HIV and ID Observations

April 1st, 2018

News Flash — The World Isn’t Sterile

You might have missed this press release from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): Bethesda, MD April 1, 2018 The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the National Institutes of Health, invites grant applications which propose research in the following 3 critical world health challenges: 1.  Development of an effective HIV […]

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March 25th, 2018

Why Is Some Academic Spam Funnier Than Others?

This invitation made me laugh out loud: From: International Journal of Poultry and Fisheries Sciences <poultry@symbiosisonline.us> Date: Friday, March 23, 2018 at 7:03 AM To: “Sax, Paul Edward,M.D.” Subject: Accepting Articles for our Inaugural Issue: IJPFS  Dear Dr. Paul E Sax, Greetings from International Journal of Poultry and Fisheries Sciences! We are privileged to introduce International Journal of Poultry and Fisheries […]

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March 18th, 2018

Why with Extremely Resistant Infections, It’s Extremely Important to Consult ID

Since the only procedures most of us Infectious Diseases doctors do with any regularity are biopsies of patient medical records, we have to justify our existence in other ways — such as collecting data on how our expertise improves patient outcomes. There are a bunch of these papers published, with this one being the most widely […]

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March 11th, 2018

Really Rapid Review — CROI 2018, Boston

The 25th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) just wrapped up in warm, sunny Boston. Everyone in attendance took advantage of the fine March weather to get some much-needed sun, to feel the sand between their toes, to sip a tropical drink, and to hear the latest in HIV research. Well, the last part was true […]

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February 12th, 2018

Shingles Vaccine Video, New Name for C. diff, Flu B Rising, and More — A Pre-Valentine’s Day ID Link-o-Rama

With Valentine’s Day and early spring training baseball both on the horizon this week, it’s obviously time for an extra special ID Link-o-Rama. On to the links, with a bonus non-ID section and a highly recommended video at the end: The ACIP issued its official recommendations for herpes zoster (shingles) immunization. Preferred: the new recombinant zoster vaccine, […]

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July 3rd, 2016

Velpatasvir/Sofosbuvir Makes HCV Treatment Simpler, Especially For Genotypes 2 and 3

One of the ways ID and hepatology hepatitis C experts like to show off is by discoursing on the nuances of cleverly named clinical trials, and how these impact treatment guidelines. It usually goes something like this: “In the EP-CILEON [I made that up] study of [insert HCV regimen here], treatment-experienced patients with genotype [insert non-genotype 1 patients here, […]

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June 12th, 2016

Progress in Lyme Disease Badly Needed — Could a “Hackathon” Help?

Someone recently asked what keeps me, a specialist in Infectious Diseases, up at night. With the admission that I do all my clinical work here in the USA — a person working in the tropics would undoubtedly have a different list — several challenging patient care and public health issues came to mind. Multidrug-resistant bacteria. Endovascular infections in […]

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April 2nd, 2016

You Too Can Have Fun with Academic Spam

Like most doctors who work at academic medical centers, I get a fair amount of “academic spam” — invitations to bogus meetings that take place in some exotic or at least warm place (China, Dubai, and Orlando are favorites), efforts to sell me monoclonal antibodies or, more recently, CRISPR-altered mice, and of course requests to contribute research papers or […]

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March 27th, 2016

One-Week-to-Baseball ID Link-o-Rama

(Important note:  Title has nothing to do with this post’s content. I just felt like writing something about baseball.) As some of us eagerly await the start of the 2016 baseball season — especially Cubs fans — here are some ID/HIV items yearning to shag flies, toss around the horsehide, and play some pepper: Famous anti-vaxxer — and notorious scientific fraud — […]

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March 15th, 2016

Dogs Again Are Brilliant Diagnosticians

The reputation of dogs in the ID world got a big boost when Dutch researchers published this remarkable study of Cliff — a beagle who was trained to “diagnose” C diff using his superior olfactory abilities. (A couple of entertaining videos here, if you can’t get enough of this stuff. I can’t.) Now, in the pages of Open Forum Infectious Diseases (IDSA’s […]

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