HIV and ID Observations

July 22nd, 2018

FDA Approves First PI-Based Single-Tablet Treatment for HIV — How Will It Be Used?

The latest HIV drug approval from the FDA came this past week with the release of a single-tablet treatment containing the following drugs: Darunavir (DRV) 800 mg Cobicistat (c) 150 mg Emtricitabine (FTC) 200 mg Tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) 10 mg Often abbreviated “DCF-TAF,” this is the first full treatment regimen in a single pill with a […]

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July 15th, 2018

On-Service Digest, July 2018 — with Special Section Just for Staph aureus

I’m currently on-service for the inpatient ID consult team, and this is July. At a teaching hospital.  Here’s where some would play scary music. After all, the interns and fellows have just started! YIKES! But no scary music for me — I love working with the July newbies. Because whatever they lack in experience or efficiency, they more than make up […]

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July 8th, 2018

Surgeon Who Was Denied Disability Insurance for Taking PrEP Tells His Story

Earlier this year, urology resident Dr. Philip Cheng appeared on the front page of the New York Times. Here was the headline: He Took a Drug to Prevent AIDS. Then He Couldn’t Get Disability Insurance. The piece understandably drew widespread attention, with sharp disapproval of the denial from ID specialists and public health officials. We couldn’t […]

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July 1st, 2018

Why Do Our Patients Think They Have Spider Bites?

We are currently in peak tick season here in the Northeastern United States. It might be hard for clinicians elsewhere to understand just how profoundly this changes our assessment of fevers and rashes. But consider this — ordering the trio of Lyme antibody, Anaplasma PCR, and Babesia PCR is as much a part of the routine […]

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June 24th, 2018

A Migrating Facial Worm, and Time to Vote for Your Favorite Cartoon Caption

Over on the New England Journal of Medicine, there’s a picture on the “Images in Clinical Medicine” series that’s getting quite a bit of attention. And it’s no wonder. This 32-year-old woman in Russia went to her ophthalmologist with a series of selfies she took over a 2-week period. The pictures demonstrated nodules (bumps) that moved around her […]

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June 17th, 2018

Remembering Robert H. (Bob) Rubin, Father of Transplant Infectious Diseases

During my ID fellowship, Robert (Bob) Rubin was my very first attending. It was the transplant service in July, and Bob and I would round with the surgeons each morning. Early each morning. That was part of it. We needed to be there with them, before they disappeared to the OR. If we weren’t there, he […]

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June 7th, 2018

What’s Your Favorite Off-Patent Antibiotic Brand Name?

Each time the FDA approves a new drug, they also approve a new brand name. The FDA and other regulators want something safe. They critically want to avoid names that sound or look similar to existing drugs, which could trigger medication errors. And names that imply an ingredient or an action not supported by clinical data […]

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May 28th, 2018

Predatory Journals Are Such a Big Problem It’s Not Even Funny

I’ve made fun of academic spam numerous times on this site. It’s those emails from dubious “predatory journals,” written in cheerful but awkward prose, with flowery praise and open invitations to submit research on various scientific topics. You know, the emails that start: Dear Dr. Paul E. Greetings for the day! Most of my coverage has been on […]

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May 6th, 2018

Looking Back on a Decade of Blogging About HIV and Infectious Diseases

Last week, Dr. Wendy Armstrong from Emory kindly invited me to spend some time with their smart, energetic ID fellows. (See if you can pick me out of the group in the photo at right — hint, I’m the old guy on the left.) Before the trip, Wendy asked them whether they’d rather hear me give a […]

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April 29th, 2018

ID Learning Unit: Clinically Important Streptococcal Infections You Need to Know

As mentioned last week, I’m currently attending on the general medical service, a chance to brush up on non-ID clinical skills, and more importantly, to work with smart, energetic house staff and medical students. Not surprisingly, there’s a wide range of clinical ID on this service, and this year we’ve had a rash of streptococcal infections. (Get […]

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