HIV and ID Observations

September 4th, 2011

“Novel” Approaches to Initial HIV Therapy: Part II

Two studies were just published on alternative strategies for initial HIV therapy. I’ve already reviewed the first one here. The second paper is a single-arm (n=112) study of darunavir/r (once daily) plus raltegravir, the latest riff on the “NRTI sparing” approach. As I mentioned when I first covered this study, the high rate of virologic failure […]

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August 31st, 2011

It’s Time for Antibiotic Placebos

As I’m sure you all agree, it’s high time we had a good antibiotic placebo. Just think — we’d be able to prescribe a 100% effective treatment for viral respiratory tract infections, with the assurance of no risk of antibiotic resistance, C diff, allergic reactions, tendon ruptures, photosensitivity, drug-drug interactions, or any of the myriad […]

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August 24th, 2011

Hepatitis C and … Baseball?

From the prolific folks at NATAP came this surprising announcement: The Cardinals are stepping up to the plate against Hepatitis C. Starting Monday, August 22, fans will be able to get free Hepatitis C screenings at Busch Stadium. It’s part of a nationwide effort by Major League Baseball to bring attention to the causes and treatment of […]

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August 19th, 2011

A Reason To Continue Restrictive HIV Testing Laws? Not Really …

The pending HIV legislation is much on my mind these days, for reasons I outlined here. Bottom line is that I don’t think it’s good for patient care, and we’re missing a real opportunity to make things better here in the Bay State. But yesterday I heard a perspective on the bill I hadn’t considered, […]

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August 3rd, 2011

Why the Proposed Massachusetts HIV Testing Bill is Bad for Patients

As I’ve written about here multiple times, I’m not a big fan of the HIV testing law in our state. First, there’s the requirement for written informed consent, something that every state (except a couple) has wisely abandoned. Second, it’s more than a testing law — it’s also an HIV privacy law, which is arguably […]

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July 28th, 2011

Really Rapid Review — IAS 2011 Rome

Just back from IAS 2011 (which was followed, I’m thrilled to say, with a visit to perhaps the most beautiful region in the world). Here is a Really Rapid Review™ of the meeting, with apologies ahead of time for lack of organization and (even more likely) leaving out something important.  FYI, the abstracts are online […]

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July 13th, 2011

More Favorable Results on PrEP, But …

As part of the usual flurry of studies released just before major scientific meetings, results of two pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trials in heterosexual men and women have just been made public: In the CDC TDF2 study, 1200 HIV-uninfected men and women in Botswana were randomized to take oral tenofovir/FTC or placebo daily. Tenofovir/FTC was found to reduce […]

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July 12th, 2011

A Thank You to Nice Patients

Yesterday I saw one of my favorite long-term patients. She’s just wonderful, and it’s always a joy to see her. Here are some reasons: She’s uniformly nice — not just to me, but to all the nurses and social workers and other support staff in our clinic. She shows up on time for her appointments. […]

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June 24th, 2011

Reflections on Levofloxacin as it Goes Generic

With the news that a generic form of levofloxacin has just been approved by the FDA, some thoughts about this remarkable antibiotic: When it was first approved in 1996, levofloxacin was the first oral antibiotic that really covered all common causes of community acquired pneumonia. Strep pneumo, H flu, mycoplasma, legionella, chlamydia — check, check, […]

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June 19th, 2011

Abacavir Agonistes

The studies on abacavir and its potential association with increased cardiovascular risk have been inconsistent ever since the news first broke at CROI 2008. But recently the data have been swirling around so fast and furious that it seems appropriate to take out this famous Greek epithet. A summary of some recent notable studies: An […]

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