HIV and ID Observations

December 20th, 2021

Believe It or Not, We Already Have a Highly Effective Outpatient Antiviral Treatment for COVID-19

And that treatment is … (drum roll) … remdesivir. Yes, you heard me right. Remdesivir, the very same antiviral with a checkered history in COVID-19 clinical trials, with some studies showing efficacy (sort of), others not much of anything. What’s the truth here? For that, let’s turn to what gets my vote for the most unheralded highly favorable […]

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November 23rd, 2021

Gratitude for 40 Years of Progress in HIV Care and Research

I was working with one of our outstanding senior ID fellows in clinic last week, and she presented the case she’d just seen, a 54-year-old man with HIV (certain details changed for confidentiality): Will is doing great on [fill in one-pill daily regimen], missing no doses. He’s having some difficulty with sleep (his wife says he […]

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October 31st, 2021

Interesting and Important Studies from IAS 2021 and IDWeek That Caught My Eye

As noted in my previous post, attending virtual meetings poses some serious challenges. The biggest obstacle:  trying to do one’s regular job while periodically checking in (or more likely not checking in) on the meeting. And while I might have been able to pull off some Really Rapid Reviews© after a few virtual meetings, not so […]

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February 7th, 2021

Does Taking Vitamin D Prevent or Treat COVID-19?

Vitamin D supplementation — critical in prevention and treatment of COVID-19? Or does it do nothing — except further enrich the vitamin and supplements industry, which is worth more than 100 billion dollars? The challenge is figuring out which of these is the truth, and after several weeks of thinking about the issue, I find it’s far […]

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January 31st, 2021

Are We Expecting Too Much from Our COVID-19 Vaccines?

There are no absolutes in life. And nothing is perfect. Tom Brady isn’t always in the Super Bowl (hard to believe). Serena Williams occasionally exits tennis tournaments in the early rounds. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep sometimes appear in movies that are stinkers. I’ve always thought that Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum in New York fits horribly […]

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November 24th, 2020

Some ID Things to Be Grateful for This Holiday Season — 2020 (!) Edition

“Grateful?” some might wonder. “He must be out of his mind.” But even in the cursed year that began shortly after the first report of the disease now known as COVID-19 on (almost) New Year’s Eve, we can still find some things to praise, and to offer our gratitude. Or at the very least, acknowledge that […]

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October 18th, 2020

Does Remdesivir Actually Work?

Quick answer — it’s complicated. Let’s start with a clinical anecdote — rightfully considered the weakest form of evidence, yet paradoxically holding great power over us because we’re imperfect humans. It’s the way we’re wired. In April, a patient of mine with stable HIV came into the hospital with COVID-19 pneumonia. (Certain details changed for privacy.) She works […]

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August 30th, 2020

Cases of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection Highlight the Limitations — and the Mysteries — of Our Immune System

In case you didn’t notice, or perhaps were “off the grid” taking some well-earned time away from COVID-19 news, this past week we heard about several cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. We’ll come back to them in a moment, but first, some questions: Why does one parent never get sick when their kids start coughing and sneezing and […]

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August 24th, 2020

FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for Convalescent Plasma for COVID-19 Seems To Be Fooling No One

Starting late Saturday night, and proceeding the next day — like a relentless series of coming attractions for a blockbuster summer movie or the finale of a reality TV series — we repeatedly heard word that the President planned to make an announcement Sunday evening about a “major therapeutic breakthrough” in treatment of COVID-19. 6 p.m. […]

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July 26th, 2020

Time to Amplify Our Voices Calling for Inexpensive Rapid Home Testing for COVID-19

Earlier this month, I highlighted how inexpensive rapid home testing for COVID-19 could get us out of this mess faster than a vaccine. To spare you re-reading the whole thing, here are the main points. Imagine a simple test done on a saliva sample placed on a paper strip. Results back in 15 minutes. Available without a […]

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