Infectious diseases represent one of the most dynamic frontiers in global health, covering everything from seasonal flu outbreaks to emerging viral threats that cross borders. This field focuses on how pathogens spread, how our immune systems respond, and the strategies scientists use to stop infections before they become epidemics. Because the science moves fast, waiting for traditional publication often means missing critical insights that could save lives.

At Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category directly from medRxiv to ensure you see the latest findings the moment they appear. Our team transforms these raw studies into both accessible plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries, bridging the gap between complex research and public understanding. Below are the latest papers in infectious diseases, updated daily with fresh insights from the global research community.

📄 infectious diseases

Implementation strategy modifications: An applied multi-site comparison using ERIC and FRAME-IS for the "Fluoroquinolone Restriction for the Prevention of Clostridioides difficile infection Trial" (FIRST)

This study utilizes the ERIC and FRAME-IS frameworks to systematically document and analyze 458 context-driven modifications to implementation strategies across four diverse hospital sites in the FIRST trial, revealing that organizational characteristics significantly influence the frequency and type of adjustments needed to maintain evidence-based practice fidelity.

Parmasad, V., Solomon, D., Wiegmann, D., Schweizer-Looby, M., Safdar, N.2026-04-30
📄 infectious diseases

What will it take to achieve the End TB targets in South Africa? A mathematical modelling analysis

Using mathematical modeling, this study finds that while South Africa is unlikely to meet the WHO End TB targets by 2030, the most effective way to reduce TB incidence and mortality is by increasing testing among symptomatic individuals, particularly through the implementation of new near-point-of-care technologies.

Johnson, L. F., Kubjane, M., Imai-Eaton, J. W., Brown, L., Jamieson, l., Naidoo, P., Tanna, G., Meyer-Rath, G.2026-04-26
📄 infectious diseases

Risk Factors for Antimicrobial Resistance in Cancer Patients and Cancer Survivors: An Electronic Health Record Study

This electronic health record study of UK cancer patients and survivors identifies prior antimicrobial resistance as the strongest predictor of resistant bacteraemia, with prior antibiotic exposure, younger age, and lymphoid/haematopoietic malignancies also serving as significant risk factors.

Hu, F., Wei, J., Muller-Pebody, B., Hope, R., Brown, C., Carreira, H., Demirjian, A., Walker, A. S., Eyre, D. W.2026-04-25
📄 infectious diseases

Retrospective analysis of clinical and environmental genotyping reveals persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the water system of a large tertiary children's hospital in England

A retrospective genotyping analysis of 457 *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* isolates from a large English children's hospital reveals the long-term persistence of specific bacterial clusters in the water system and their temporal overlap with clinical infections, underscoring the challenges of eradication and the critical need for rigorous water safety controls.

Sheth, E., Case, L., Shaw, F., Dwyer, N., Poland, J., Wan, Y., Larru, B.2026-04-24
📄 infectious diseases

Effect of a community-based behavioural intervention bundle to improve antibiotic use and patient management in Burkina Faso and DR Congo: a cluster randomised controlled trial

This cluster randomised controlled trial in Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo demonstrated that a community-based behavioural intervention bundle significantly reduced Watch-group antibiotic use without negatively impacting patient management, offering a promising strategy to mitigate antimicrobial resistance in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ingelbeen, B., Valia, D., Mbangi, B., van Kleef, E., Campbell, L., Kouanda, S. J., Muaka, C.-A. M. K., Tiendrebeogo, E. (…)2026-04-23
📄 infectious diseases

Ethnic inequalities in respiratory virus epidemics in England: a mathematical modelling study

This mathematical modelling study demonstrates that ethnic inequalities in respiratory virus transmission in England are driven by distinct demographic characteristics and social mixing patterns, which result in varying attack rates across ethnic groups that are further modulated by local population structures and pathogen infectiousness.

Robert, A., Goodfellow, L., Pellis, L., van Leeuwen, E., Edmunds, W. J., Quilty, B. J., van Zandvoort, K., Eggo, R. M.2026-04-21
📄 infectious diseases

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Respiratory Tract Infections Following Medically-Attended-Diarrhea in Children Aged 6-35 Months: Enterics for Global Health (EFGH)-Shigella Surveillance Study, 2022-2024.

In a multi-country study of nearly 9,000 children aged 6–35 months with medically-attended diarrhea, respiratory tract infections occurred in 3.8% of participants during the subsequent three months, with the highest risk observed among those aged 12–23 months, those suffering from undernutrition, and those living in poor sanitation conditions.

Conteh, B., Galagan, S. R., Badji, H., Secka, O., Bar, B. T., Rao, S. I., Atlas, H., Omore, R., Ochieng, J. B., Tapia, M (…)2026-04-20
📄 infectious diseases

Impact and cost of scaling up TB screening and diagnostics in Asias ten high-burden countries: a modelling analysis

A modeling analysis of ten high-burden Asian countries suggests that investing $12.7 billion over five years to scale up community-based screening using AI-enabled digital chest X-rays combined with molecular diagnostics could avert 9.8 million TB cases and 1.9 million deaths over a decade, with targeted approaches proving more cost-effective than untargeted mass screening.

Mandal, S., Rade, K., Singh, A., Nair, S. A., Sahu, S.2026-04-19