HIV and ID Observations

September 10th, 2008

Yes, TNF blockers increase infection risk. Now what?

So the FDA has issued (another) warning about TNF (tumor necrosis factor) blockers and increased infection risk, this time focusing on fungal infections, in particular histoplasmosis.  TNF blockers are used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, and a wide range of other autoimmune diseases, both in approved and in off-label use. ID/HIV […]

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September 5th, 2008

West Nile Virus and Friday Night Lights

The town of Braintree, just south of Boston, has cancelled Friday night high school football games until the first frost of the year due to concerns about West Nile.  Apparently the campus has a lake and wetlands,  good breeding grounds for mosquitoes.  “This is all in the name of safety,” says the school headmaster. (If someone […]

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August 22nd, 2008

We have met the enemy … and it is MRSA

In Jerry Groopman’s recent New Yorker piece on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, he quotes Dr. Louis Rice from the Cleveland VA, who uses the term “ESKAPE” bacteria:  an acronym for Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter. Nothing against the mostly gram-negative nasties in this list (and the focus of the New Yorker […]

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August 4th, 2008

Mexico City: Drive on the right … most of the time

Some early and completely non-scientific observations from the XVII AIDS Conference, taking place now in Mexico City: Everyone said getting to and from the Banamex Convention Center would be difficult, and of course they were right.  Mexico City is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere, has a road/traffic system that makes driving in Boston seem […]

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July 25th, 2008

Word salad: Jalapenos, abacavir, doripenem, and PAVE

Some miscellaneous recent items from the ID/HIV world jumbling around this Friday: Tomatoes are off the hook — it’s the jalapenos that likely caused the recent salmonella outbreak.  Since this is the only time of year that tomatoes are even edible in this part of the world, I for one am quite relieved.  I am sure […]

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July 10th, 2008

CROI 2009: Feb 8-11, Montreal

Last month I wrote about the annual mystery surrounding the date and location of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, or CROI. Mystery solved:  February 8-11, 2009, Montreal. (Small suggestion to the conference organizers:  perhaps start working on date/venue for 2010 now?)

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July 6th, 2008

HIV Testing: The Bronx is Up …

So the New York City Public Health Department would like to have every adult living in the Bronx tested for HIV.  The  Times coverage of the effort cites the best reason for reason for such a move — the high death rates from the disease, and the cause: Public health officials attribute this [the deaths] to […]

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June 29th, 2008

And Now… The “Answer”

Last month, I wrote a post inviting responses to our Antiretroviral Rounds case in AIDS Clinical Care, and inviting you to respond. It was a case of someone with (mostly) undetectable HIV RNA levels, but lots of resistance detected when he had to stop meds due to pancreatitis. I also promised to tell you how […]

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June 24th, 2008

HIV Occupational Post-exposure Prophylaxis: Do the Right Thing

From one of our local HIV providers: There were two occasions recently when our local infectious disease doctor was consulted by the emergency room to decide what type of post exposure prophylaxis regimen to recommend for individuals who had sustained an occupational exposure (needlesticks) to two of our HIV positive patients.  It had been known […]

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June 15th, 2008

Curbside Consults: What are They Worth?

Below is a friendly email exchange I had last week with with one of our hospital’s primary care providers: Dear Paul, do you know anything about whether pts should be given prophylactic antibiotics prior to dental procedures etc. if they have an indwelling IV catheter?  I have a pt. who has a BardPort porta cath […]

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