This week, the Annals of Internal Medicine reported a study in which older men taking erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra had twice the rate of sexually transmitted illnesses (STIs) than their non-medicated peers. I’m not surprised. I remember a man, almost an octogenarian, who presented with what seemed like a bad case of flu. […]
All Die Be Die
My interest in HIV/AIDS is in changing people’s behaviours and attitudes about their self-perceived risk of acquiring the infection. At this time, the ongoing epidemic in Africa does not stem from ignorance. People know the basics of what HIV/AIDS is and how it is spread. One can blame our religious and political leaders in that […]
Dying of AIDS in 2008 in the United States
Since the mid-1990s when combination antiretroviral therapy became available in the United States, HIV has quickly become a chronic condition. “Like diabetes” we often say. AIDS is a problem of “Africa” and other “overseas” nations, the general consensus goes. Yet, in the United States, tens of thousands of people are newly infected with HIV on […]
Wash Your Hands Before You Pick Your Nose!
Wash your hands before you pick your nose! Those were the parting words from our microbiology lab director. I started fellowship in the Microbiology lab. 3 weeks of bliss compared to what was to come. The goals were to learn the fundamentals of clinical microbiology, to become better consultants by being able to actually interpret […]
Infectious Diseases Here I Come
Orientation at my new hospital is this week. I’m going to be an Infectious Diseases fellow (ID fellow) for the next 2 years training to become an Infectious Diseases specialist (ID specialist). Why does everyone wrinkle their nose when they hear this? And why do other medicine folks keep asking me why on earth I want […]