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The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Friday that it has begun an early-stage study on its experimental vaccine targeting six strains of influenza virus. The vaccine candidate, FluMos-v2, is designed to offer protection against four strains of the influenza A virus and two strains of influenza B virus, the health agency said. "An ideal universal influenza vaccine could be taken less frequently than once a year and protect against multiple strains of influenza virus. With each new universal influenza vaccine candidate and clinical trial, we take another step closer to that goal," said Hugh Auchincloss, acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. (9/15)

Germany's BioNTech announced on Monday a partnership with a global coalition for up to $90 million in funding to support the development of mpox vaccine candidates. BioNTech would initiate an early-to-mid stage trial for the vaccine program BNT166 to prevent mpox, a viral illness that causes skin rashes and could be transmitted to humans through physical contact. (9/18)

Following a high-profile pressure campaign, the company that makes a crucial tuberculosis test has agreed to sell its product at cost to an international organization that works with low-income countries to eradicate infectious diseases. But the move was met with mixed reactions by advocates who say prices should drop for still other tests. (Silverman, 9/19)

The results of a large observational study in children show no difference in treatment failure rates between the two most commonly prescribed antibiotics for pediatric acute sinusitis, researchers reported today in JAMA. Overall, treatment failure for sinus infections was rare in children treated with amoxicillin or amoxicillin-clavulanate. But the latter was associated with more adverse events, a finding the study authors say could inform prescribing decisions. (Dall, 9/19)

The results of a randomized clinical trial indicate that continuous antibiotic prophylaxis (prevention) significantly reduced the incidence of urinary tract infection (UTI) in over 2 years infants with backwards urine flow, researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Dall, 9/14)