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A briefing document from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that enrollment for all clinical studies of vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants is on hold over concerns about potential safety findings from a clinical trial involving two vaccine candidates. (Dall, 12/11)

Patients are no longer being enrolled in the Study of Tecovirimat for Mpox (STOMP) randomized clinical trial (RCT) after an interim analysis showed that the antiviral drug (brand name, Tpoxx) didn't speed lesion healing or pain relief in adults with mild to moderate clade 2 mpox at low risk for severe illness, report the study sponsor, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Tpoxx developer Siga Technologies, Inc. (Van Beusekom, 12/11)

Currently, the results of CBC tests are analyzed using a one-size-fits-all reference interval, but a new study suggests that this approach can lead to overlooked deviations in health. In a retrospective analysis, researchers show that these reference intervals, or setpoints, are unique to each patient. The study revealed that one healthy patient's CBC setpoints can be distinguishable from 98 percent of other healthy adults. (Mass General Brigham, 12/11)

A new systematic review of 373 studies reveals the detection of 22 viruses in human semen following acute infection, including pathogens with pandemic potential. The study was published yesterday in The Lancet Microbe, and shows that only 9 of the 22 viruses had evidence of sexual transmission. The persistence of viruses in semen has far-reaching implications for ongoing disease transmission, embryonic development and fertility, and the development of drugs and vaccines, the authors said. Infectious semen has also contributed to recent outbreaks of Zika virus disease, Ebola virus disease, and mpox. (Soucheray, 12/11)

A derivative of the diuretic drug amiloride (Midamor) blocked key inflammatory pathways in mouse models of psoriasis, including xenografts of psoriatic human skin, as well as in cultured patient skin samples, researchers said. Skin cells taken from human psoriasis patients, reconstructed into tissue and grafted onto immunodeficient mice, "showed pronounced psoriasiform hyperplasia" when treated with a placebo solution, but when benzyl amiloride was applied, no such abnormal growth was seen, according to M. Peter Marinkovich, MD, of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues. (Gever, 12/11)

Researchers report that immunity against pertussis (whooping cough) was sustained 5 years after receipt of a recombinant vaccine in adolescents and young adults, a finding that they said supports its use as a booster in adolescents. (Van Beusekom, 12/5)