Summer Newsletter
Summer newsletter 2021 Dear Patients: What a difference a year makes. Needless to say, we are breathing a little easier than we were this time last year. A few months ago, the entire staff (all five of us) went to…
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Colds Make a Comeback
One of the positive effects of trying to avoid Covid 19 is those measures (mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing in case you’ve forgotten) helped to reduce all respiratory infections. As an example, I never treated a case of…
Covid 19 Vaccine Update
Here is some recent information on vaccines as well as information on availability. I haven’t included an online article from yesterdays’ New England Journal of Medicine indicating the dismal track record of Astra Zeneca’s vaccine in South Africa. That’s not…
Covid Vaccine Myths
To say that this has been a stressful year is a gross understatement. It has been challenging to keep patients well while taking care of those who are sick. Keeping my staff protected and having a safe practice setting has…
Update on Two Covid-19 Vaccines
How will we determine whether a vaccine is safe and effective? In part by reviewing evaluations by independent organizations like The Medical Letter. Here is their analysis of two of the vaccines which are most likely to be approved in…
An Infectious Disease Specialist Expresses His Gratitude
Dr. Paul Sax is a well regarded infectious disease (ID) specialist. It was interesting to read in Physician’s First Watch what he was grateful for on Thanksgiving Day. November 24th, 2020 Some ID Things to Be Grateful for This Holiday…
Traveler’s Health Holiday Update
This is the C.DC’s newsletter. You might think that it just says, “Don’t go anywhere”, but there is practical advice for those that chose or need to travel. Much of this has been covered in previous posts. Holiday Highlight More…
The Final Fork for Chloroquine
Months ago I wrote about the latest study on chloroquine and and said, “Put a fork in it, it’s done.” Apparently not. I had a patient go to a private mobile Covid-19 testing unit and tested positive. They were asymptomatic. …
Quick Test Cautions
Quick antigen tests are popular for Covid-19 testing. The results come back in 15 minutes and can be helpful in making decisions that involve treatment and quarantine. The trade off is they are less accurate than PCR tests that may…
Can Vitamin D Help Fight Covid-19?
Bottom line: Maybe. It’s an association, not proof of cause and effect. Probably not any downside to hedging your bets and taking some. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a wide variety of diseases. There is no proof that supplementing…