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Tuberculosis and TB/HIV Interactions

By Beata Casanas, MD

November 10th, 2014

Dr. Beata Casanas presents an update on the epidemiology, stages, diagnosis, and management of tuberculosis. While the absolute number of TB cases has decreased, the rate of decrease has slowed. Dr. Casanas also touches on considerations required for multi-drug resistant TB. She discusses different diagnostic tests, including PPD, sputum studies, and interferon-gamma release assays, and the differences between active and latent TB. She also discusses TB co-infection in HIV-infected patients, as both infections independently accelerate the progression of the other.

Transplant Infectious Diseases: Infections in Cancer Patients

By Aliyah Baluch, MD, Msc

October 1st, 2014

Dr. Aliyah Baluch, an infectious diseases physician at Moffitt Cancer center discusses common infections that affect cancer patients. She reviews epidemiology, risk stratification for neutropenic fever, monoclonal antibodies, and antibiotic resistance in the setting of the immunocompromised cancer patient. She also reviews management of neutropenic fever, common pathogens, and selected syndromes – nodular pneumonia and ecthyma gangrenosum.

Treatment of Clostridium Difficile Infection: Old Treatments and New Strategies

By Linda Cheung, PharmD

June 16th, 2014

Linda Cheung, PharmD, speaks about the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections. She provides a background on C. difficile epidemiology, pathogenesis, risk factors (antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors), clinical manifestations (diarrheal disease, pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon), diagnostic laboratory tests (PCR, EIA toxin assay, cytotoxins, stool culture), and management. She also discusses probiotic prophylaxis, new antimicrobials indications for C. difficile, IVIG use, and stool transplants. Finally, she discusses future therapies in development and infection control – the importance of proper handwashing.

Ebola Virus: Old Pathogen, New Outbreak

By Lysenia Mojica, MD

June 16th, 2014

Dr. Lysenia Mojica discusses the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa. She speaks about the history and characteristics of the Filoviridae and discusses Ebola virus in particular. Ebola vectors are unknown, though thought to be carried by bats, and transmission of the highly virulent and stable virus can occur parenterally and by physical contact. She goes over clinical manifestations, risk factors, laboratory findings, and management and containment strategies. Finally, she discusses global implications of the West Africa outbreak.

Middle Eastern Respiratory Virus Syndrome

By Rey Rivera, MD

June 16th, 2014

Dr. Rey Rivera, infectious diseases fellow at the USF College of Medicine discusses a case of MERS and the implications of the 2014 MERS Coronavirus outbreak. The 2020 SARS CoV-2 Coronavirus shares similarities with the SARS-CoV and MERS, as all are Betacoronaviruses.  He provides an overview of the infection, viral characteristics, epidemiology, presentation, diagnosis, and management. He also goes over screening criteria from the CDC and recommendations for people traveling to endemic areas such as Saudi Arabia. MERS outbreaks are still ongoing in the Middle East as of early 2020.  Though the podcast was recorded in 2014, the specifics of MERS are worth revisiting in the shadow of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.

Long-Term Progressors and Elite Controllers: From Mississippi to Berlin

By Jane Mai, MD

June 15th, 2014

Dr. Jane Mai speaks about patients who have been “cured” of HIV infections – those patients who have no symptoms of HIV for greater than 10 years, and may have normal CD4 counts without significant decline. She reviews cell-mediated and humoral immunity and their involvement in a patient’s response to HIV infection and treatment. She also provides an overview of HIV pathogenesis, patient and viral factors that influence disease course, and possible targets for vaccines and new therapies. She also discusses patients who had seemingly achieved a clinical cure, including the Mississippi Baby, and Berlin Patients (Timothy Ray Brown).

 

HIV Long Term Prognosis: Optimistic Outcomes

By Jamie Morano, MD

June 6th, 2014

Dr. Jamie Morano speaks about the long term outcomes in HIV-infected patients. She reviews immune reconstitution, the factors that lead to ART success, management of aging patients with longer lifespans, and implications for the future. Immune Reconstitution involves the expected recovery of the immune system when ART is initiated, while an unmodulated immune response characterized by worsening opportunistic infections is called IRIS. She also addresses HIV latency in other organ systems, HIV non-progressors, IRIS morbidity and mortality, and generational differences in HIV treatment outcomes. She touches on pre-exposure prophylaxis for high-risk individuals – men who have sex with men and intravenous drug users. Finally, she covers future infectious disease concerns for HIV patients, including MERS-CoV and reemerging vaccine preventable infections.