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Japan recently experienced a record surge in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Our environmental surveillance study reveals that Streptococcus pyogenes persists seasonally, peaking in autumn and winter in rural Japan. The dominant emm1 M1UK sublineage and csrS mutations heighten virulence, highlighting the urgent need for targeted surveillance and interventions.

War and conflict severely disrupt public health systems, compromising infectious disease surveillance in many affected regions. Mpox, a re-emerging zoonotic disease, poses a growing global threat, especially in areas where traditional monitoring is inaccessible.The mpox virus has distinct clades with varying transmission and severity.

There is no clear clinical guidance on the use of alcohol pharmacotherapies in pregnancy due to insufficient safety information. Contraception should therefore be considered for reproductive-aged females receiving alcohol pharmacotherapies not wishing to become pregnant. This study evaluated the concurrent use of alcohol pharmacotherapies with prescription contraception and other medications in Australian females of reproductive age compared to those not receiving an alcohol pharmacotherapy.

The identification of a COPD etiotype associated with preterm birth (COPD-developmental) has expedited calls for intervention strategies that may improve health outcomes for survivors of preterm birth (<37 weeks' gestation). Pulmonary-rehabilitation style training interventions achieve physiological and symptom improvement in older people with COPD, but whether similar training interventions are suitable for young people is unclear. We sought to understand the perceived need and requirements of an exercise training intervention for children, adolescents and adults born preterm.

Mycobacteroides abscessus (MABS) is within the non-tuberculous mycobacteria family. It inhabits soil and water, exhibits multi-antibiotic resistance and causes opportunistic lung infections, which may progress to symptomatic MABS-pulmonary disease (MABS-PD) associated with substantial morbidity, increased healthcare utilisation, impaired quality of life and increased mortality. 

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are often perceived to be a less harmful alternative to tobacco cigarettes. Potentially due to this perception, they are used by people with pre-existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma, who otherwise would not smoke. Despite this, there are few studies exploring the health effects of e-cigarette use on pre-existing asthma.

Burkholderia cepacia complex causes life-threatening respiratory infections. Here, a bacteriophage with activity against B. cenocepacia was isolated from wastewater. It has a genome size of 70,144 bp and has the taxonomic classification Irusalimvirus. It has no genes associated with lysogeny, bacterial resistance, or virulence. 

Adverse prenatal conditions can induce intrauterine growth restriction and increase the risk of adulthood metabolic disease. Mechanisms underlying developmentally programmed metabolic disease remain unclear but may involve disrupted postnatal circadian rhythms and kisspeptin signalling. 

Vaccination has been a cornerstone of public health, substantially reducing the global burden of infectious diseases, notably evident during the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2.

SETBP1 Haploinsufficiency Disorder (SETBD) is characterised by mild to moderate intellectual disability, speech and language impairment, mild motor developmental delay, behavioural issues, hypotonia, mild facial dysmorphisms, and vision impairment. Despite a clear link between SETBP1 mutations and neurodevelopmental disorders the precise role of SETBP1 in neural development remains elusive.