Infectious Disease

Infectious disease physicians and clinicians writing on KevinMD about outbreaks, antimicrobial resistance, vaccines, and the ongoing challenge of preventing and treating infection. Contributors include the physicians who treat infectious disease and the public health physicians who track it. For a maintained record of what physicians have said about vaccines and vaccine refusal since 2004, see Vaccines: what physicians say, in their own words. For what clinicians wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic as it happened, see COVID-19: what physicians wrote as it happened.

Nurses are not getting the protection they need and no one seems to care

Susan Shannon, RN

Conditions and Diseases

April 17, 2020

Nurses are not getting the protection they need to care for COVID patients, and no one seems to care. Where is the outrage? Nurses are at the COVID patients’ bedside 24/7.

We all know the medical staff is not wearing the proper gear at all. If supplies were adequate and protocols were being followed, they would be wearing N95 masks or PAPRs. If they do have N95s, they are being told …

Telemedicine in COVID-19 is a unique challenge for homeless patients

Matthew A. Crane, Tiffany Lian, and April Banayan

Conditions and Diseases

April 17, 2020

COVID-19 cases in the United States are continuing to rise, with some regions of the country entering a stage of peak infection. Despite growing resources allocated to our public health response, a substantial gap exists in our approach to the care of homeless patients at this time. Various solutions have been proposed to improve access to care and temporary sheltering in this …

The art of the doctor-patient relationship in the COVID-19 era

Michael C. Luciano, MD

Physician

April 17, 2020

This a famous painting named “The Doctor” from 1891 by Luke Fildes. I was first introduced to this by my grandfather, the first physician in our family, an old school traditional family doctor. He cared deeply for his patients, and they loved him for it.

My grandfather gave me this painting on the day of my graduation from medical school. I always …

Ventilators are only part of the story: We need critical care trained practitioners

Eric Bressman, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 16, 2020

The media and policymakers have spent a lot of time focusing on the shortage of ventilators in the country. Elmhurst Hospital in Queens – one of the hardest-hit locations in the country, and where I work – received a donation of 40 desperately needed machines from Tesla a couple of weeks ago. There was a brief moment to rejoice before putting these to use.

Healthcare workers and the …

I am a physician, and I will heal when I can, but I will always provide hope

Sergey Moldavskiy, DO

Conditions and Diseases

April 16, 2020

I don my PPE in the hallway, while the patient is watching the increased commotion outside of their room. They see me enter their room, introduce myself, and then position myself behind their bed. They are covered with a plastic wrap or an intubation box to protect us from their cough and secretions. They feel a burning sensation in their arm as propofol enters, while the nurse is holding it, …

Physician burnout in the wake of COVID-19

Rosemary Eseh-Logue, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 16, 2020

A doctor who has a contagious disease is not only suffering in terms of their health but also about being incapacitated in performing their life-saving tasks. Doctors with COVID-19 likely increase the community’s disease burden, so the frontline staff in the fight against COVID-19 crisis cannot be sick or ill-equipped. Yet, that has been happening. With the surge in COVID-19 cases, physicians are overworked. I have an infectious disease colleague …

We must care about our doctors. Especially now.

Peggy A. Rothbaum, PhD

Physician

April 16, 2020

We are all traumatized by the unfathomable devastation caused by the coronavirus. What can we expect as a result of this national and worldwide trauma?

The trauma approach uses posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a frame to understand trauma. PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal situations, which can be ongoing, according to the American Psychological Association. It is normal, not abnormal or pathological, to feel emotions, even extreme ones, from …

There is no place for USMLE Step 2 CS during a pandemic

Anna Goshua

Medical Education

April 16, 2020

As American cities continue to shelter-in-place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, thousands of medical students are in limbo as they wait to see when they will be able to take their licensing examinations. The growing backlog of test-takers is particularly problematic for the Step 2 Clinical Skills examination, a one-day clinical performance exam which is held on limited dates at one of five testing locations across the …

From a clinician on the frontlines: I can’t stop mentally drafting my obituary

Anonymous

Conditions and Diseases

April 16, 2020

I can’t stop mentally drafting my obituary. A coworker snaps a picture of me in full protective gear, holding a respiratory swab, and I wonder how this photo will age. I wonder about the folly of our actions now, four health care workers seated together at a computer bank in the emergency department. Likely seeding toxins back and forth as we idly banter during our shift, trying to stay calm …

COVID-19: Nurses and the respiratory therapists are truly the brave

William V. Kinnard, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

It is all about the nurses and the respiratory therapists. I watch countless brave actions every day in the ICU. These are people who, in “normal” times, spend nights, weekends, and holidays caring for the sickest of the sick. They are modestly paid, and often have little control over their schedules. They balance a stream of demands from doctors, patients, families, and an insatiable electronic medical record that demands constant …

We must not forget the caregivers during the pandemic

Maureen A. Mavrinac, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

Last night, a cable news host raised an anguished alarm about the crisis of the pandemic in America’s nursing homes. It resonated. As a physician, I have worked in those places across the U.S. From the pastoral rural to the gritty inner city. Faces of people and scenes inside those walls flashed before my eyes.

Caregivers. They are the ones who ride the buses and subways or drive their decades-old vehicles …

6 ways to help your patients cope with anxiety from coronavirus

Dimitrios Tsatiris, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

As death tolls rise from the global spread of a novel coronavirus, I have observed an increase in anxiety among my patients.

I am writing this article to provide physicians with tips on how to help their patients cope with anxiety from the coronavirus.

1. Validate their anxiety

To some degree, an increase in anxiety is appropriate under the current circumstances. Anxiety increases when we are confronted with threats to our wellbeing. The …

My wife was worried as I left for the ER. She had a point.

Thomas Seufert, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

I was about to step out for an evening shift when I caught a small quiver in my wife’s lip as she was saying good-bye. This drew me up short. I could tell that she was worried about me; it occurred to me she had a point.

I’d had about a week off, and in that time, my co-workers had begun seeing more and more COVID-19 patients. Now, it was my …

Doctors shouldn’t feel ashamed for wanting to protect themselves or their family

Jon Zaid, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

A troubling type of social media post I’ve recently seen from providers (often not directly taking care of any COVID-19 patients) is one of excitement at the prospect for the medical community coming together to defeat this invisible foe. This mentality seems to say that as health care providers, we should all rush to the frontlines as it’s a commendable action. Maybe these sentiments are posted because morale is low, …

Preparing for the next pandemic: Why a one-country approach is needed

Kelli Todd, MPH and Amy Baruch, MD

Health Policy

April 15, 2020

One needs to look no further than any mainstream news or social media outlet to realize that our public health system and hospitals are overwhelmed. Whether it be the lack of adequate testing reagents to properly monitor the current COVID-19 pandemic or the lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators to safely care for our sick, our nation’s health care system is being pushed to the brink. As hospitals …

Human rights and social inequity issues are magnified by COVID-19

Padmini Murthy, MD, MPH

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered a powerful document at present, more than 70 years after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 3rd session on December 10, 1948, in Paris, France.

Since its creation, it is currently available in 360 languages and it is no surprise that it is the most translated document in the world. It is not an exaggeration to refer to it …

The concerns and considerations of implementing a universal mask policy

Varsha Venkatakrishna

Conditions and Diseases

April 15, 2020

America greatly stands to benefit from a universal face mask policy that mandates face coverings in public. Understandably, adoption of such a policy raises concerns, including:

Universal public masking will come with an exaggerated sense of security, loosening people’s social distancing practices.
Not everyone will use masks correctly, making their efforts counterproductive.

Part of a national universal mask policy …

Coronavirus highlights why America needs a national medical license

Marcel Brus-Ramer, MD, PhD

Health Policy

April 15, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many vulnerabilities in the U.S. health care system. While shortages of safety equipment and ventilators have been widely reported, the shortage of physicians and staff to manage patients in respiratory failure is also a major concern. Given the reported conditions throughout northern Italy with hospitals operating over capacity and exhausted medical personnel, the same concern arises in the United States. While some may be quick …

What’s in a disease name, anyway? Everything.

Jay Wong

Conditions and Diseases

April 14, 2020

Spanish Flu. Japanese Encephalitis. Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome. West Nile Virus. Wuhan Virus (and lately, the “Chinese Virus” as many have begun calling the pathogen that causes COVID-19: SARS-CoV-2).

What do these names all have in common, you might ask? Well, for one thing, they were constructed not by a strict scientific nomenclature, but by an aspect of the virus or disease that is inextricably linked to a facet of one’s …

Combating patient isolation: Breast cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jake R. Erickson and Kirstyn E. Brownson, MD

Conditions and Diseases

April 14, 2020

As a health care system, we have united during the COVID-19 public health threat to embrace social distancing and “flatten the curve.” In order to conserve scarce resources and limit viral transmission, we health care providers have canceled elective surgeries, postponed health screenings, and moved patient encounters to online platforms. While we are fighting to save critically ill patients affected by the virus inside the hospital, we are attempting to …

Infectious Disease

Most Popular

Past Week

Past 6 Months

Recent Posts

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Most Popular

Past Week

Past 6 Months

Recent Posts