📄 Category

infectious diseases

125 papers

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.

Classifying and Differentiating Individuals with Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Influenza, and COVID-19 Cases in OpenSAFELY

Using the OpenSAFELY platform, researchers developed and validated specific and sensitive computable phenotypes to accurately classify respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and COVID-19 cases in English electronic health records, demonstrating their alignment with surveillance data while highlighting varying misclassification risks based on phenotype specificity and patient age.

Prestige, E., Warren-Gash, C., Quint, J. K., Evans, D., Costello, R. E., Mehrkar, A., Bacon, S., Goldacre, B., Barley-McMullen, S., Yameen, F., Shah, P., Natt, M., Alder, Y., Hulme, W., Parker, E. P. (…)2026-04-13📄 infectious diseases

Monitoring-based and self-reported close-contact records in relation to ultra-wideband-derived proximity in a long-term care facility: a single-facility observational study

This single-facility observational study in a Japanese long-term care facility demonstrates that self-reported and monitoring-based contact records exhibit distinct discrepancy patterns compared to ultra-wideband sensor data, suggesting that contact identification strategies should be tailored to specific facility workflows rather than relying on a single universal proximity threshold.

Shinto, H., Chowell, G., Takayama, Y., Ohki, Y., Saito, K., Mizumoto, K.2026-04-13📄 infectious diseases

Long COVID risk by pre-infection symptoms and functional status: A retrospective cohort study of data from the All of Us Research Program.

This retrospective cohort study of over 65,000 U.S. adults using All of Us data found that long COVID risk is significantly associated with demographic factors and pre-infection health status but is not driven by the mere presence of pre-existing symptoms or functional impairments, suggesting that long COVID represents a distinct change from an individual's baseline health.

Kehl-Floberg, K. E., Freisberg, E., Pop-Vicas, A., Gangnon, R., Edwards, D. F.2026-04-11📄 infectious diseases

Decoding resistance: interpretable machine learning to predict ciprofloxacin resistance in Shigella spp

This study demonstrates that an interpretable Random Forest machine learning model, trained on k-mer features derived from whole-genome sequencing data of 1,424 Shigella isolates, can accurately and transparently predict ciprofloxacin resistance by integrating both chromosomal mutations and plasmid-mediated determinants.

Gohari, M. R., Zhang, P., Villegas, A., Rosella, L. C., Patel, S. N., Hopkins, J. P., Duvvuri, V. R.2026-04-11📄 infectious diseases

A Multi-Clique Network Model for Epidemic Spread with Fully Accessible Within-Group and Limited Between-Group Contacts

This paper introduces the Multi-Clique network model to demonstrate that explicitly representing saturated within-group interactions and constrained between-group contacts reveals epidemic dynamics—such as slower growth and lower peaks—that are systematically underestimated by classical degree-matched random graph models.

Smah, M. L., Seale, A. C., Rock, K. S.2026-04-11📄 infectious diseases

Informing Epidemic Control Strategies: A Spatial Metapopulation Model Incorporating Recurrent Mobility, Clustering, and Group-Structured Interactions

This study presents a spatial metapopulation SEIR model that integrates recurrent mobility, household clustering, and age-stratified interactions to demonstrate how location connectivity and pathogen characteristics shape epidemic dynamics, thereby informing the timing and targeting of non-pharmaceutical interventions for diseases like COVID-19 and Ebola.

Smah, M. L., Seale, A., Rock, K.2026-04-11📄 infectious diseases

Adjuvanted RSVPreF3 vaccine impact over 3 RSV seasons in older adults with comorbidities

Post-hoc analyses of the AReSVi-006 trial demonstrate that a single dose of the adjuvanted RSVPreF3 vaccine provides sustained protection against RSV-related lower respiratory tract disease, acute respiratory illness, and complications over three consecutive seasons in medically stable adults aged 60 and older with underlying conditions such as COPD, asthma, diabetes, and obesity.

Papi, A., Halpin, D. M. G., Feldman, R. G., Ison, M. G., Schwarz, T. F., Lee, D.-G., Incalzi, R. A., Fissette, L., Xavier, S., David, M.-P., Michaud, J.-P., Kotb, S., Marechal, C., Olivier, A., Hulstr (…)2026-04-11📄 infectious diseases

Genomic Surveillance of Third-Generation Cephalosporin-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in Tunisian AMR Surveillance System Hospitals

This study utilized whole-genome sequencing of 322 isolates from three Tunisian hospitals to reveal a diverse population of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant *Klebsiella pneumoniae* dominated by ESBLs and specific carbapenemases, characterized by sustained ward-level transmission and the emerging convergence of hypervirulence markers, thereby highlighting the critical need for targeted infection control and routine genomic integration in national surveillance.

Itani, D., Smaoui, H., Thabet, L., Zribi, M., Dhraief, S., Kanzari, L., Meftah, K., Achour, W., Baker, D. J., Moss, C.-J., Philips, L. T., Foster-Nyarko, E., Boutiba-Ben Boubaker, I., Holt, K. E.2026-04-10📄 infectious diseases

Drivers of antimicrobial prescriptions in hospitals from Asian low, middle and high income countries and implications for antibiotic stewardship

This qualitative study across ten hospitals in Singapore, Nepal, and Thailand identifies structural deficiencies such as limited laboratory capabilities and weak guidelines, alongside clinician prioritization of short-term patient safety, as key drivers of broad-spectrum antibiotic overuse, highlighting the need for systemic improvements to support effective antimicrobial stewardship.

Chhabra, S., Nair, S., Bramley, A., Chee, J. Y., Vignesvaran, K., See, D. R. E., Sun, L. J., Ching, A. H., Li,, A. Y., Kayastha, G., Chetchotisakd, P., Cooper, B. S., Charani, E., Mo, Y.2026-04-08📄 infectious diseases

Local habitual movement as a mechanism for Schistosoma mansoni transmission resurgence - a causal analysis

This study demonstrates that habitual short-range travel from low-prevalence inland villages to highly endemic Lake Victoria sustains *Schistosoma mansoni* transmission in Uganda, indicating that achieving transmission interruption requires integrated control strategies addressing human mobility and local transmission ecology rather than focusing solely on high-risk villages or individual behaviors.

Lim, R. M. M., Arinaitwe, M., Babayan, S. A., Nankasi, A., AtuhAire, A., Namukuta, A., Mwima, N., Pedersen, A. B., WEBSTER, J. P., Lamberton, P. H., Clark, J.2026-04-07📄 infectious diseases