Global Health News Briefs

July/August 2026 | Volume 25 Number 4

New modeling study looks at respiratory viruses

A new study looks at trends in hospitalizations and deaths (by age and year) caused by flu, COVID, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (HMPV), and rhino/enteroviruses (RV/EV). The study found respiratory viruses account for an estimated 1.7 million hospitalizations and 110,000 deaths in the United States each year. RSV was the dominant viral cause of hospitalizations among infants, with an average of 1,271 hospitalizations per 100,000 (roughly 50,000 hospitalizations each year). Among children ages 1 to 4 years old, RSV also accounted for an average of about 212 hospitalizations per 100,000, while HMPV accounted for more than 130 hospitalizations per 100,000 among infants and children younger than age 5. More than half of flu hospitalizations (57%) and most flu deaths (83%) are among adults ages 65 and older. Published in the Journal of Infection, the study’s first author is former Fogarty scientist Chelsea Hansen, PhD, Roskilde University, Denmark, and its senior author is Cécile Viboud, PhD, Acting Director of Fogarty’s Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies.

Clinical trials begin for new leishmaniasis vaccine

Ohio State researchers have developed a first-ever vaccine against leishmaniasis, a disfiguring skin disease caused by tiny parasites that are spread through the bite of an infected female sand fly. Last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine as an investigational new drug. Clinical trials are expected later this year. The Ohio State University’s Abhay Satoskar, MD, PhD, developed the vaccine using CRISPR gene-editing technology with support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Previously, leishmaniasis was found in tropical regions like Africa, the Middle East and South America. Today, it occurs regularly in the United States and Europe due to deforestation and extreme weather, according to a recent review article by Satoskar and coauthors about leishmaniasis published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Identifying an antibiotic helper to thwart resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change over time until they become capable of withstanding the drugs (antibiotics) that would normally kill them. Antibiotic resistance is linked to an estimated 4.7 million annual deaths worldwide. Scripps Research scientists and colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (New York), the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and La Trobe University in Australia investigated ways to restore the power of vancomycin (a potent antibiotic) against resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm), an increasingly common hospital-acquired infection. First, the scientists experimented with genetically deleting a particular enzyme in VREfm and discovered this rendered the bacteria susceptible to vancomycin once again. Then they screened a chemical library and identified a class of compounds that could chemically disable this same enzyme in VREfm. This research, which was supported by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, was published in Nature Communications.

NIH supported study looks at Oropouche virus transmission drivers

The 2023 Oropouche virus outbreak in Brazil drew attention because of its scale—more than 30,000 cases were recorded nationwide after spreading rapidly to all states—and because the country saw its first-ever death caused by the virus. Transmitted by biting midges and mosquitoes, Oropouche virus causes fever, severe headache, chills, and other symptoms, and can lead to serious complications including neurological problems (such as meningitis) and microcephaly (when mother-to-fetus transmission occurs). A National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-supported study in Nature Health investigated the ecological and demographic determinants of Oropouche fever in Brazil between 2014 and 2025. The researchers noted 30,086 confirmed cases across 16.1% of 5,570 municipalities in all 26 states and the Federal District during the study period. Incidence in rural municipalities was 11.3 times higher than in urban municipalities.

What shapes the spread of Buruli ulcer across the tropics?

Buruli ulcer is a disfiguring skin disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans. Researchers from Michigan State University, Mississippi State University and several international institutions analyzed 110 different variables, including geography, climate, and soil conditions; animal and plant biodiversity; and social and demographic factors. Next, they used this data to model where both the bacterium and the disease it causes tend to occur. Then they created global maps to visualize their findings across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. The research indicates that the spread of Buruli ulcer isn't driven by a single cause but by a complex fusion of natural and human-related factors. For example, exposure to ultraviolet-B sunlight played a major role in where cases appeared, yet agricultural development was also linked to the disease's presence. The study, published in the journal Communications Medicine, was supported in part by the NIH-National Science Foundation Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease program.

Mapping microbiomes in South Asia

Most of the world's population has shifted from traditional, foraging or farming-based diets to industrialized lifestyles, and this transition has reduced the diversity of microbes found in people’s guts. South Asia, home to roughly a quarter of the world's people and an extraordinary range of cultures, has been underrepresented in global gut microbiome research. To address this gap, University of Chicago researchers created the South Asian MicroBiome Array (SAMBAR), a dataset built from fecal samples collected across 10 Indigenous and rural communities in India and Sri Lanka and paired with samples gathered from urban migrants with the same genetic and cultural background. The researchers designed their study in this way hoping to isolate the effects of urbanization unconfounded by ethnicity or genetics. Their results revealed regional signatures: certain bacteria linked to South Asian diets were enriched (compared to global populations), yet other microbes tied to urban living that are associated with obesity and poor health outcomes were also present. Importantly, the researchers noted that the "urban versus rural" divide proved overly simplistic—communities showed widely varying degrees of dietary and lifestyle change depending on access to markets, infrastructure, and mobility. The journal Gut Microbes published this research.

India’s national vaccine program reduced deaths, altered school rates

India’s national childhood immunization program, launched in 1985 and reaching full coverage five years later, substantially reduced childhood deaths yet had mixed effects on educational attainment, according to research published in the Journal of Population Economics. Analysis of a national survey of nearly 900,000 children showed that the inoculation program reduced infant mortality by 0.4% and mortality in children under 5 by 0.5%. Gains were seen mostly in rural areas and among the poor and disadvantaged caste groups. Children from wealthier, urban, or higher-caste households saw little change, likely because they already had access to vaccines. The vaccine program also reduced primary school completion rates while increasing secondary school completion rates. University of Notre Dame economist Santosh Kumar Gautam, the sole author of the study, suggests that surviving children with poor underlying health (who would not have reached school age without vaccination) altered the incoming student population and then could not complete primary school. Meanwhile, already strong children were healthier after receiving a vaccine and so more likely to graduate from secondary school.

Experimental Ebola drug trial begins in DRC

In mid-July, the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa and worldwide partners began to enroll participants to test an experimental antiviral drug as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent Bundibugyo Ebola, CIDRAP reports. Currently there are no vaccines or targeted treatments for this strain of Ebola. Participants in the trial for the antiviral developed by Gilead Sciences are being recruited in Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicenter of the outbreak. Each participant in the ‘EBO-PEP’ trial will be monitored daily for 21 days with a final visit at 42 days. As of August 11, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4,566 confirmed cases and 2,128 confirmed deaths, mostly in DRC. This outbreak is the 17th recorded in DRC and the third largest Ebola outbreak on record.

Updated August 14, 2026

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