Top 10 Infectious Diseases Articles of 2014: NEJM Journal Watch Editors’ Picks

Information sourced from NEJM Journal Watch:

NEJM Journal Watch Infectious Diseases Top Stories of 2014

Larry M. Baddour, MD

A perspective on the most important research in the field from the past year

2014 has been a phenomenal year for infectious diseases, and interest in this specialty is running high among healthcare professionals and the lay public. NEJM Journal Watch Infectious Diseases has provided -- and will continue to provide -- analyses of important articles in the major medical publications.

There was an obvious pick for the top infectious diseases story this year. Ebola virus disease was ranked highest by our editorial board members, and deservedly so, as caregivers strive to control the worst epidemic of this illness to date. With the continuing outbreak in West Africa, interest in this syndrome will certainly persist in 2015. Tied for second place were three virus-related stories (severe respiratory disease in children caused by enterovirus D68, chikungunya in the Caribbean, and oral therapy for hepatitis C virus infection) and one on management of Clostridium difficile infection. Third place was shared by two pieces on vaccines (dengue virus vaccine; influenza vaccination during pregnancy) and one on timing of antibiotic therapy in severe sepsis. Rounding out the top 10 were pieces on once-weekly therapy for complicated skin and soft-tissue infections and the ineffectiveness of 4-month tuberculosis treatment.

Our Infectious Diseases Top Stories of 2014 are:

Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa: And the Band Played On [WHO Ebola Response Team. Ebola virus disease in West Africa — the first 9 months of the epidemic and forward projections. N Engl J Med 2014 Oct 16; 371:1481. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

[Farrar JJ and Piot P. The Ebola emergency — immediate action, ongoing strategy. N Engl J Med 2014 Oct 16; 371:1545. Full-text NEJM Editorial PDF]

Severe Respiratory Illness Associated with EV-D68 [Midgley CM et al. Severe respiratory illness associated with enterovirus D68 — Missouri and Illinois, 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2014 Sep 12; 63:798. Full-text MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep article online | PubMed® abstract]

Chikungunya Spreads Through the Caribbean [Fischer M and Staples JE. Chikungunya virus spreads in the Americas — Caribbean and South America, 2013–2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2014 Jun 6; 63:500. Full-text MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep article online | PubMed® abstract]

A One-Pill Regimen for All Patients with HCV Genotype 1 Infection [Kowdley KV et al. Ledipasvir and sofosbuvir for 8 or 12 weeks for chronic HCV without cirrhosis. N Engl J Med 2014 May 15; 370:1879. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

[Afdhal N et al. Ledipasvir and sofosbuvir for untreated HCV genotype 1 infection. N Engl J Med 2014 May 15; 370:1889. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

[Afdhal N et al. Ledipasvir and sofosbuvir for previously treated HCV genotype 1 infection. N Engl J Med 2014 Apr 17; 370:1483. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

Management of Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection [Konijeti GG et al. Cost-effectiveness of competing strategies for management of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection: A decision analysis. Clin Infect Dis 2014 Jun; 58:1507. PubMed® abstract]

[Youngster I et al. Fecal microbiota transplant for relapsing Clostridium difficile infection using a frozen inoculum from unrelated donors: A randomized, open-label, controlled pilot study. Clin Infect Dis 2014 Jun; 58:1515. PubMed® abstract]

Efficacy of a Dengue Vaccine [Villar L et al. Efficacy of a tetravalent dengue vaccine in children in Latin America. N Engl J Med 2014 Nov 3; [e-pub ahead of print]. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

Influenza Vaccination During Pregnancy Can Safeguard Both Mothers and Infants [Madhi SA et al. Influenza vaccination of pregnant women and protection of their infants. N Engl J Med 2014 Sep 4; 371:918. PubMed® abstract]

Timing of Antibiotic Treatment in Severe Sepsis, Revisited [Ferrer R et al. Empiric antibiotic treatment reduces mortality in severe sepsis and septic shock from the first hour: Results from a guideline-based performance improvement program. Crit Care Med 2014 Aug; 42:1749. PubMed® abstract]

[van Zanten ARH. The golden hour of antibiotic administration in severe sepsis: Avoid a false start striving for gold. Crit Care Med 2014 Aug; 42:1931. Crit Care Med Editorial preview online]

Once-Weekly Therapy of Skin and Soft-Tissue Infections [Boucher HW et al. Once-weekly dalbavancin versus daily conventional therapy for skin infection. N Engl J Med 2014 Jun 5; 370:2169. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

[Corey GR et al. Single-dose oritavancin in the treatment of acute bacterial skin infections. N Engl J Med 2014 Jun 5; 370:2180. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

[Chambers HF. Pharmacology and the treatment of complicated skin and skin-structure infections. N Engl J Med 2014 Jun 5; 370:2238. NEJM Editorial preview online]

Four-Month Moxifloxacin Regimens Less Effective for TB Treatment [Gillespie SH et al. Four-month moxifloxacin-based regimens for drug-sensitive tuberculosis. N Engl J Med 2014 Oct 23; 371:1577. Full-text NEJM article PDF | PubMed® abstract]

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