HIV and ID Observations

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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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October 17th, 2022

Big In-Person Medical Meetings and Cognitive Dissonance for ID Docs

Dissonance: lack of agreement; inconsistency between the beliefs one holds or between one’s actions and one’s beliefs; a mingling of sounds that strike the ear harshly. It started shortly after the chaotic, disruptive, and all together unpleasant Omicron wave of 2021–22. It continued through the BA.2 and BA.5 surges, and now plays on through the swarm of […]

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October 10th, 2022

Molnupiravir Results in PANORAMIC Study — It’s Not All Bad News

Last week, the large PANORAMIC trial of COVID-19 treatment in outpatients with mild-moderate disease appeared in a pre-print. This large (25,783 participants!) randomized, open-label study compared molnupiravir vs. usual care in adults 50 or older, or having comorbidities known to make severe disease more likely. The results? Molnupiravir vs standard of care for outpts with Covid19. No […]

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September 28th, 2022

Even if You Think “The Pandemic Is Over” — Let’s Make In-Person Meetings Safer

“The pandemic is over.” Someone very famous used these words recently, triggering all kinds of controversy. While most ID clinicians groaned at the comment, knowing that it would be taken out of context, repeated in headlines without any of the President’s cautionary statements, and fuel COVID denialists, it’s also worth acknowledging that most of the country really […]

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