Paul E. Sax, MD is the Editor-in-Chief, Journal Watch HIV/AIDS Clinical Care, Clinical Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
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(7 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)Yesterday I saw one of my favorite long-term patients. She’s just wonderful, and it’s always a joy to see her. Here are some reasons: She’s uniformly nice — not just to me, but to all the nurses and social workers and other support staff in our clinic. She shows up on time for her appointments. [...]
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)Conspicuously absent from this year’s International AIDS Conference were major studies on prevention of maternal-to-child transmission. It could be that I just missed them, so I emailed a colleague who specializes in the area, and she concurred: Nope, did not see or hear major PMTCT updates at IAS. The thing is, this problem has been [...]
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)A few things to ponder as the flu activity (mercifully) declines, at least for now: Interested in evidence that HIV treatment has become staggeringly effective? Fully 87% of patients receiving treatment in the large British Columbia cohort have an HIV RNA < 50; not only that, the incidence of HIV drug resistance has declined more [...]
(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 [...]
(No Ratings Yet)A couple of interesting ID guidelines out this week. For those of you too busy with basketball, here are the relevant links: Guidance for Control of Infections with Carbapenem-Resistant or Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Acute Care Facilities. Identified in 24 states and now found “routinely” in New York and New Jersey, these carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (“CPE” is [...]
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)At our hospital lab, we recently switched from the bDNA viral load assay to the new Roche TaqMan real-time PCR test. The virologist in charge of our lab and the tech both agreed the assay was more accurate, more sensitive, and easier to do — so much so that we could increase the frequency of [...]
(No Ratings Yet)Yes, the northeast supermarket/pharmacy chain Stop & Shop will now offer antibiotics — for free. (And they are not the first. Take a look at this amazing advertisement.) Says Stop & Shop’s “consumer advisor” Andrea Astrachan: Stop & Shop pharmacies are committed to improving the health and wellness in our communities during the winter season when families are [...]
