HIV and ID Observations

January 28th, 2015

Quick Question: Should We Still Be Recommending This Year’s Flu Vaccine?

From a football-obsessed primary care provider, written to me on one very snowy day in New England: Hi Paul, I’ve been reading about this year’s flu vaccine, and how ineffective it is. Not surprisingly, my patients have been hearing this too, and it has only increased their reluctance to go through with it. Should I […]

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January 21st, 2015

No Response

Not surprisingly, it’s a sad, sad day at the Brigham. Yesterday a man walked into the hospital and shot one of our cardiac surgeons, then shot himself. Both died. Amidst the grief, horror, and shock that we all are feeling, I was also reminded of the year I spent working in England before going to medical school. Somewhat to […]

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January 18th, 2015

Opposition to HCV Screening Raises a Few Interesting Points — But Has Some Really Wacky “Facts”

Over in the British Medical Journal, there’s a provocative editorial entitled, “Is widespread screening for hepatitis C justified?” Based on the title alone, you can guess the authors’ answer to that question — a resounding “No!” By taking this position, of course, they are opposing some very data-driven and well-respected arbiters of policy and clinical practice. These […]

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January 7th, 2015

Are the STI Screening Guidelines for Gay Men Overkill? (And Pedro Video.)

Our “healthcare system” recently distributed a set of guidelines entitled, Primary care for gay men: screening and treatment recommendations. It included, among other things, recommendations for screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and anal cancer. The former it adopted from CDC guidelines, which are this this: Screening at least once a year for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea […]

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