HIV and ID Observations

October 25th, 2022

Yes, Even ID Doctors Get COVID — Including Famous Ones

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, various public figures have contracted the disease. Tom Hanks, way back in early March 2020, was arguably the first globally famous person in the world to test positive for the virus. The announcement came right as much of the world prepared to shut down. My friends and I were […]

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December 16th, 2017

CDC Receives List of Additional Forbidden Words and Phrases

Right on the heels of prohibiting certain words or phrases in the Centers for Disease Control’s budget documents, the President’s Office of Financial Services has issued a second list. Now, not only must CDC officials avoid using words such as “vulnerable”, “diversity”, “fetus”, “transgender”, and “evidence-based”, they also have to steer clear of several other words or phrases. […]

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January 1st, 2013

HIV Incidence: The Latest Numbers

The CDC has recently issued the latest report on HIV incidence (i.e., new infections) in the United States, and as always it’s fascinating to review the numbers. To start, the year-by-year estimated incidence: 2007:  53,200 2008:  47,500 2009:  45,000 2010:  47,500 (38,000 men, 9,500 women) Nope, not much change. Will data from HPTN 052 — published in the […]

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September 19th, 2012

It’s Time to Dump the HIV Western Blot

Hard to believe, but we have to get rid of the HIV Western blot — at least as our HIV confirmatory test. Here’s why (case adapted from several seen the past few years; I’m sure most of you have seen similar): 30-year-old man, high risk for HIV. He’s worried he might have become infected due to recent […]

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June 29th, 2012

HIV Testing Roundup, and a Brief Rant

I’ve written so many times about HIV testing that a complete list of the headlines fills two full web pages. But since the last entry on the topic was more than a month ago, one might think I’ve lost interest in the topic. Never! Three items on the HIV Testing radar, two national, one local. First, for a classic […]

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January 29th, 2012

Pre-Super Sunday Scombroids

Some quick ID/HIV links while we await big guys playing the big game with a big (or at least bigger) ball. Did you see how this doctor cheated Medicaid out of more than $700,000 by prescribing HIV meds to people who didn’t have HIV? Not surprisingly, he’s going to jail. Proof that if there’s money behind a […]

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February 3rd, 2011

Disparities in HIV Diagnoses, and Interpreting CDC-ese

In anticipation of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (February 7), the CDC has issued a new report on the disparities in HIV diagnoses in the United States. During 2005–2008, blacks/African Americans accounted for 13.6% of the population in the 37 states and 50.3% of the 156,812 diagnoses of HIV infection during that period … HIV transmissions […]

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December 8th, 2009

Vancouver, Phishing Phlu Scam, Telavancin, and Cartoon

A few things to ponder as the flu activity (mercifully) declines, at least for now: Interested in evidence that HIV treatment has become staggeringly effective?  Fully 87% of patients receiving treatment in the large British Columbia cohort have an HIV RNA < 50; not only that, the incidence of HIV drug resistance has declined more than […]

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October 17th, 2009

Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Another Retroviral Disease?

Here’s a surprising report in Science: Studying peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from CFS patients, we identified DNA from a human gammaretrovirus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV), in 68 of 101 patients (67%) compared to 8 of 218 (3.7%) healthy controls … These findings raise the possibility that XMRV may be a contributing factor […]

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September 4th, 2009

For Suspected H1N1, Get Out the N95 Masks?

So says the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations for protection of health care workers: Healthcare workers (including those in non-hospital settings) who are in close contact with individuals with nH1N1 influenza or influenza-like illnesses should use fit-tested N95 respirators … Employers should ensure that the use and fit testing of N95 respirators be conducted in accordance with […]

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