HIV and ID Observations

February 14th, 2023

Interferon Lambda for COVID-19 — Looking Good, but Still Not Available

Way back in the spring of 2022, I was asked to give an update on outpatient treatment of COVID to a group of general internists. The talk featured this slide on the TOGETHER trial of peginterferon lambda: These data came from a press release from the company developing the drug. It’s dated March 17, 2022. I added […]

---

February 6th, 2023

New Ways with Language — Some to Adopt, Some to Question

Back in my second year of medical school, my classmate and good friend John and I had a memorable teacher in our Introduction to Clinical Medicine course, someone we still talk about today. A general internist with a specialty in addiction, he was a big bear of a guy sporting a ponytail, beard, open-necked shirts […]

---

January 17th, 2023

After the PANORAMIC Study — Whither Molnupiravir?

We turn now to the second of the controversial papers published in late 2022 on COVID-19 — namely the PANORAMIC study of molnupiravir versus usual care in outpatients with the disease. This one is controversial not because the study was poorly done, or unimportant, but because molnupiravir has, from the start, been a contentious treatment […]

---

January 4th, 2023

Medical Masks vs. N95 Respirators for Preventing COVID-19 Among Healthcare Workers

As promised, the end of 2022 saw a trio of controversial COVID-19–related publications. First up is something that always causes a stir — a study on masks! Reviewing a study on masks in the COVID-19 era is like poking a hornet’s nest with a stick, and this one is no exception. But let’s poke away! Aside from […]

---

December 27th, 2022

Finishing the Year with Some ID Things We Can All Agree On

There are some things in ID for which there is universal agreement among our infection-obsessed clan. You might not believe it based on the squabbles over pandemic-related issues in the press or social media, but it’s true! Here’s a quick 10 off the top of my head, and of course there are more: Childhood immunizations are good. […]

---

December 19th, 2022

Chaos in the Diagnosis of Pneumocystis Pneumonia

Confession — no one knows the best way to diagnose Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, commonly abbreviated as PJP, or for some stubborn old timers, PCP. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this poll — not just the results, but the extraordinary diversity of responses — then head on back here for a historical perspective sure to […]

---

November 29th, 2022

#IDTwitter — Still a Wonderful and Entertaining Place to Learn

Twitter is much in the news recently, mostly for not-good reasons. Rather than rehash-tag (see what I did there?) its various struggles and controversies since the new owner took over, I’m going to let others cover that territory. Instead, I’d like to go in a different direction, and share how this site remains one of the […]

---

November 21st, 2022

Five ID Things to Be Grateful For, 2022 Edition

In what’s something of a holiday tradition on this site, I hereby present 5 ID things we can be grateful for as we prepare for the best holiday of the year. Why the best? Family and friends. A nice big meal, with something for everyone. (My family of four has two vegetarians — they have plenty […]

---

November 7th, 2022

Five Quick Questions from Our Course, “ID in Primary Care”

As noted on this site before, we put on a course called “ID in Primary Care” every year for clinicians doing truly the hardest job in medicine — frontline primary care. Why is their work so challenging? While we can focus on one field, infectious diseases, they have to be aware of everything. Tough task indeed. We’ve […]

---

October 25th, 2022

Yes, Even ID Doctors Get COVID — Including Famous Ones

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, various public figures have contracted the disease. Tom Hanks, way back in early March 2020, was arguably the first globally famous person in the world to test positive for the virus. The announcement came right as much of the world prepared to shut down. My friends and I were […]

---