HIV and ID Observations

October 24th, 2015

Pumpkin-Flavored ID Link-o-Rama

As the leaves change colors and fall from the trees, the days grow shorter and colder, and pumpkin-colored and flavored merchandise shows up everywhere, I ask you this important question: What precisely are the infectious risks of bobbing for apples? Off we go. Receiving antibiotics in childhood is associated with weight gain. The important finding in this study […]

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October 17th, 2015

Dear Flu Vaccine: Please Improve!

Dear Flu Vaccine, As the supply of you and your brethren have arrived in our clinics, on our hospital floors, and in pharmacies, I thought it would be a good time to reach out and tell you how to get better. That’s right — here, free of charge, is  a to-do list for how you can improve. Understand, I’m one […]

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October 7th, 2015

The Future of Diagnostic Microbiology, in 17 Minutes!

Over at Open Forum Infectious Diseases, I had the pleasure to interview Dr. Angela Caliendo about the latest advances in diagnostic microbiology. She touches on molecular testing in general, rapid pathogen identification (especially with MALDI-TOF, everyone’s favorite acronym), “syndromic” diagnostic testing for respiratory infections and diarrhea, use of Xpert for TB even here in the United States, […]

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September 24th, 2015

Decision to Lower Price of Pyrimethamine a Good One, Especially Given the Weak Defense of the Price Hike

The big ID story the past couple of weeks is that the price of pyrimethamine — a drug that’s been available generically for decades — went from $13.50 to $750 for one pill after the exclusive rights to the drug were purchased by Turing Pharmaceuticals. Now, after a barrage of criticism — all the way from […]

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September 20th, 2015

EHR and Drug Prescribing Warnings: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Part 1. The Good. Recently, an ENT colleague (fictionally named “Clint” below), sent me two emails triggered by drug-drug interaction warnings he received while seeing HIV patients. Here’s #1: Hey Paul, I saw Mark C yesterday for hoarseness, and his exam was negative. Thought we’d try a PPI for reflux, but when I wrote the […]

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September 13th, 2015

Station Eleven Is a Very Good Read — Even for ID Doctors

One of my colleagues, an MD/PhD, stopped me after our clinical conference a few weeks ago. He does basic science research, doesn’t see patients anymore — but he still comes to our clinical conference. Definitely scores points for that. And for being a very smart, interesting, and nice fellow. This was our conversation, reproduced verbatim: HIM: […]

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September 7th, 2015

Two Drugs with High Prices — One is (Surprise!) Good Value, The Other is Truly a Rip-off

By now, the fact that HCV treatment carries a high price is a fact as well known to the medical and non-medical public as 1) a million dollars doesn’t get you much in Manhattan or Bay-area real estate; 2) a Rolex is an expensive way to know what time it is; and 3) even though […]

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August 23rd, 2015

Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for HCV Can’t Be Cost-Effective — But We Might End Up Recommending It Anyway

An email query from a colleague: Hi Paul, Just got a call from one of our surgeons who got a needlestick from a suture needle, small amount of blood. Patient is HCV +. Any post-exposure prophylaxis recommended? Thanks, Dan The quick answer is no, it’s not recommended. From the guidelines: But it’s a natural question to ask for several […]

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August 17th, 2015

Dog Days of Summer ID Link-o-Rama

A few ID/HIV items of note to consider as you gather up your sunscreen, flip flops, towels, and sand toys and head off to the beach: Interesting review of the impact of low socioeconomic status in the recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease in the South Bronx. It’s just like (almost) every infection — the combined effects of crowding, poor sanitation, […]

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August 1st, 2015

Ten Reasons to Attend Our “Infectious Diseases in Primary Care” Course

With an up-front apology for the shameless plug — sorry! — here are 10 great reasons to attend our annual postgraduate course. It’s called Infectious Diseases in Primary Care, and takes place October 14-16 here at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. All the topics are clinically relevant to day-to-day practice. Look at these topics! There’s a […]

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