Conan MacDougall

Volume 232 Issue Supplement_3 | The Journal of Infectious Diseases | Oxford Academic An official journal of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Publishes research results on microbiology, immunology, and epidemiology; pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseas...

Excited to see the “Advances in Influenza Therapeutics” supplement out in @jidjournal.bsky.social - led by Fred Hayden and Rich Whitley, this supplement reviews what we know about antivirals and how they should be used for influenza.

academic.oup.com/jid/issue/23...

Come work as an ID pharmacist at @ucsfhealth.bsky.social! See the craziest cases, collaborate with the coolest pharmacists and physicians, teach trainees from pharmacy students to ID fellows!

sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Sear...

I first read it as “Epicpocalypse” and thought it was a game about adopting EPIC as your EMR and thought “hey that’s spot-on!”

“You say you’ve ’done your research’ but have you done your ‘Responsible Conduct of Research’?”

Linezolid-related Optic Nerve Disorders: Insight from a Pharmacovigilance Analysis of the U.S. FDA Adverse Event Reporting System AbstractObjective. Linezolid is a crucial oxazolidinone used to treat multidrug-resistant gram-positive infections; however, it is associated with optic ne

In OFID, Yuki Nakano and colleagues investigate the signals and characterize the clinical features of optic nerve disorders related to oxazolidinones using the FAERS database. https://academic.oup.com/ofid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ofid/ofaf520/8242009

MAHA gold-standard science.

By @glaucomflecken.bsky.social

Predict it will take at least a decade until people stop saying “positives are it works better, negatives are it’s a lot more expensive that vanco”. See Zolid, Line. @pharmermeg.bsky.social

I really don’t like ChatGPT’s new memory dossier Last month ChatGPT got a major upgrade. As far as I can tell the closest to an official announcement was this tweet from @OpenAI: Starting today [April 10th 2025], memory …

feels significant that mass-market LLMs like ChatGPT are now capable of generating extensive natural-language dossiers about a given user's interests, location, preferences, identifying information, and more

simonwillison.net/2025/May/21/...

Evaluation of Oral Tebipenem as a Step-Down Therapy following Intravenous Ertapenem against Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli in a Hollow-Fiber In Vitro Infection Model | Antimi... Tebipenem is an orally bioavailable carbapenem in development for the treatment of patients with complicated urinary tract infections. Herein, we describe the results of studies designed to evaluate t...

we lack good PK/PD models of what “mop-up” looks like. It would be a lot more reassuring to have a “mop-up” target exposure. This paper (h/t Nav Narayan) being an example (journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...). Important as new PO carbapenems hit the market.

Yeah that was one of my main takeaways- TID or QID is less fun than BID but is in line with the Pk and PK/PD of these drugs and with shortened overall durations is usually only like 3-5 days of completion tx. I think the main argument vs more aggressive dosing is “this is just mop-up” but 1/

Navigating the Muddled Middle: A Case-Based Exploration of Oral β-Lactams for Systemic Gram-Negative Infections We describe 3 common scenarios where oral β-lactams may be used for systemic gram-negative infections, and through a coupling of patient cases, we provide

This paper has had such a journey that I feel compelled to share it. It started when our ID PharmD resident gave an in-service to @templeid.bsky.social as a 'how-to' use oral beta-lactams for systemic Gram-negative infections, then was submitted, turned down, 1/ academic.oup.com/ofid/article...

Navigating the Muddled Middle: A Case-Based Exploration of Oral β-Lactams for Systemic Gram-Negative Infections We describe 3 common scenarios where oral β-lactams may be used for systemic gram-negative infections, and through a coupling of patient cases, we provide

Normally a paper that concludes “Should you do X? It depends.” wouldn’t be at the top of my reading list but I think our (@jgpharmd.bsky.social, @emilylheil.bsky.social) new case-based paper on PO beta-lactams for GNRs highlights nuances & challenges generalizations academic.oup.com/ofid/article...

Mass Intelligence From GPT-5 to nano banana: everyone is getting access to powerful AI

I wrote about the era of Mass Intelligence.

GPT-5 and Nano Banana are examples of how advanced AI is now making their way to many users, at scale, as both performance & efficiency keep improving. We are going to see a lot of weird things happening, all at once www.oneusefulthing.org/p/mass-intel...

FAQ on Fall Vaccines 💡Looking for my 2025-2026 vaccine guide? Find it on Substack here. This page answers follow-up questions from readers. Can doctors still prescribe the Covid-19 vaccine "off-label" to other patients w...

Today, FDA approved seasonal covid vaccines for people 65+ and people with health conditions. I have updated my FAQ with more questions and answers from readers. www.forceofinfection.com/faq-on-fall-...

CDC list of medical conditions associated w higher risk for severe COVID-19, you need 1 to to qualify for vaccines now:
-Cancer (solid or blood cancers)
-Cerebrovascular disease (e.g., stroke)
-Chronic kidney disease (any stage)
-Chronic liver disease (fatty liver, cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis)

Finally a healthy reason for a second helping at Thanksgiving! Grab those Friday vaccine appointments while they last!

A figure showing the development of adaptive practice and the effects of AI

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲!

Many learners are more facile with the use of large language models in medicine than their supervisors are. The authors provide an approach to clinical supervision that can mitigate the perils and amplify the promise of AI. nej.md/47okmwr

(Just to clear up any confusion people
might have, proper attribution for this book would be like “Jason Gallagher (ft. Conan MacDougall”))

Look who I am to question what ChatGPT decides?

@jgpharmd.bsky.social we are definitely missing a good crossover opportunity for cover art for the next edition. I’ve attached a mockup here. I can’t help it who the readers will assume is whom.

OpenAI's study mode isn't perfect, but it is a step forward for a few reasons:
1) Shows labs taking educational use & misuse more seriously (Google also has LearnLM)
2) Addresses a key issue with trying to use AI in education - that AI gives answers rather than tutoring and helping
3) Easy to access

Olorofim for the treatment of invasive fungal diseases in patients with few or no therapeutic options: a single-arm, open-label, phase 2b study - PubMed F2G.

🔬 New study: Olorofim shows promise for patients with invasive fungal disease who have limited treatment options. The first antifungal in its class, it demonstrated good tolerability and encouraging outcomes.
Read more 👉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40541222/
#IFD #Olorofim #Antifungal

It’s out! IDSA #cUTI guidelines 7/17/25. Now the fun begins….😌 #IDsky #AMSsky @idsainfo.bsky.social @sidpharm.bsky.social

www.idsociety.org/practice-gui...

The Challenges of Nocardia Susceptibility Testing and Inter-Species Susceptibility Patterns

The Challenges of Nocardia Susceptibility Testing and Inter-Species Susceptibility Patterns

✅ Just Accepted
#IDSky

It was a pleasure to work on this project with our ID pharmacist colleagues. AI has a lot of potential in this space, especially with the basic interpretation of data, but still needs human guidance to work through the complexities of patient management. Looking forward to doing more of this!

Against "Brain Damage" AI can help, or hurt, our thinking

I wrote about "brain damage" from AI. Despite scary headlines, AI won't hurt you brain, but it can undermine your thinking and learning. Increasingly, however we are finding ways it can help us think and learn instead (some included prompt examples as well). www.oneusefulthing.org/p/against-br...

🚨BREAKING: IDSA, along with AAP, APHA, ACP and others, has filed a lawsuit against HHS/Secretary Kennedy to stop unlawful changes to vaccine policy and defend public health.

We refuse to stand by while America’s public health safeguards are torn apart. bit.ly/4lm7UkW

Shorter may be better, but how (and how much better)? A study in OFID examined the impact of antibiotic duration on gut microbiome composition and antimicrobial resistance.

I've often wondered about this question--does a shorter duration of antibiotics spare the microbiome, or are any antibiotics bad for the microbiome
www.idsociety.org/science-spea...