There have been a lot of questions about the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. I thought I would put together an easy FAQ with some referenced answers. I’ll keep adding to it as I get more questions. I have a FAQ about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine too. Is it Going to Alter my DNA? If you […]
What Makes a Good Vaccine? (Part 1)
There has been much discussion about vaccine expectations because of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Many people think that a good vaccine will completely eliminate the disease. That is the lofty goal of vaccination. We eradicated polio because of vaccines. We would love it if all vaccines eliminated the disease entirely, but that’s not the reality for […]
Asthma
Asthma is pretty common. Over 25 million people in the US have it, and over 3500 people died from it in 2017. Hispanics and blacks suffer disproportionately. It’s a disease of chronic airway inflammation causing expiratory limitations including wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and cough. It can be spontaneous or triggered by exercise, allergens […]
COVID ONLY Caused 6% of Reported Deaths? That Headline Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means.
A few of my friends have been throwing around that the CDC “quietly” updated its statistics in the middle of the night, without telling anyone, to say that only 6% of COVID deaths were real. “All the other reported deaths were caused by PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS.” I’m sure the CDC was dressed in black surrounded by […]
Clostridium/Clostridiodes Difficile
Clostridiodes difficile is a pretty big problem, causing quite a bit of morbidity and mortality every year, and it’s becoming more and more common. It can be pretty tricky to treat. C. diff is an anaerobic, spore-forming rod and it makes a toxin that contributes to the severity of the disease. It causes diarrhea and […]
Sinusitis
Sinusitis is usually viral. Only use antibiotics if signs and symptoms are greater than 10 days or purulent discharge with a fever greater than 102 degrees. Viral is quick, usually lasting less than a week. Bacterial often has double sickening and purulent discharge. Do not do imaging unless immunocompromised or orbital cranial involvement. Only symptomatic relief for […]
Dissecting a Study: Is Wearing a Neck Gaiter Worse Than no Mask at All?
If anything, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has shown us that we don’t do a good job at interpreting medical literature. I expect news outlets to get the headlines wrong. They always do. Eating chocolate cake for breakfast isn’t going to make you lose weight. Drinking 8 glasses of wine a day won’t make you look […]
Study Guides/Notes
These notes are just meant as quick study guides and from my personal notes, some of the data is not up to date and should not be used for clinical purposes. I thought I would make it public because it might help someone out! All of these, with a few referenced exceptions, came from my […]
ID Student Book List
Stewardship Intro Jobs in stewardship Random Kinectics Vanc Gent Timeouts (shorter is better) Tracking Metrics Reportable HAIs Antibiogram Clinical Micro Basic Micro Handout Resistance Vanc/Gent Biostats Study Design/Forest Plots Basic Biostats R Cheat Sheet for Biostats CONSORT Framework? Respiratory CAP and VAP Community MRSA vs Hospital MRSA GI/SSTI/Bone Joint Intra-abdominal Infectious STOP IT C. Diff […]
Do I Need to Stop My Aspirin?
For decades, American physicians have recommended aspirin to prevent heart attacks, strokes and other vascular events for almost everyone over the age of 40, even those without evidence of a previous heart attack or stroke. Newly released guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association take a more conservative approach to […]