HIV and ID Observations

May 30th, 2012

Little Fluffy Baby Chicks Spread Deadly Intestinal Infection

Sorry for the headline, but that was the first thing I thought of when reading this paper just published in the New England Journal of Medicine:   In this report, we describe a prolonged and ongoing multistate outbreak of human salmonella infections primarily affecting young children and linked to contact with live young poultry from […]

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May 25th, 2012

Generic Nevirapine Now Available — But the Big One is Next Year

As I’m sure you’ve heard from your patients — as I did — lamivudine (3TC) is now available generically. Now comes news of the release of several generic formulations of nevirapine (NVP), an effective but always somewhat overshadowed medication. Since its approval way back when in 1996, there has always been a solid reason to pick […]

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May 20th, 2012

News on HIV and HCV Testing, and in Praise of Accurate Screening Tests

Two recent news items reminded me how lucky we are to have some very accurate screening tests for certain infectious diseases. The news: An expert FDA panel backed approval of the first true home test for HIV, the OraQuick mouth swab test. Approval of OraQuick for home use may occur later this year. While home testing for […]

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May 16th, 2012

Azithromycin Linked to Cardiovascular Death — Not A Placebo After All

I’ve commented before about azithromycin, that remarkable antibiotic that clinicians seem to prescribe for, gosh, you-name-it. But a paper just published in the New England Journal of Medicine links use of azithromycin to an increased risk of cardiovascular death, a reminder that “azithro” is in fact a drug — and that all drugs have side effects. A […]

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May 10th, 2012

Advisory Meeting Today on Tenofovir/FTC for PrEP, and a Proposed “Niche” for its Use

From Bloomberg News: Gilead Sciences Inc.’s pill Truvada was safe and effective when used to protect uninfected people from getting HIV, U.S. regulators said in a report indicating the main concerns are when and how it should be used … The FDA asked its advisers to suggest who should get Truvada; what testing would be needed […]

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May 7th, 2012

Difficulties and Differences on C difficile

Some things in our field — diseases, treatments, generalizations, cliches, fads — have really changed since back in the early 1990s, when I started in this business. Here are a few that quickly come to mind: “Double coverage” of pseudomonas with a beta lactam plus an aminoglycoside was de rigueur MRSA was an inpatient concern only You […]

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