Category: Infectious disease

Hidden infections: Are bats a missing link in the Countess of Chester tragedy?

As you should know, bats carry Histoplasma capsulatum and shed it in their feces (along with Aspergillus and other fungi, bacteria, and viruses). They evolved to deal with the photophobia and tinnitus it causes by hunting at night using echolocation. B…

The untold toll of COVID-19: a doctor’s battle to save lives and family

Hello! Your friendly next-door ID physician here checking in! I haven’t submitted anything here in several years. I’ve been too caught up with my work and family to delve into my creative side. But the very recent news that we will have a n…

What if a doctor didn’t wash their hands between patients?

I’ve been an emergency room doctor for 35 years. I have probably washed my hands over 150,000 times. What the heck? How much is enough? What would happen if I just didn’t wash my hands? Well, first, the hand-washing police (yes, there is su…

Enhancing vaccine uptake for pan-respiratory viruses [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Pediatrician Christina Suh discusses the KevinMD article, “More than just the flu: Helping families and doctors prepare for pan-respiratory viruses.” In this e…

Patient safety in focus: Helping to address risk factors associated with non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia

This article is sponsored by Stryker Oral Care. Hospital-acquired pneumonia remains one of the most common—and deadly—infections patients face during hospitalization. Yet, while significant progress has been made in reducing ventilator-associated pneum…

More than just the flu: Helping families and doctors prepare for pan-respiratory viruses

In previous flu seasons, only about half of all Americans got the flu shot. Now we face pan-respiratory season, when we must worry about RSV, COVID, and the flu. The good news is these vaccines are lifesaving. The bad news is that if people don’t…

How one health care family is using fiction to inspire real change in medicine

American health care is broken. There are decades of literature detailing the physician shortage, burnout, moral injury, administrative bloat, devaluing of physicians, the shift from fee-for-service to real value unit (RVU)–based compensation, as well …

Why mask bans are the latest attack on American freedom

In the land of the free, we find ourselves facing a perplexing and troubling trend: the rise of mask bans across America. These bans, ostensibly aimed at public safety, represent a dangerous overreach that threatens the very freedoms we hold dear. Amer…

Why mask bans are the latest attack on American freedom

In the land of the free, we find ourselves facing a perplexing and troubling trend: the rise of mask bans across America. These bans, ostensibly aimed at public safety, represent a dangerous overreach that threatens the very freedoms we hold dear. Amer…

Why are we allowing politicians to practice medicine?

When I was doing my medical training at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City (a proud and fine hospital that has sadly closed), the official word was that we could not counsel patients to use condoms to prevent HIV transmission. Like many othe…