HIV and ID Observations

April 30th, 2025

On-Service ID Link-o-Rama — Osmosis Edition

First-year ID fellows this time of year bring a lot to inpatient consult rotations. Years of high-volume inpatient care have sharpened their clinical instincts, and at this point they have an impressive fund of ID knowledge. Plus, the fellow on our current rotation gets along great with everyone — patients and consulting clinicians alike — […]

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November 12th, 2024

Musings About a Bruising and an ID Link-o-Rama

We’ll get to the ID links in a moment, but first, allow me to share a few words about the election, which strangely feels like a million years ago. (It was a week. Time is strange.) Instead of rehashing what happened and what’s to come, here’s what I’m offering: some feelings from one specialist in infectious diseases […]

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December 22nd, 2023

A Holiday Season 2023 ID Link-o-Rama

A bunch of ID (and a few non-ID) items of note as you prepare for the peak of the holiday season. The President of IDSA has written an open letter to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) asking for changes to the recertification process. Current IDSA President Dr. Steven Schmitt proposes several modifications, all designed […]

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October 8th, 2023

An October ID (and Non-ID) Link-o-Rama

For those venturing next week to IDWeek here in Boston, fall gives us our very best weather. Comfortable sunny days with brilliant blue skies, cool evenings, low humidity — great weather for exercising and sleeping. Usually you just need a light jacket. And now, after one of the rainiest Septembers on record (boo!), October has […]

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April 21st, 2023

A Change-of-Season ID/HIV Link-o-Rama

The warm weather takes its sweet time to arrive here in Boston, teasing us with an occasional comfortable day, but reverting frequently to chilly temperatures and high winds until mid-to-late May at the earliest. The afternoon sunlight might say, “Spring is here!”, but the nightly temps in the upper 30s/low 40s definitely say otherwise. Brrr. Anyway, […]

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September 8th, 2022

A Back To Work ID Link-o-Rama

A few nuggets are rattling around in the inbox post Labor Day, including this extraordinary photo of our family dogs Zelda, Zoe, and Louie, posing for their latest album cover. Woof! Besides, I haven’t done one of these Link-o-Ramas since January 11, 2021! That was either 20 months ago or 20 years, hard to keep track of […]

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January 11th, 2021

After Ivermectin Controversy, A COVID-19-Free ID Link-o-Rama

Wow, quite the week for this country of ours. We’re all deeply saddened by the events, very hopeful that the transition in leadership will be peaceful. And also an eventful week for this little blog. When I wrote “Enter ivermectin — and let the controversy begin,” little did I know. Amazingly, this is already the second-most widely […]

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February 17th, 2020

Short-Course Treatment of Latent TB, Combination Therapy for Staph Bacteremia, Adult Vaccine Guidelines, Novel Antifungals, and Others — A Non-COVID-19 ID Link-o-Rama

There’s so much out there right now on COVID-19 (the disease) and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus) that the other ID news gets crowded out. Which means it’s time for non-COVID-19 ID/HIV Link-o-Rama! I haven’t done one of these in a while, so there’s plenty of material in the vaults yearning to be free. The CDC now recommends short-course, […]

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September 2nd, 2019

New Antibiotics for CRE, Draft Lyme Guidelines, Cost of Measles Outbreaks, and More — a Labor Day ID Link-o-Rama

Labor Day! Could summer really be over? Nah, we still have a few weeks — and as I’ve noted several times, this time of year (September-October) gives us far and away Boston’s best weather season. On with the links. Data from electronic medical records can accurately identify the best candidates for PrEP. The challenge in primary care is […]

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March 24th, 2019

Tetanus Case, No More MAC Prophylaxis, Playing in Dirt, and Low-Level Viremia — A National Puppy Day ID Link-O-Rama

In honor of spring (March 20), and the very important National Puppy Day (March 23), here are a bunch of ID and HIV-related recent items for consideration, contemplation, and perusal: A life-threatening case of tetanus in an unvaccinated boy highlights the personal and financial cost of the anti-vaccine movement. How deeply embedded are these false beliefs? The […]

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