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Archive for November, 2009

WHO HIV Treatment Guidelines Updated

Paul Sax • November 30th, 2009

Categories: Health Care, HIV, Patient Care, Policy

(4 votes, average: 3.25 out of 5)

This just in: WHO is now recommending that ART be initiated at a higher CD4 threshold of 350 cells/mm3 for all HIV-positive patients, including pregnant women, regardless of symptoms. Which makes eminent sense, of course.  Because if starting HIV therapy might prolong survival in developed countries, why shouldn’t it do the same in the developing [...]

ICAAC-IDSA — Alone Again (Naturally)

Paul Sax • November 28th, 2009

Categories: HIV, Infectious Diseases

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Just received my latest copy of Infectious Disease News, that large glossy review magazine* that arrives approximately monthly in my mailbox. As usual, I turned right to Dr. Theodore C. Eickhoff’s always-thoughtful editorial, this month entitled “Reflections on the 47th IDSA Meeting.”  He writes: It was a much more “user-friendly” number of attendees, in contrast [...]

Ties Tied to Bugs

Paul Sax • November 20th, 2009

Categories: Health Care, Infectious Diseases, Patient Care, Policy

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

Are doctors’ neckties causing infections?  That’s the implication of this Wall Street Journal piece: The list of things to avoid during flu season includes crowded buses, hospitals and handshakes. Consider adding this: your doctor’s necktie. … A 2004 analysis of neckties worn by 42 doctors and medical staffers at the New York Hospital Medical Center [...]

Practical H1N1 Management Question

Paul Sax • November 13th, 2009

Categories: Health Care

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Let’s imagine you’re seeing a case of pneumonia, and you suspect (as is quite reasonable these days) that it is precipitated by H1N1 influenza. What antibiotics do you choose for an outpatient? (If someone is sick enough to be admitted — especially to the ICU — I’m assuming the all-guns blazing approach will be adopted.) [...]

A Career in Infectious Diseases and “The Next Big Thing”

Paul Sax • November 7th, 2009

Categories: Health Care, HIV, Infectious Diseases, Patient Care

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

I was working with a medical intern in clinic this past week who is potentially interested in ID. After seeing our 3rd consecutive stable HIV patient, he asked me what I thought the next big challenge would be in our field — especially since HIV treatment has been “solved.” “Solved” might be stating it a [...]