HIV and ID Observations

August 13th, 2012

A Poll: Clintons vs Bush

Got this email recently from a former colleague who now does mostly international work: Hey Paul — nice recap of the IAC conference. But I was wondering if you’d forgotten about someone very important when you wrote, “I can’t think of any major politicians who have done more for HIV than the Clintons.” Um, how […]

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August 1st, 2012

Really Rapid Review — 2012 International AIDS Conference, Washington, DC

Last week’s International AIDS Conference in Washington got plenty of media attention, mostly because it was the first time in umpteen years that it was held in the United States, the delay between meetings due to our absurd (and now repealed) immigration laws regarding HIV. (Quick trivia question — where was the conference supposed to […]

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July 30th, 2012

2013 CROI Dates and Location: Feb 28 – March 6, Atlanta (Probably)

From the Georgia World Conference Center calendar: Note that this is not confirmed. But it looks like we’ll be sharing the center with an optometry education company and a dance competition. That should be fun. (Hat tip to an unnamed academic ID/HIV physician for the info, because you won’t find it here — yet.) [Edit:  now […]

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July 29th, 2012

A Quick Note to Time Magazine

Dear Time Magazine, Thanks for the recent coverage of HIV treatment. One small suggestion: in the future, try to find some some stock photos of HIV medications that are somewhat more up-to-date than, um, 1997, which is what you chose here and here. In our field, seeing these original AZT, ddC, and nelfinavir tablets is kind of […]

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July 25th, 2012

AIDS Quilt, the Early 1990s, and Sadness

The early 1990s has potentially many associations — the break-up of the Soviet Union, the first Gulf War, the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings, The Lion King, Forest Gump, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, and the cancellation of the baseball season, to name a few. But we HIV/ID specialists will […]

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July 23rd, 2012

IAS-USA HIV Guidelines Updated

With the International AIDS Conference in Washington just starting, the International Antiviral (ahem) Society-USA has revised its HIV treatment guidelines, updating the 2010 version. As has been the case for several years now, it’s published in JAMA and also available on the IAS-USA web site. It’s a well written, evidence-driven summary of the current state […]

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July 16th, 2012

Sizzling Summer Serratias

Several ID/HIV items to contemplate as the heat really kicks in here in the torrid USA: TDF/FTC approved for pre-exposure prophylaxis. The challenging issues of defining the best candidates for this strategy — and finding the providers to prescribe it — still remain, but FDA approval should at least help justify insurance coverage if clinicians […]

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July 10th, 2012

Are ID Doctors the Worst Dressed Specialists?

Unusual exchange the other day with one of my (non-ID) colleagues. All dialogue reported verbatim: Non-ID guy: Hi Paul. Me:  Hi Jon. [I’m expecting the next line to be: “Quick question: I’ve got a patient with a positive PPD and a history of BCG, etc.” Instead, it’s this bizarre comment:] Non-ID guy:  You know, I […]

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July 5th, 2012

Home HIV Test Big News — But Why? And What Impact Will It Have?

The recent FDA approval of a home HIV antibody test (OraQuick In-Home HIV Test) was covered just about everywhere. It’s an oral swab test, takes 20-40 minutes, and will be available over-the-counter. How big a news story was it? Several hundred sources featured it on the day of the announcement, and the total count is now well over […]

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July 1st, 2012

“HAART Era” Now Longer Than “Pre-HAART Era” — Can We Officially Retire “HAART”?

As I’ve shared before, I’m no fan of the term “HAART” and do everything I can to stop people from using it. (I’m a fun guy to have at parties.) I’m returning to this pet peeve of mine because I realized recently that we’ve passed a milestone of sorts: Period of no effective HIV treatment, […]

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