HIV and ID Observations

July 31st, 2016

Summertime Pre-Olympics ID Link-o-Rama

If you’re wondering what to do between the end of the presidential conventions, the baseball trade deadline tomorrow, and the start of the Summer Olympics, here are a few ID/HIV related items to contemplate: Non-travel related Zika arrives in Florida. Start getting used to seeing more of that obscure word “autochthonous”.  The uncertainty was not whether Zika cases would occur here — that […]

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July 24th, 2016

Really Rapid Review — AIDS 2016, Durban

The International AIDS Conference returned this year to Durban, South Africa, where it was famously first held in 2000. At that time the HIV epidemic was exploding in South Africa; funding for HIV treatment was essentially non-existent, and there was ongoing HIV denialism quite openly from some very influential figures in the South African government (including the President). […]

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July 14th, 2016

Must-Read Item: This Year’s JAMA HIV/AIDS Issue

The folks over at the Journal of the American Medical Association have been doing a periodic HIV/AIDS themed issue for years, generally around the time of the International AIDS Conference. The latest issue is out this week, and it’s terrific. Here are some highlights: In serodiscordant couples practicing “condomless sex”, there were zero transmissions if the infected partner […]

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June 25th, 2016

ID Cartoon Caption Contest Closed — Time to Vote

The response to our First Ever ID Cartoon Caption Contest was gratifyingly brisk, with hundreds of entries. Not going to lie about this — we were somewhat concerned the response would be silence … you know, as in <<crickets>> … but you readers proved very much up to the task, with numerous funny suggestions. Our sophisticated computer algorithm has […]

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June 12th, 2016

Progress in Lyme Disease Badly Needed — Could a “Hackathon” Help?

Someone recently asked what keeps me, a specialist in Infectious Diseases, up at night. With the admission that I do all my clinical work here in the USA — a person working in the tropics would undoubtedly have a different list — several challenging patient care and public health issues came to mind. Multidrug-resistant bacteria. Endovascular infections in […]

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May 30th, 2016

The Sanford Guide — 46 Editions Later, Still Going Strong

I recently had a chance to visit Portland, Oregon, which for many will conjure up images of bicycles, hipsters, Mount Hood, roses, organic everything, and craft beers. It’s also the lifelong home of Dr. David Gilbert, the lead editor of The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy, an invaluable resource well-known to almost every clinician. Dave was kind […]

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May 22nd, 2016

Drug Prior Authorizations Are a Very Blunt Tool for Cost Containment — And They’re Annoying

Insurance prior authorizations, or prior approvals (PAs) — those dreaded forms clinicians have to fill out, usually triggered by prescribing a non-formulary drug — are much on my mind these days. And most of it has to do with three letters, specifically “TAF.” As readers of this site probably know, there are now three tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)-based coformulations […]

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May 16th, 2016

Lots of College Graduations ID Link-O-Rama

For those of us living and working in Boston, we are most definitely smack dab in the middle of college graduation season — which means traffic is crazy, restaurants are booked, and energetic young adults are everywhere wearing gowns and funny hats. In other words, a good excuse for an ID Link-o-Rama: FDA advises against use of fluoroquinolones for uncomplicated […]

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May 8th, 2016

Zika, Baseball, and Waiting for a “New Normal”

I received an email from someone who’s known me a very long time. Hint:  She’s known me longer than anyone. Literally. Here’s the email: Baseball cancelled in Puerto Rico because of Zika. This story has you written all over it. (To use a cliche.) Mom I told you she knew me well! For those not obsessed with this silly game to […]

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April 30th, 2016

A Ridiculously Long Post: How EHRs Expose Unspoken Hierarchies Within Medicine — Or Maybe Are Just Bad

I am consulted by a surgeon about a patient with something that might be infectious, might not. A very appropriate referral. After seeing the patient and reviewing the history and scans, I decide a CT-guided biopsy is the next step. The nice radiology fellow tells me “Just place the order in [enter name of EHR here]”. Since this is the first time […]

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