HIV and ID Observations

November 29th, 2010

Once-daily Raltegravir “Not Non-Inferior” to Twice-Daily

In your electronic in-box this AM, this press release from Merck: … although the treatment regimen that included ISENTRESS once daily enabled more than 80 percent of patients to achieve viral suppression, ISENTRESS once daily did not demonstrate non-inferiority to the treatment regimen that included ISENTRESS twice daily. Merck said that based on the initial results, […]

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November 23rd, 2010

iPrEx: First-Ever PrEP Efficacy Study Published

It’s been quite the year (plus a month) for HIV prevention research. That glimmer of hope from the Thai vaccine trial.  The striking effect of HIV-treatment as prevention.  The positive results of the CAPRISA vaginal microbicide study, which were presented to rapturous applause this summer in Vienna. And today, the iPrEx study is published, which shows that giving TDF/FTC […]

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November 17th, 2010

Ferlater Antibiotics

In this absolutely hysterical, laugh-out-loud comedy routine, Mal Z. Lawrence describes a woman at a Catskill hotel, piling danish into her handbag. She calls them “ferlater danish” — as opposed to the ones she’s eating at breakfast, those are “fernow.” Did you ever have one of your patients request “ferlater” antibiotics?  That is, ask that you write […]

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November 12th, 2010

Tesamorelin is Approved

This just in from the FDA: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Egrifta (tesamorelin) to treat HIV patients with lipodystrophy, a condition in which excess fat develops in different areas of the body, most notably around the liver, stomach, and other abdominal organs. The condition is associated with many antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV. […]

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November 7th, 2010

Welcome to the Click-Fest

Let me start by confessing I’m something of a gadget freak.  I was an early Palm Pilot adoptor, loved the iPod from the get-go, and need to avoid CNET, Engadget, Gizmodo, and David Pogue’s columns for the New York Times when deadlines loom. Not surprisingly, I embraced the shift to electronic medical records (EMRs) enthusiastically. While […]

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November 4th, 2010

XMRV and CFS: More Yay and Nay

Does XMRV cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?  Or more accurately, is it even associated with CFS? I’ve been putting off writing about this for a while, as I knew colleagues of mine had a paper in press on the topic, and I wanted the dust to settle a bit more on the controversy. But of course the controversy, […]

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