Where all your ID needs are met! Sort of.
I am of the opinion (as is my idol, Mark Crislip) that microbiologists get together every few years, get drunk, and re-organize and re-classify microorganisms (its not like that, but Id like to believe this is the case). Streptococcus is one of those families of organisms that is difficult to organize in someone’s head, especially
I’ve previously discussed how much more difficult Enterococcal infections are to treat when compared to other bacteria such as streptococci. This stems from the fact these bacteria have tend to be more resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics, with synergy being the name of the game for serious infections with these bacteria (in general, ampicillin/ceftriaxone). This is
Stop me if I have mentioned this before, but HIV therapy is actually quite simple these days. No longer do patients have to take a “cocktail” of medications (whatever that means, I typically think of the alcoholic cocktail) with regimens being streamlined into one simple pill: Atripla, Odefsy, Genvoya/Stribild, Triumeq, and the (relatively) new kid
A 72yo male with history of hypertension, kidney stones, and recent diagnosis of acute prostatitis presents with malaise and myalgias. According to the patient, he has been feeling unwell for the past month. He had a recent outpatient visit for dysuria, the UA was positive for leukocyte esterase. A DRE revealed acute prostatitis and he
I have to admit, this is not a very sexy topic to write about. Indeed, next to diabetic foot infections, these tend to, shall we put it, do not arouse my interest. Nevertheless as the population ages, more and more people will end up with a knee or hip replacement and you are more likely
Cell-free DNA (also known as circulating-free DNA) was discovered in human blood in 1948 (1), and it generally comprises fragments of nucleic acids that circulate in the blood without any cells attached to it (in other words, just DNA out in the wild). This did not catch on as a diagnostic modality until 1997, when
Morgan DJ, Zhan M, Goto M, Franciscus C, Alexander B, Vaughan-Sarrazin M, Roghmann MC, Pineles L. The Effectiveness of Contact Precautions on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Long-term Care Across the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Oct 23;71(7):1676-1683. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz1045. PMID: 31637429. This was a cohort study of long-term VA facilities (aka the CLC) evaluating
Vibrio Vulnificus is one of those board questions that pops up occasionally. The stem usually goes along the liens of “a cirrhotic eats raw oysters/goes to the beach and has a severe skin and soft tissue infection.” This is usually followed by a question about the etiology. There have been some news stories regarding this
Hantaviruses are a thing. I am sure the vast majority of those who come across this post will not know or even see a case of hantavirus (as far as I am concerned, though keep reading). Basics Bunyaviridae is part of a larger family of viruses that cause hemorrhagic fevers (those other viruses include the
I am willing to bet most of the people that come across this blog remember a time when you took organic chemistry. While I do not find this topic particularly interesting, mass spectrometry was briefly touched upon. This is an analytical tool that measures the mass of different molecules within a sample by measuring their
Dr. Germophile 