HIV and ID Observations

March 18th, 2011

Friday Fosfomycins

Today’s ID/HIV comments and links are named after every ID specialist’s favorite new toy for UTIs. This HIV transmission from a kidney donor is getting quite a bit of media play, as such complications always do.  I was at a meeting this AM when one of my colleagues (an endocrinologist) commented how horrible she thought […]

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March 8th, 2011

Really Rapid Review of CROI 2011 — and No CROI 2012 Dates

With CROI 2011 now officially over, I offer below the following Really Rapid Review™ for ID/HIV Specialists with limited time — or for those who said they went to the conference but spent the entire week shopping in the Prudential Mall and eating at Legal Seafood: Lots on PrEP.  Bottom line — it works if you […]

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February 17th, 2011

Zinc May Work for Colds — But Don’t Pretend It’s Not a Drug

Does zinc work for colds? Apparently it does, according to this Cochrane Review.  From the “Plain Language Summary”: This review identified 15 randomized controlled trials, enrolling 1360 participants of all age groups, comparing zinc with placebo (no zinc). We found that zinc (lozenges or syrup) is beneficial in reducing the duration and severity of the […]

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February 14th, 2011

Pspring Training Pseudomonads

A few ID/HIV issues to ponder as we welcome back the most important sport in the universe: Interesting new Guidelines on UTIs from IDSA — especially their recommendations not to use fluoroquinolones for uncomplicated cystitis and to promote nitrofurantoin for 5 days to first-line for this indication. And welcome to fosfomycin — though this could eliminate […]

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January 20th, 2011

A New Antiretroviral Drug Class, and a Movie

In my email in-box today was a very odd press release, referring to this paper, just published in PLoS ONE.  With the subject line, “Koronis – Clinical Trial Results Demonstrate Promise for First Non-suppressive HIV Drug,” it included the following information: Recently published Phase 2a clinical trial results show that the frequency of specific, drug-induced mutations in […]

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January 11th, 2011

Revised DHHS Guidelines, and Some Thoughts on Guidelines in General

As another major snow storm barrels in on us, you might have time over the next 24-48 hours to make some hot chocolate, throw some logs on the fire, and read the spanking-new 2011 Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) HIV Treatment Guidelines, just posted here on the AIDSinfo web site. (Disclosure: I’m on […]

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January 4th, 2011

HIV Year in Review Posted on Journal Watch

Want to catch up quickly in HIV clinical care? Forgive the bias, but the best strategy may well be to read our “Year in Review 2010” summary over on Journal Watch: AIDS Clinical Care. Always interesting to speculate what we’ll be choosing next year — I wouldn’t be surprised if progress in eradication (i.e., cure!) […]

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January 2nd, 2011

2011: A New Meaning for “Antiviral”

January 1, 2011 Dear Lake Superior State University, Clinicians are particularly concerned about this year’s “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness“, as topping the list was the word, viral. One nominator said: Events, photographs, written pieces and even occasional videos that attracted a great deal of attention once […]

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December 22nd, 2010

Holiday Hafnias

Some items to consider in HIV/ID world as you dig into your salmonella-free holiday bird: Drug label change for stavudine (d4T):  The label no longer has recommendations for dose-reduction in case of peripheral neuropathy, and cites data more strongly linking d4T use to lipoatrophy.  The strategy of decreasing the dose to reduce d4T toxicity hasn’t […]

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December 17th, 2010

Update on Berlin Patient II: Still Cured of HIV

First, who was Berlin Patient I? Second, over in the journal Blood is the latest update on Berlin Patient II, the guy apparently cured of HIV by bone marrow transplantation: We have previously reported the case of an HIV-infected patient in whom viral replication remained absent despite discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy after transplantation with CCR5Δ32/Δ32 […]

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