An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
December 1st, 2019
On World AIDS Day 2019 — Wouldn’t It Be Nice…?
With apologies to a 1960s band with a flair for complex harmonies and evoking warm ocean breezes (as the first winter storm barrels in), here’s a miscellaneous list of wishes for World AIDS Day. Wouldn’t It Be Nice … If everyone with HIV could be on suppressive antiretroviral therapy? Here are the latest estimates, showing we’re […]
April 29th, 2013
Data Safety Monitoring Board Closes HIV Vaccine Study — the End of Adenovirus as a Vaccine Vector?
On Friday, the NIH announced that HVTN 505, a clinical trial of an HIV vaccine using an adenovirus vector, would be stopped based on a finding of futility by an independent DSMB. The study had enrolled some 2500 high-risk gay men in the United States. Here are the three key findings leading to this action: New infections in […]
April 5th, 2013
Another “Important Advance” in HIV Vaccine Research?
On reading this other real news about a single patient and how it may shape the future of HIV vaccine research, I decided to write the following fake news, drawing liberally on many similar stories over the years: Scientists today reported a discovery that could finally pave the way for an effective AIDS vaccine. In the study, published […]
October 4th, 2011
Spanish HIV Vaccine Story Gets Lots of Attention — Here’s Why
If you’re looking for a good way to pass the time while running errands, traveling, or walking to work, I highly recommend the Freakonomics podcasts, which have taught me all sorts of interesting things. Such as the fact that suicide is more common than murder in the USA, but gets way less attention. And how a […]
February 4th, 2009
Brush with Greatness: Bruce Walker
Bruce Walker has just received a $100 million grant from Terry and Susan Ragon to start a vaccine research institute, with a focus on finding an HIV vaccine. The news of this gift (which as you can imagine has been floating around these parts for some time) is all the more remarkable since it comes […]
Paul E. Sax, MD
Contributing Editor
NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases
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NEJM Journal Watch — Recent Infectious Disease Articles- Quorum Sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa — An Overlooked Treatment Target?
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- An Autoantibody Implicated in Adult-Onset Immunodeficiency
- Clinical Diagnosis of Varicella Is Inaccurate
- Monoclonal Antibody Receives Emergency Use Authorization for Preventing COVID-19 in High-Risk Patients