An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
June 11th, 2010
Plays at the (Culture) Plate
Some quick ID/HIV/other thoughts while we marvel in all that is Strasburgian:
- Did you know that HIV medication adherence improves over time? So much for “pill fatigue.” By the way, this anecdotally fits with my experience as well. And right now, the biggest reason for patients’ stopping their HIV meds is financial, usually due to loss of or change in insurance.
- This BMJ paper showing that getting an antibiotic in the primary care setting increases the risk of resistance in the person taking the antibiotic should be distributed to every outpatient practice in the universe — and then be prominently posted in waiting rooms.
- More on the underutilized zoster vaccine in the NY Times. Again, from my admittedly warped perspective as an ID doctor — one I’ve already confessed to here — this is one adult immunization not to skip! Biggest barrier? Who’s going to pay the $300 or so for the vaccine. For an example of ironic journalistic juxtaposition, an adjacent piece cites the hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars people might spend on the health of their pet.
- Over on KevinMD, here is a list of suggestions for how to talk to patients while using an electronic medical record. Some good advice — but the bottom line is that something is lost when our attention is split between the patient and the glowing screen. Just think about trying to get your kid’s attention while he/she is on-line. Or vice-versa.
- Want to increase the nasty (as in raunchy) comments auto-posted on your blog? Easy, just include a few choice words in your post’s title. Let’s just say that our spam filter has been busier than usual recently.
Hey, peak Lyme season is here — watch out everyone, hungry ticks are everywhere!
Paul E. Sax, MD
Contributing Editor
NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases
Biography | Disclosures | Summaries
Learn more about HIV and ID Observations.
NEJM Journal Watch — Recent Infectious Disease Articles- Sulbactam-Durlobactam for Treating Patients with Acinetobacter baumannii Infections: Do MICs Matter?
- Antibiotic Options Against Enterobacterales That Produce Wild-Type AmpC β-Lactamases
- Quorum Sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa — An Overlooked Treatment Target?
- Benefits of Comprehensive Primary Care for Persons Living with HIV
- An Autoantibody Implicated in Adult-Onset Immunodeficiency