An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
April 18th, 2011
When to Start Antiretroviral Therapy, Take 3
A third observational study on “When to Start ART” has just appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine, “The HIV-CAUSAL Collaboration.” As with ART-CC and NA-ACCORD, it’s a large study, starting with over 20,000 people with HIV with baseline CD4s >500 receiving care in Europe and the United States. Out of this group, 8392 experienced […]
April 15th, 2011
A “New” Antiretroviral Option Quietly Enters the Market
There’s a new antiretroviral option out there, a 400-mg extended-release tablet formulation of nevirapine that can be dosed once daily. However, you might not have noticed, since it’s not really that new, and it’s not clear that this formulation offers any significant advantages over the nevirapine we already have. Writes Keith Henry over in Journal […]
April 11th, 2011
Organ Transplants from HIV-Infected Donors
On the heels of last month’s report of HIV transmission from an organ donor — covered here in Journal Watch — comes this remarkable article in the New York Times about lifting the ban on organ donation from donors known to be HIV positive. Naturally, the first group of patients slated to receive these HIV […]
April 9th, 2011
And Now, for a More Comprehensive CROI Report …
Although I’ve already provided a Really Rapid Review™ of the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), the editors of Journal Watch/AIDS Clinical Care have put together a more comprehensive summary here. I sometimes wonder what research from these conferences will not only stand the test of time, but will grow in importance and […]
April 1st, 2011
Clindamycin or Cephalexin for (Mostly) MRSA?
Over on the Journal Watch Pediatrics site, there’s a summary of a study that compared clindamycin with cephalexin for purulent skin infections in kids age 6 months to 18 years. The results? MRSA and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) were isolated from 70% and 19% of children, respectively … The primary outcome — clinical improvement at […]
March 30th, 2011
Journal Club: Even When You Think You Should Wait, It’s Probably Time to Start
Two papers just published in AIDS with relevance to the “when to start” antiretroviral therapy question. Both apply to certain patients in whom we might consider waiting to start treatment– but both these studies suggest we do otherwise. The first applies to the patients with slooooow CD4 decline. Perhaps so slow that both you and […]
March 26th, 2011
Zoster Vaccine for Age 50 and Up? A Resounding “Yea” Vote Here
I was getting off the elevator at the hospital the other day, and a cardiologist greeted me with the phrase every ID doctor in the world will instantly recognize: Can I ask you a quick question? It was actually a series of questions, and, as is often the case, it wasn’t so “quick”. But I […]
March 18th, 2011
Friday Fosfomycins
Today’s ID/HIV comments and links are named after every ID specialist’s favorite new toy for UTIs. This HIV transmission from a kidney donor is getting quite a bit of media play, as such complications always do. I was at a meeting this AM when one of my colleagues (an endocrinologist) commented how horrible she thought […]
March 1st, 2011
Like It or Not, PrEP Enters the Clinic
Since the publication of iPrEx, the hypothetical decision about whether to prescribe pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has become a practical reality. As a result, we’ve posted a case on the Journal Watch/AIDS Clinical Care site, describing someone who requests intermittent pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV. It’s a high-risk, HIV-negative man who’s been treated several times with post-exposure prophylaxis. […]
February 27th, 2011
CROI 2011 Starts Today
With a fresh 4 inches of snow on the ground in Boston, the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) starts today. Pocket program is available here (PDF format). Based on a (very) quick perusal, we can expect the following: Progress (lots of it) in prevention, with more from CAPRISA and iPrEx and the […]
Paul E. Sax, MD
Associate Editor
NEJM Clinician
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FROM NEJM — Recent Infectious Disease Articles- Challenging Claims of an Autism Epidemic — Misconceptions and a Path Forward January 17, 2026Autism research programs should focus on both causes and effective services and supports. Alarmist claims, chasing of debunked theories of causation, and further stigmatizing autism are counterproductive.
- Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia January 17, 2026A 60-year-old man with recently diagnosed HIV infection presented with a 10-day history of fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. A CT scan of the chest showed diffuse nodules and ground-glass opacities.
- Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Erythema Migrans January 15, 2026Expansion of the range of the lone star tick, a vector for southern tick-associated rash illness, has led to overlap with the range of the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis, which may cause diagnostic uncertainty.
- Primary Palmoplantar Pustulosis January 15, 2026A 60-year-old man with a 30-pack-year smoking history presented with a 2-year history of a painful rash on his palms and soles. Numerous pustules with erosions, crusting, and surrounding erythema were noted.
- Case 2-2026: A 63-Year-Old Man with Pulmonary Nodules, Liver Mass, and Vision Loss January 15, 2026A 63-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of fever, cough, and vision loss in the right eye. He had pulmonary nodules, a liver mass, and multiple brain lesions. A diagnosis was made.
- Challenging Claims of an Autism Epidemic — Misconceptions and a Path Forward January 17, 2026