An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
March 27th, 2016
One-Week-to-Baseball ID Link-o-Rama
(Important note: Title has nothing to do with this post’s content. I just felt like writing something about baseball.) As some of us eagerly await the start of the 2016 baseball season — especially Cubs fans — here are some ID/HIV items yearning to shag flies, toss around the horsehide, and play some pepper: Famous anti-vaxxer — and notorious scientific […]
March 20th, 2016
“Choosing Wisely” in HIV Medicine — Should We Stop Giving MAC Prophylaxis?
(Disclosure: The following post represents personal opinion, and is in conflict with treatment guidelines. Proceed at your own risk.) E-mail recently from one of our outstanding first-year fellows: Hi Paul, I’ve heard you recommended against the use of MAC [M. avium complex] prophylaxis in most settings in the modern HAART era. We admitted a 21yo F patient, non-compliant […]
March 15th, 2016
Dogs Again Are Brilliant Diagnosticians
The reputation of dogs in the ID world got a big boost when Dutch researchers published this remarkable study of Cliff — a beagle who was trained to “diagnose” C diff using his superior olfactory abilities. (A couple of entertaining videos here, if you can’t get enough of this stuff. I can’t.) Now, in the pages of Open Forum Infectious […]
March 9th, 2016
Approval of TAF/FTC/RPV, Another Single Pill HIV Treatment Option
The approval last week of TAF/FTC/RPV — that’s coformulated tenofovir alafenamide, emtricitabine, and rilpivirine — brings us another one-pill, once-daily option for HIV treatment. It’s essentially the same as the existing TDF/FTC/RPV, with similar pros/cons, but with three notable differences coming with the substitution of TAF for TDF. Specifically: Likely reduced renal and bone toxicity. Since approval was based on bioequivalnce, […]
Paul E. Sax, MD
Associate Editor
NEJM Clinician
Biography | Disclosures & Summaries
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