An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
January 4th, 2021
Ivermectin for COVID-19 — Breakthrough Treatment or Hydroxychloroquine Redux?
It’s an indisputable fact that we need better treatments for COVID-19. This is particularly true in the outpatient setting. Let’s count how many we have today, hmm, this shouldn’t take long. That would be zero — the same number we had over a year ago, when the disease first emerged in China. Something safe, easy […]
November 24th, 2020
Some ID Things to Be Grateful for This Holiday Season — 2020 (!) Edition
“Grateful?” some might wonder. “He must be out of his mind.” But even in the cursed year that began shortly after the first report of the disease now known as COVID-19 on (almost) New Year’s Eve, we can still find some things to praise, and to offer our gratitude. Or at the very least, acknowledge […]
October 18th, 2020
Does Remdesivir Actually Work?
Quick answer — it’s complicated. Let’s start with a clinical anecdote — rightfully considered the weakest form of evidence, yet paradoxically holding great power over us because we’re imperfect humans. It’s the way we’re wired. In April, a patient of mine with stable HIV came into the hospital with COVID-19 pneumonia. (Certain details changed for […]
September 7th, 2020
Relieving the COVID-19 Testing Logjam by Separating the Symptomatic from Asymptomatic
As the days grow shorter and we celebrate Labor Day here in the United States, the end of summer looms awfully near. With that will soon come colder temperatures, more time spent indoors, kids back in school, and the inevitable respiratory virus season. How we address these “viral URIs” in the midst of the COVID-19 […]
August 30th, 2020
Cases of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection Highlight the Limitations — and the Mysteries — of Our Immune System
In case you didn’t notice, or perhaps were “off the grid” taking some well-earned time away from COVID-19 news, this past week we heard about several cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. We’ll come back to them in a moment, but first, some questions: Why does one parent never get sick when their kids start coughing and […]
August 24th, 2020
FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for Convalescent Plasma for COVID-19 Seems To Be Fooling No One
Starting late Saturday night, and proceeding the next day — like a relentless series of coming attractions for a blockbuster summer movie or the finale of a reality TV series — we repeatedly heard word that the President planned to make an announcement Sunday evening about a “major therapeutic breakthrough” in treatment of COVID-19. 6 […]
August 9th, 2020
Rapid Home Testing for Contagious COVID-19: How to Make It Happen
You know that feeling when you have an aha moment. If you’re not familiar with the phrase, we can’t do better than our friends from Merriam-Webster: aha moment (noun): a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension This is how I felt when research revealed three key findings related to COVID-19 transmission: A […]
May 10th, 2020
Thank You to Inpatient Nurses — The People Doing the Most Direct COVID-19 Patient Care
Anyone who does inpatient medicine or surgery knows well the major imbalance in time spent on direct patient care between doctors and nurses. Nurses spend way more time actually with patients than we do — I’m referring to time in the rooms caring for patients. While we round and review charts, document lab test results, […]
May 6th, 2020
Early Memories of Burton “Bud” Rose, Founder of UpToDate — and Medical Education Visionary
Let’s rewind the clock a bit — OK, a lot. Ancient history. It’s winter, 1986. An interview day for medical residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A bunch of us nervous medical students sit in a conference room, wearing our interview suits, while Dr. Marshall Wolf tells us what to expect that day. Amazingly, Marshall […]
April 19th, 2020
Gratitude Before, During, and After Rounding on COVID-19 Service
It snowed in Boston yesterday morning — heavy, wet flakes covered the daffodils and tulips that just started coming up — but this brief return to winter didn’t make my red, itchy eyes from spring pollen feel any better. The flowers didn’t look too happy either. Oh well. But just as the annual misery of […]
Paul E. Sax, MD
Associate Editor
NEJM Clinician
Biography | Disclosures & Summaries
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FROM NEJM — Recent Infectious Disease Articles- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Things We Carry January 15, 2026The ID, the pen, the epinephrine, the scalpel are the nonnegotiables, the necessities for any hospital shift. But they are not the only things a physician carries, and certainly not the most burdensome.
- Serogroup Switching in Neisseria meningitidis with Dual Antibiotic Resistance January 8, 2026Serogroup switching away from serogroup Y has been identified in the major ciprofloxacin-resistant Neisseria meningitidis strain, which may impede identification of ciprofloxacin-resistant cases of N. meningitidis infection.
- Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Erythema Migrans January 15, 2026