An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
October 12th, 2010
Worlds Collide: Roberto Alomar and HIV
Now that a second woman has accused Roberto Alomar of having HIV, it’s probably time to give this sad story a look-over. After all, how often do these two worlds of mine — HIV/ID (work) and baseball (lifetime hobby — my wife would say that’s a collosal understatement) actually meet? For those unfamiliar with the basics: Alomar was […]
October 7th, 2010
Post-Halladay Video Treat: Prospects for HIV Cure
For a little entertainment between playoff games — but how could anyone beat the guy in the picture? — you might want to check out this interview I did with Dan Kuritzkes about the prospects for an HIV cure. So which do you think we’ll see first — an HIV cure or a vaccine? And I don’t mean an […]
October 1st, 2010
Five Friday Fasciolas
As we await either the start of the baseball playoffs (or Spring Training), here is some ID/HIV content to consider, in no particular order: Could adenovirus infection be the cause of obesity? That would be the media take, especially from this highly-esteemed research journal, The New York Daily News. (Warning: kind of ugly photo in link.) […]
August 30th, 2010
Required Reading: In Love and “Serodiscordant”
Being of a certain age, my wife and I still subscribe to the print version of the Sunday New York Times. Since we also get the local rag, quite a bit of paper is deposited on our doorstep each week. Worth it? You bet, especially since occasionally there’s a gem in there like this week’s Modern […]
August 3rd, 2010
HIV Testing: NY Makes Progress; Massachusetts … Not So Much
From the office of New York Governor David Paterson: The Governor signed into law S.8227/A.11487, which will allow patients to agree to HIV testing as part of a general signed consent to medical care that remains in effect until it is revoked or expires. The bill will also, among other things: allow oral consent to an HIV […]
July 30th, 2010
Perinatal Transmission of HIV “Solved” — Now How Do We Pay For It?
Conspicuously absent from this year’s International AIDS Conference were major studies on prevention of maternal-to-child transmission. It could be that I just missed them, so I emailed a colleague who specializes in the area, and she concurred: Nope, did not see or hear major PMTCT updates at IAS. The thing is, this problem has been all but solved, […]
July 19th, 2010
Vienna IAS: First (Really) Positive Microbicide Study
Big news from Vienna and Science, imminently: The CAPRISA 004 trial assessed effectiveness and safety of a 1% vaginal gel formulation of tenofovir, a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor, for the prevention of HIV acquisition in women. A double-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted comparing tenofovir gel (n = 445) with placebo gel (n = 444) in sexually active, HIV-uninfected 18- to 40-year-old women in […]
July 12th, 2010
Neutralizing AB and How to Interpret HIV Vaccine News
Lots of attention in the news media on the recent papers in Science that elucidate the structure and function of broadly neutralizing antibody to HIV. (Proof: a patient asked me about it today.) For example, here’s the take by the Wall Street Journal: HIV research is undergoing a renaissance that could lead to new ways to develop […]
July 6th, 2010
Torrid Tuesday
Some ID/HIV-related items for a sweltering summer day: Are the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) in trouble? Certainly in some states they are, and this interview gives additional perspective. But I wonder — how much of this is HIV-specific, and how much is just the ongoing lousy economy. In other words, are other government-funded programs comparably stressed? Headline: […]
July 1st, 2010
RFA-AI-10-009, HIV Cure, and “Berlin Patient” Update
Interesting “RFA” (Request for Application, #RFA-AI-10-009) from Bethesda: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health (NIH), encourage grant applications from institutions/organizations to address the problem of HIV-1 persistence in HIV-1-infected persons treated with suppressive antiretroviral drug regimens… The goal of this initiative […]
Paul E. Sax, MD
Contributing Editor
NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases
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NEJM Journal Watch — Recent Infectious Disease Articles- Diphtheria Outbreak in the EU: Reason for Concern
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