families can typically rely on because there needs to have been known exposure, and medication given within six days of that exposure. (Gubbi, 9/23)

Moderna has early in-human data showing its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, mNEXSPIKE, has the potential to offer strong immune protection against the latest rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 virus. Moderna’s updated mNEXSPIKE vaccine showed an average greater-than-16-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against the LP.8.1 sublineage in individuals 12 years of age or older, the company said Tuesday. The result comes from a postmarketing clinical study of the latest 2025-26 formula of mNEXSPIKE, which is designed to target LP.8.1. By comparison, the company’s first-generation mRNA vaccine, Spikevax, generated a greater-than-eightfold increase in LP.8.1-neutralizing antibodies across the same age groups, Moderna said. (Liu, 9/23)