HIV and ID Observations

April 26th, 2009

Swine Flu Curbsides: Anthrax, SARS Redux?

In my email in-box yesterday AM from a primary care doc: A patient of mine, 40 year old woman totally healthy, is going to Cancun on Tuesday for a conference.  She’ll be there for 6 days. I know there are no cases of swine flu in Cancun yet, and the situation is evolving, but here’s […]

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April 20th, 2009

Another HIV Pharmaceutical Partnership

GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer have created an alliance for HIV drug development. Since there is only one collaborative effort in the HIV treatment area — the colossally-successful “Atripla” between Gilead and BMS — I had thought this kind of arrangement was fairly rare in the drug biz, but according to this interesting take, apparently not. Perhaps […]

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April 18th, 2009

Ceftriaxone and Calcium — OK Again in Adults!

As every house officer, hospitalist, intensivist, and ID doc knows, ceftriaxone and calcium have been contraindicated since 2007 due to fears of a potentially fatal precipitation of the two that led to the death of 5 neonates. Pediatricians are fond of saying “kids are not small adults” (I should know), and if that’s true, it’s […]

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April 11th, 2009

Another Drug Linked to PML — Law Firms Waiting for Your Call

The psoriasis drug Raptiva (efalizumab) has been linked to progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: On Oct. 16, 2008, FDA updated the FDA-approved labeling for Raptiva to warn of the risk of life-threatening infections, including PML. On Feb. 19, 2009, the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory informing patients and prescribers of the risk of PML in patients […]

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April 6th, 2009

Delayed Opening Day Videos, and More

Some random HIV/ID issues while awaiting a delayed opening day here in cold, rainy Boston: If you enjoy video highlights, check out these of HIV making its way from T cell to T cell.  If you’re short on time, #’s 9-12 are particularly amazing.  Still, I don’t imagine that this video will make it to Youtube […]

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March 31st, 2009

Infectious Disease in the ICU: Help Please? Part II

In Part I of this topic, I commented on the ironic sameness of ICU Infectious Diseases — that incredibly sick, complex patients entered the ICU with vastly different problems, then over time, seemed to converge, presenting similar kinds of clinical issues and management challenges for the ID doc. Or, as a visiting medical student said […]

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March 25th, 2009

March (Guideline) Madness …

A couple of interesting ID guidelines out this week.  For those of you too busy with basketball, here are the relevant links: Guidance for Control of Infections with Carbapenem-Resistant or Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Acute Care Facilities. Identified in 24 states and now found “routinely” in New York and New Jersey, these carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (“CPE” is […]

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March 14th, 2009

Maybe It’s Not the Cheeseburgers

… At least that’s the implied message in this nice paper from the latest Annals of Internal Medicine, which evaluated responses to lipid-lowering therapy among patients with and without HIV. The study included patients from the Kaiser Permanente of Northern California integrated health system, with 829 individuals with HIV and 6941 without. The quick summary […]

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March 10th, 2009

Unwelcome Visitor: Cost of HIV Meds

Those of us who practice HIV medicine in Taxachusetts (warning, click link at your peril) live a pretty charmed life, at least so far as getting HIV medications paid for.  Due to an incredibly generous AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), rare is the patient who faces financial barriers getting his or her drugs. (By the […]

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February 4th, 2009

Brush with Greatness: Bruce Walker

Bruce Walker has just received a $100 million grant from Terry and Susan Ragon to start a vaccine research institute, with a focus on finding an HIV vaccine. The news of this gift (which as you can imagine has been floating around these parts for some time) is all the more remarkable since it comes […]

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