HIV and ID Observations

September 20th, 2020

Sports During COVID-19 — When What Doesn’t Matter Actually Matters a Lot

A few weeks ago, I got a text from a long-time ID colleague here in Boston: Hey Paul want ur opinion … this is for an interview with MLB radio, and no one knows less about baseball than I do, but as an avid fan and wise ID doc, do you think the season should continue? […]

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September 13th, 2020

Restaurants Are Hurting — But Dining Indoors Poses Real COVID-19 Risk

As we learn more about transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the news for restaurants goes from bad to worse. And while there’s a long list of sad things about this pandemic, the decimation of the restaurant business for owners and the people who work there is right up there. The loss of the restaurant experience for us diners […]

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September 7th, 2020

Relieving the COVID-19 Testing Logjam by Separating the Symptomatic from Asymptomatic

As the days grow shorter and we celebrate Labor Day here in the United States, the end of summer looms awfully near. With that will soon come colder temperatures, more time spent indoors, kids back in school, and the inevitable respiratory virus season. How we address these “viral URIs” in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic […]

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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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August 9th, 2020

Rapid Home Testing for Contagious COVID-19: How to Make It Happen

You know that feeling when you have an aha moment. If you’re not familiar with the phrase, we can’t do better than our friends from Merriam-Webster: aha moment (noun):  a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension This is how I felt when research revealed three key findings related to COVID-19 transmission: A small number […]

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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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July 19th, 2020

Reaching Out to ID Doctors in COVID-19 Hot Spots — You Must Be Truly Exhausted

For us ID doctors in most of the northeastern United States (and Chicago and Detroit and some other northern cities), March and April hit us like a giant wave of never-ending calls, pages, emails, and crises. With COVID-19 case numbers increasing every day, the challenges crashed down on us in an endless torrent of hospital needs […]

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July 5th, 2020

Rapid, Inexpensive Home Testing for COVID-19 May Get Us Out of This Mess Before a Vaccine

As cases of COVID-19 continue to climb to record numbers, it might seem impossible that something is already out there that could dramatically reduce new infections — and even bring us back to some semblance of normal life. I’m not referring to a vaccine. It’s a rapid, inexpensive home test. You’re forgiven for being incredulous. Indeed, you […]

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June 28th, 2020

Is COVID-19 Different in People with HIV?

From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of most common questions I’ve received has been whether COVID-19 has different clinical manifestations in people with HIV. Would it be more lethal since people with HIV have impaired immune systems? Or milder since some of the damage in severe cases is immunologically mediated? Or would it be similar, […]

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