HIV and ID Observations

November 5th, 2011

A Mysteriosis about Listeriosis

For obvious reasons, listeriosis has been much in the news recently.  The latest information from CDC on the Colorado cantaloupe outbreak cites 139 cases and 29 deaths. The recent outbreak aside, however, actual cases of listeriosis are pretty rare. We easily could go months in our hospital without seeing a single case, and we have the largest […]

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October 26th, 2011

Xigris is Gone — Not That Many ID Docs Will Notice

From the FDA comes this news: FDA notified healthcare professionals and the public that on October 25, 2011, Eli Lilly and Company announced a worldwide voluntary market withdrawal of Xigris [drotrecogin alfa (activated)]. In a recently completed clinical trial (PROWESS-SHOCK trial), Xigris failed to show a survival benefit for patients with severe sepsis and septic […]

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October 25th, 2011

Important Reminder: Don’t Eat Raw Garden Slugs

From the pages of the New York Times, courtesy of ProMED, comes this case report: An Australian man has been hospitalized for more than a month in serious condition as a result of eating two garden slugs on a dare…The 21-year-old Sydney man apparently contracted a rat lungworm parasite from the slugs, which pick it […]

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October 23rd, 2011

TB, Timing of Antiretroviral Therapy, and Being a Lumper Rather Than a Splitter

Three key papers on timing of ART in patients with TB have just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Fortunately, Carlos Del Rio has done a bang-up job summarizing them in Journal Watch AIDS Clinical Care. And if you’re wondering how we got our title for Carlos’ piece, here’s an e-mail between our Executive Editor […]

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October 19th, 2011

Going, Going, Gone … HIV Treatment Failure Is Disappearing in People Who Take Their Meds

World Series time, hence the baseball reference in the title. (Doesn’t take much.) But over in Lancet Infectious Diseases — which has turned out to be a terrific journal, by the way — there’s a study reminding us that advances in HIV treatment in the late 2000s were truly spectacular. The goal of the paper […]

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September 17th, 2011

Drinking Coffee Prevents MRSA

I follow the medical literature on coffee very closely. Why?  Because I’m completely addicted — and, judging from the lines at the Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, etc at the airports before early morning flights, I am not alone. (It’s just one cup a day. Any more and say hello to palpitations, jitters, sweats, and long sleepless […]

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September 11th, 2011

Must-Read Paper: “Antiscience” and Lyme Disease

As I’ve written before, there are few clinical encounters more challenging for Infectious Diseases specialists than the patient who, despite negative standard  diagnostic testing, believes he/she has Lyme disease. Now, in Lancet Infectious Diseases, comes a paper entitled “Antiscience and ethical concerns associated with advocacy of Lyme disease.” It meticulously describes the distinctive world of alternative diagnosis, […]

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August 31st, 2011

It’s Time for Antibiotic Placebos

As I’m sure you all agree, it’s high time we had a good antibiotic placebo. Just think — we’d be able to prescribe a 100% effective treatment for viral respiratory tract infections, with the assurance of no risk of antibiotic resistance, C diff, allergic reactions, tendon ruptures, photosensitivity, drug-drug interactions, or any of the myriad […]

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August 24th, 2011

Hepatitis C and … Baseball?

From the prolific folks at NATAP came this surprising announcement: The Cardinals are stepping up to the plate against Hepatitis C. Starting Monday, August 22, fans will be able to get free Hepatitis C screenings at Busch Stadium. It’s part of a nationwide effort by Major League Baseball to bring attention to the causes and treatment of […]

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July 28th, 2011

Really Rapid Review — IAS 2011 Rome

Just back from IAS 2011 (which was followed, I’m thrilled to say, with a visit to perhaps the most beautiful region in the world). Here is a Really Rapid Review™ of the meeting, with apologies ahead of time for lack of organization and (even more likely) leaving out something important.  FYI, the abstracts are online […]

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