Category: Infectious Diseases

  • Hand Infections You Don’t Want to Miss

    Here are some questions that you should ask (or at least think about!) when evaluating patients with hand infections to help make sure that you don’t miss anything big. Other than this pain, redness, swelling here (etc.), did you hurt your hand in any way? This is perhaps better than asking “Did you punch anyone?”…

  • Mnemonic for Side Effects of Antimycobacterial Agents

    Mnemonic for Side Effects of Antimycobacterial Agents

    Here is a mnemonic that will help you remember the side effects of  antimycobacterial agents: Rifampin cause Red discoloration of urine and tears, which can lead to patient anxiety and ruined contact lenses. Patients should be counseled about this ahead of time and should be advised not to wear contact lenses while being treated with…

  • Book Review: Antibiotic Basics for Clinicians, 2e

    Book Review: Antibiotic Basics for Clinicians, 2e

    I believe that it is not possible to practice general medicine intelligently without knowing the contents of this book very well. This is the only monograph about antibiotics that I know of which focuses heavily, and sometimes exclusively, on the why of antibiotic selection. And when it comes to antibiotic selection, you need to know why you are…

  • Book Review: 2013 EMRA Antibiotic Guide by Brian J. Levine MD

    Book Review: 2013 EMRA Antibiotic Guide by Brian J. Levine MD

    My overall favorable impression of the 2013 EMRA Antibiotic Guide is similar to that of the 2011 edition, about which I wrote: For almost any infectious disease, the text advises you about which antibiotic to use, along with the appropriate dose, route, frequency and duration. In addition, the text provides you with various alternatives and contingency antibiotic…

  • Book Review: Differential Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases

    Book Review: Differential Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases

    Differential Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases (1996) by David Schlossberg MD is one of those rare let-me-try-to-tell-you-in-350-pages-or-less-everything-I’ve-ever-learned-in-a-lifetime-of-clinical-practice types of medical books. Unlike most microbiology and infectious diseases books, which are organized on the basis of bugs or diseases, Differential Diagnosis is arranged on the basis of specific clinical problems or chief complaints (fever, pneumonitis, diarrhea, rash, arthritis or…

  • Teach Yourself Infectious Diseases!

    Teach Yourself Infectious Diseases!

    “a well-developed knowledge of clinical microbiology is critical for the practicing physician in any medical field. Bacteria, viruses, and protozoans have no respect for the distinction between ophthalmology, pediatrics, trauma surgery, or geriatric medicine. Microbiology is one of the few courses where much of the ‘minutia’ is regularly used by the practicing physician.” Mark Gladwin…

  • Book Review: Atlas of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (2007)

    Book Review: Atlas of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (2007)

    Atlas of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (2007) by Wallace Peters and Geoffrey Pasvol offers a bleak and sometimes depressing window into the state of health, or lack thereof, of underdeveloped countries, particularly those in Africa. The names of the diseases and symptoms are fearsome and sometimes curious: dengue, blackwater fever, rabies, leprosy, bubonic plague and more. The…