HIV and ID Observations

July 15th, 2020

Really Rapid Review — AIDS 2020 Virtual

The International AIDS Conference — or AIDS 2020 — shifted from its Bay Area dual locations of San Francisco and Oakland to be entirely online. Digital. In the cloud. Virtual. The primary motivation for the switch was to show off what the numerous tech giants in the region could do with this fancy thing called the World […]

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March 16th, 2020

Difficult Times — Meaning No CROI Really Rapid Review 2020

In a usual year, right about now, I’d be obsessed with two things: What were the most practice-changing studies presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, or CROI? I’d want to summarize those for a patented, copyright-protected, check-with-my-lawyer-before-copying, Really Rapid Review©®. How will the upcoming baseball season play out? Most readers here don’t care, […]

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July 28th, 2019

Really Rapid Review — IAS 2019 Mexico City

As I noted last week — and you did read last week’s post, didn’t you? — the International AIDS conference first took place in Mexico City in 2008. Last week we returned to this sprawling, vibrant city for the 2019 meeting. It was an excellent, well-run conference — with one small complaint. But more on that later… […]

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March 10th, 2019

Really Rapid Review — CROI 2019 Seattle

As a foot of wet snow bore down on Boston last week — see this post for why that matters — HIV researchers and policy makers headed to Seattle for this year’s Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, or CROI, which took place from March 4-7. And already I was feeling the pressure, based on this […]

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October 8th, 2018

“Mini”-Really Rapid Review — IDWeek 2018, San Francisco

Once upon a time, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) wasn’t much of a research conference. It consisted mostly of review sessions on topics deemed worthy of an update or a refresher, led by noted experts in the field. They would cite the latest literature on endocarditis, or mycoplasma, or prosthetic […]

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July 29th, 2018

Really Rapid Review — International AIDS Conference 2018, Amsterdam

The International AIDS Conference — or “AIDS 2018” — returned to Amsterdam for the first time since 1992. It’s worth pausing, with gratitude, to remember that 26 years ago antiretroviral therapy consisted of three available drugs — zidovudine (AZT), didanosine (ddI), and zalcitabine (ddC). All were marginally effective, with limited durability and significant toxicity. In fact, the […]

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March 11th, 2018

Really Rapid Review — CROI 2018, Boston

The 25th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) just wrapped up in warm, sunny Boston. Everyone in attendance took advantage of the fine March weather to get some much-needed sun, to feel the sand between their toes, to sip a tropical drink, and to hear the latest in HIV research. Well, the last part was true […]

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July 30th, 2017

Really Rapid Review — Paris IAS 2017

Last week, the International AIDS Society meeting returned to Paris for the first time since 2003. Yes, you and I are that old. Jeeze. Here’s a Really Rapid Review® of some of the conference highlights, roughly ordered by “cure”, prevention, treatment, and complications. As always, feel free to use the comments section for notable studies I might have missed […]

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February 19th, 2017

Really Rapid Review — CROI 2017, Seattle

The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) returned to Seattle this past week for its 24th meeting. It’s the 4th time CROI has been held in Seattle, an excellent city for a meeting of this size, which includes “only” 4200 people. The convention center is pleasant and user-friendly — big but not cavernous, actually encourages […]

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July 24th, 2016

Really Rapid Review — AIDS 2016, Durban

The International AIDS Conference returned this year to Durban, South Africa, where it was famously first held in 2000. At that time the HIV epidemic was exploding in South Africa; funding for HIV treatment was essentially non-existent, and there was ongoing HIV denialism quite openly from some very influential figures in the South African government (including the President). […]

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