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Communicable

CMI Communications

Communicable takes on hot topics in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology. Hosted by the editors of CMI Communications, the open-access journal of ESCMID, the European Society of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.

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  • 24 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 53 min
  • English

Episodes 24

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  • S2 · E45
    January 25 · 38 min

    Communicable E45: Top infectious diseases papers in 2025

    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 they change your practice? - part 2, https://share.transistor.fm/s/4f044e8c Communicable E20: Tuberculosis today https://share.transistor.fm/s/9858900e

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  • S2 · E44
    January 11 · 1 hr 10 min

    Communicable E44: Top clinical microbiology papers in 2025

    In the first Communicable episode of 2026, Annie Joseph and Josh Nosanchuk invite Robin Patel (Rochester, USA) and Fidelma Fitzpatrick (Dublin, Ireland) to discuss some of their favourite clinical microbiology papers published in 2025. These six papers highlight everything from technological advances of genomics and molecular diagnostic testing to the importance of patient and public involvement in research as well as effective communication [1-6]. The panel also discusses whether or not any of these papers have changed their practice. This episode was edited by Kathryn Hostettler and peer reviewed by Sinéad Kilgarriff of the National Virus Reference Laboratory University College, Dublin in Ireland. Robin’s papers Oyeniran SJ, et al. J Clin Microbiol 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.00986-25 Xie O, et al. Lancet Microbe 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanmic.2025.101182 Lopopolo M et al., Science 2025. DOI: 10.1126/science.adu7144 Fidelma’s papers Turner NA, et al. JAMA 2025. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2025.12543 Paterson DL, et al. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2025. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(25)00469-4 Langford BJ, et al. Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology 2025. DOI: 10.1017/ash.2025.10210 Related podcast episodes Communicable episode 1: Late breaker trials at ESCMID Global 2024, https://share.transistor.fm/s/9c598f68 References Oyeniran SJ, et al. J Clin Microbiol 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.00986-25 Xie O, et al. Lancet Microbe 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanmic.2025.101182 Turner NA, et al. JAMA 2025. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2025.12543 Paterson DL, et al. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2025. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(25)00469-4 Lopopolo M et al., Science 2025. DOI: 10.1126/science.adu7144 Langford BJ, et al. Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology 2025. DOI: 10.1017/ash.2025.10210 Further reading Mohammed HT, et al. IJSEM 2025. DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.006986 Skally M, et al. BMJ Open 2025. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-103431 Ong SWX and Tverring J. CMI Communications 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmicom.2025.105154 Tverring J and Ong SWX. CMI Communications 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmicom.2025.105169

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  • S2 · E43
    Dec 28, 2025 · 47 min

    Communicable E43: Katie's picks

    In this final episode of 2025, hosts Annie Joseph (Nottingham, UK) and Angela Huttner (Geneva, Switzerland), interview Communicable's producer, Katie Hostettler-Oi (Zurich, Switzerland), to learn which episodes she liked best this year. Their discussion provides a behind-the-scenes look at some of the episodes--including the strange surprises that sometimes came with them. Finally, the CMI Comms editors and editorial fellows send in their perspectives on 2025 and their wishes for 2026.

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  • S2 · E42
    Dec 14, 2025 · 1 hr 5 min

    Communicable E42: Should doctors stay at X (Twitter) or leave it?

    During the COVID-19 pandemic with lockdown mandates and social distancing, doctors, researchers, and the public were able to find refuge and community online; for the infectious disease community, it was on the social media platform Twitter, and more specifically under the widely used hashtag, #IDTwitter. Under new ownership from 2022, however, Twitter’s name and brand changed to what we now know as X, and “the heyday of #IDTwitter is long since gone”. In this special episode of Communicable, Angela Huttner and Marc Bonten invite doctors and science communicators, Neil Stone (London, UK), Ilan Schwartz (Durham, USA), and Tara Smith (Kent, USA) to debate whether we should stay on X or leave it for alternatives. This episode is a follow-up from Stone and Schwartz’s commentary [1] and Smith’s response letter [2] addressing the same topic published in CMI Communications. The views expressed by the panelists are their own and do not represent the positions of their affiliated institutions or ESCMID. This episode was not peer reviewed. Resources You can follow all participants of this episode on Bluesky: @drneilstone.bsky.social, @germhuntermd.bsky.social, @aetiology.bsky.social, @marcbonten.bsky.social, @angelahuttner.bsky.social, and Stone on X: @DrNeilStone. References Stone NRH and Schwartz IS. Joining the X-odus: Contrasting perspectives on whether infection specialists should leave X (formerly Twitter). CMI Comms 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmicom.2025.105140 Smith TC. Twitter remains a haven of harassment. CMI Comms 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmicom.2025.105144 Further reading Biever, C. Bluesky’s science takeover: 70% of Nature poll respondents use platform. Nature News 2025. PEW Research Center. How Do Americans View Childhood Vaccines, Vaccine Research and Policy? https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2025/11/18/how-do-americans-view-childhood-vaccines-vaccine-research-and-policy/ NBC News. X’s new location labels unmask users. Insiders say the idea was rejected for years. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musk/x-user-location-feature-country-elon-musk-new-rcna245620

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