An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
December 24th, 2017
On-Service Digest, December 2017 — Plus a Holiday Song
You youngsters out there might not believe this, but there was a time when passing out copies of published papers — actual hard-copies — was a major part of the teaching hospital experience. Now that this tree-destroying practice is over, many still regularly cite published studies on rounds. The goal is to provide some guidance and […]
December 16th, 2017
CDC Receives List of Additional Forbidden Words and Phrases
Right on the heels of prohibiting certain words or phrases in the Centers for Disease Control’s budget documents, the President’s Office of Financial Services has issued a second list. Now, not only must CDC officials avoid using words such as “vulnerable”, “diversity”, “fetus”, “transgender”, and “evidence-based”, they also have to steer clear of several other words […]
December 10th, 2017
Injection Drug Use-Related HIV Cases Increase in Massachusetts — Is This the Start of a Trend?
Recently the Massachusetts Department of Public Health sent out this concerning notice: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has noted an increase in newly diagnosed and acute HIV infections among persons who inject drugs (PWID). To date in calendar year 2017 (through November 21), there have been 64 HIV infections reported among individuals who […]
December 3rd, 2017
Why, Even with Depressing Predictions About Flu Vaccine Effectiveness, We Should Still Recommend and Get It
Each year, the print and broadcast media round up a bunch of experts on influenza and ask them to predict the severity of the upcoming flu season. Most of the time their responses are noncommittal — predicting how bad the flu season will be year to year is tricky business, akin to picking stocks, making […]

