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) 

1. Turner NA, et al. Dalbavancin for Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia. JAMA
2. Meya DB, et al. Trial of High-Dose Oral Rifampin in Adults with Tuberculous Meningitis. NEJM
3. Vodstrcil LA, et al. Male-Partner Treatment to Prevent Recurrence of Bacterial Vaginosis. NEJM
4. Kreimer A, et al. Noninferiority of One HPV Vaccine Dose to Two Doses. NEJM
5. Guglielmetti L, et al. Oral Regimens for Rifampin-Resistant, Fluoroquinolone-Susceptible Tuberculosis. NEJM
6. Ross JDC et al, Oral gepotidacin for the treatment of uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhoea (EAGLE-1). Lancet  

‘One liners’ (in order of presentation)

1. Burdet C et al. Cloxacillin versus cefazolin for meticillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (CloCeBa). Lancet
2. Lemiale V et al, Adjunctive corticosteroids in non-AIDS patients with severe Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PIC). Lancet Respir Med
3. Luetkemeyer AF et al, Doxycycline to prevent bacterial sexually transmitted infections in the USA. Lancet Inf Dis
4. Eyting M, et al. A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia. Nature
5. Xie M, et al. The effect of shingles vaccination at different stages of the dementia disease course. Cell
6. Pomirchy M, et al. Herpes Zoster Vaccination and Dementia Occurrence. JAMA
7. Durbin AP et al, Daily Mosnodenvir as Dengue Prophylaxis in a Controlled Human Infection Model. NEJM
8. Hook EW et al, One Dose versus Three Doses of Benzathine Penicillin G in Early Syphilis. NEJM
9. Opdam MAA et al, Continuation versus temporary interruption of immunomodulatory agents during infections in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Clin Infect Dis
10. 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