HIV and ID Observations

January 10th, 2012

First Rabies Case in State in Over 75 Years Raises Questions (Again) About Preventive Strategies

The recent case of bat-related rabies in a Barnstable man has prompted my colleague Larry Madoff, director of the Division of Epidemiology and Immunization at the Mass Department of Public Health, to write this fine commentary in the Atlantic. I particularly like these passages: Rabies is perhaps the archetypal zoonotic disease, one spread between animals and humans. […]

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February 2nd, 2010

Bats in the Bedroom: Canadians Make a Policy Change

ID doctors know all too well the panicky call — usually from a terrified friend, family member, or colleague, or possibly the emergency room or primary care doc — about finding a bat in the house. Usually in the bedroom. (In one memorable case, it was the house cat’s leaping in the air to try and catch […]

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April 6th, 2009

Delayed Opening Day Videos, and More

Some random HIV/ID issues while awaiting a delayed opening day here in cold, rainy Boston: If you enjoy video highlights, check out these of HIV making its way from T cell to T cell.  If you’re short on time, #’s 9-12 are particularly amazing.  Still, I don’t imagine that this video will make it to Youtube anytime […]

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April 17th, 2008

Required Reading: Bat-Related Human Rabies

A group of researchers in Canada have done infectious diseases experts a big favor — they’ve summarized a staggering amount of useful data on bat-related cases of human rabies in a paper just published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. (Note to non-ID specialists: infectious diseases doctors spend a lot of time answering questions about rabies in general […]

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