Sean Ong
seanong.bsky.social
Sean Ong
@seanong.bsky.social
ID doc and joint PhD candidate at University of Toronto + University of Melbourne. Talk to me about clinical trial design and methodology, bloodstream infections, S. aureus, and Gram negatives 🦠

🇸🇬🇨🇦🇦🇺
Reposted by Sean Ong
Hi Gabriele! Guess what- with @germhuntermd.bsky.social & quite a few others, we are gearing up to launch an #IDjournalclub on Bsky and it looks like this paper is the one we'll start with. 😊 We will get that going soooon!! (Also, Communicable will work on a follow-up POET2 ep!)
#IDSky #MedSky
September 9, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
Demystify clinical trial design & enhance your research toolkit!📊✨

Join our statistical seminars supported by @advance-id.bsky.social & @who.int

Explore clinical trial theory & real-life examples with global experts. Master the numbers in the mission against disease here: ad-id.co/stats
August 14, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
📣We rely more & more on #AI for literature review

So how did 6 large language models compare to humans when extracting data from #RCTs for a systematic review?

Not very well: overall #LLM concordance was 0.58-0.75.

#IDSky
@steventong.bsky.social
@seanong.bsky.social
cmi-comms.org/article/S295...
A proof-of-concept performance evaluation of six large language models for semiautomated data extraction in a systematic review on infectious diseases clinical trials
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly being used in the systematic review process. Our objective was to explore data extraction performance of six LLMs from a published systematic review of in...
cmi-comms.org
August 11, 2026 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
Rationalizing Heterogeneity in Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: Current Progress and Future Goals

✅ Just Accepted
🔗 https://bit.ly/4vTJLHo
July 10, 2026 at 3:22 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
Bringing #AMR into the outcome assessment of duration trials with the new DOOR-FRAME is very welcome!

Larger samples and systematic AMR assessment among participants will be likely required to prove benefit

academic.oup.com/ofid/article... #IDSky #AMSsky

Awesome work by @seanong.bsky.social et al
June 23, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
Excited to share an article that I've long awaited to share seeking to answer: What is the right dose of cephalexin/cefadroxil for SSTIs?

We reviewed clinical studies & conducted PTA sims to elucidate this #IDSky @absteward.bsky.social

accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Getting It Right the Second Time: How Can we Optimize First‐Generation Cephalosporin Dosing for Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in the 21st Century?
Optimal cephalexin and cefadroxil dosing for skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) is unclear. We summarize clinical and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data that compare dosing strategies ...
accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 11, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Sean Ong
ESCMID 2026 highlights

COBRA Trial – One day is enough

Dutch RCT: 1 day of antibiotics after ERCP drainage for cholangitis was non‑inferior to 4–7 days.

Bottom line: Antibiotic durations can safely be much shorter once source control is achieved.

#IDSky

clarityinitiative.org/escmid-2026-...
Clarity Initiative
Clinical Literature Appraisal and Research education in InfecTious diseases
clarityinitiative.org
May 14, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
📣 New publication: Andes hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship - an ESCMID Emerging Infections Subcommittee (EIS) rapid assessment
www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S119...
Andes hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship - an ESCMID Emerging Infections Subcommittee (EIS) rapid assessment
The ongoing cluster of hantavirus infections associated with the cruise ship MV Hondius represents an unusual but instructive event at the intersection of zoonotic spillover, human mobility, confined ...
www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org
May 13, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
Reposted by Sean Ong
We looked at empiric B-lactam antibiotics in MRSA bacteraemia and BC persistence and AKI, using CAMERA2 dataset.
Groups: none, early (only empiric B-lactam), late (only after trial enrolment), throughout (empiric and after enrolment).

#IDSky

www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S119...
May 6, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
🔥 💥Late-Breakers |COBRA RCT
1-day of antibiotic treatment after adequate endoscopic biliary drainage is non-inferior to 4-7 days in adults with acute cholangitis.
💡 Shorter is better+source control
Practice-changing? #ESCMIDGlobal2026 #idsky
April 20, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Sean Ong
Nice presentation from @seanong.bsky.social about DOOR/Radar at #ESCMIDGlobal2026

My main worry is lower ranked components dominating

Sarah Walker discussed this issue in her excellent Bradford Hill lecture (recording in link)
April 17, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Sean Ong
The 3rd and 4th commentaries on recent ID trials are up on the CLARITY website (we aim to publish in depth reviews of important ID stuies).

This time looking at the GAMECHANGER trial:
clarityinitiative.org/commentaries...

@erinmccreary.bsky.social with Ahmad Mourad

@gurujosh.bsky.social

#IDSky
How Do We Win? The GAME CHANGER Trial
Erin K. McCreary, PharmD (1), Ahmad Mourad, MD MHS (2, 3)
clarityinitiative.org
January 1, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Sean Ong
New article about how to manage Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Led by Hadar Mudrik-Zohar. Includes @seanong.bsky.social @drtoddlee.bsky.social
#IDSky #SNAP_trial

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Navigating the Challenges in Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Infection: A Practical Guide to Management
www.sciencedirect.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:53 AM
A group of ID clinical researchers passionate about clinical research and evidence appraisal has just launched the CLARITY initiative (clarityinitiative.org), which aims to improve the generation and interpretation of evidence in ID and Microbiology.
Clarity Initiative
Clinical Literature Appraisal and Research education in InfecTious diseases
clarityinitiative.org
November 30, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Our new paper in @cmijournal.bsky.social:

www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S119...

We use the BALANCE and CAMERA2 trials as case studies to illustrate the use of the different methods available for analysis of hierarchical composite endpoints.

#IDSky @steventong.bsky.social
Comparing different methods for analyzing hierarchical composite endpoints: two illustrative case studies with post-hoc analyses of the BALANCE and CAMERA2 randomized clinical trials.
Hierarchical composite endpoints (HCEs) are increasingly being used in infectious disease research. In this paper, we illustrate different methods for analyzing HCEs in post-hoc analyses of the BALANC...
www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org
November 30, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by Sean Ong
The draft for the 2026 IDSA/ESCMID clinical practice guidelines on 𝘚. 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘴 bacteraemia is now available for public consultation. Get your copy of the manuscript and submit your feedback before 15 December 2025.

https://ow.ly/HZao50XwVYg

#IDSky #clinmicro
November 27, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
@seanong.bsky.social is giving his PhD oration today at 12.30pm AEDT. If you are free, you will learn heaps about clinical trials in infectious diseases. It's been an incredible PhD journey!

unimelb.zoom.us/j/8944229688...

@thedohertyinst.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Sean Ong
New Research

Accounting for non-adherence to assigned antibiotic treatment duration for bloodstream infection (BALANCE): a post-hoc analysis of a randomised clinical trial

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Accounting for non-adherence to assigned antibiotic treatment duration for bloodstream infection (BALANCE): a post-hoc analysis of a randomised clinical trial
Non-adherence in BALANCE was significantly associated with a range of important prognostic factors, which might have introduced bias. Causal inference methods addressing this bias showed a consistent ...
www.thelancet.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Hot off the press at @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social: our paper diving into non-adherence in the BALANCE trial. We identify factors associated with protocol non-adherence, and evaluate the impact of potential bias on trial results.

authors.elsevier.com/a/1m5He5E-Uo...

@steventong.bsky.social #IDSky
authors.elsevier.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:55 AM
We are looking for candidates for a new fully-funded joint PhD position at the Universities of Toronto and Melbourne, working on RCTs in bloodstream infection (BALANCE+, SNAP, STRAP).

More info here: forms.gle/H9TXEMkwM1cb...

Please spread far and wide!
@steventong.bsky.social #IDSky
forms.gle
October 27, 2025 at 5:44 AM
I owe a lot to the site formerly known as Twitter (it's where I found my amazing joint PhD position thanks to a fortuitous post by @steventong.bsky.social), but it's completely unusable now and full of irrelevant material that I don't want to see. I no longer use it, and am firmly Team BlueSky!
October 16, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
David Paterson and the ADVANCE-ID team are doing a lot of work for us summarizing recent literature on bacterial & fungal infections & therapies. If you aren't already receiving their bimonthly newsletters, you should! ad-id.co/subscribe

#IDSky #Clinmicro
October 15, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Our new paper in @cmijournal.bsky.social led by the brilliant Hadrien Moffroid, a junior colleague in Melbourne. We examined international funding flows in ID RCTs published in selected high-impact journals over a 10-year period.

doi.org/10.1016/j.cm...
@steventong.bsky.social #IDSky
September 29, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Sean Ong
New post-hoc Camera-2 📷 post-hoc analysis out today regarding adherence to quality metrics in MRSA bacteremia.

Compared to similar non-trial population w/ MRSA bacteremia:
-No difference in 🪦, BUT
-non-trial had less following of quality metrics (see ⬇️)

#IDSky

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Quality-of-Care Indicator Adherence and Mortality Outcomes in MRSA Bacteremia
This post hoc analysis of a randomized clinical trial investigates whether patient participation in clinical trials is associated with practitioner adherence to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus au...
jamanetwork.com
July 27, 2025 at 12:59 AM