Editors’ Note: This post first appeared in Bloomberg Opinions. In every epidemic, some die, others become ill and recover, and the luckiest live through infection without symptoms. In today’s pandemic, we are seeing this play out before our eyes. Although the initial epidemiological data show that Covid-19 is more severe in older people, men and Read more
Infectious Disease
We have all listened repeatedly to the many confused, confusing, and misleading statements coming from the White House in the midst of this pandemic, unprecedented in its scope and existential threat. Responding to all the misstatements would be a full-time job. However, the barrage of reckless comments made about drug treatments for COVID-19 during a Read more
While we were watching out for the flu, without warning, along came a severe respiratory infection caused by a novel coronavirus imported (without tariff) from China. This is the kind of news that sets the world on edge. But it also underlines how important the field of infectious diseases is in informing us about the Read more
Ten years ago it would not have been worth my time to write about measles nor yours to read about it. In the year 2000, thanks to a very effective 2-shot childhood vaccination program using a combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, the U.S. was declared free of this potentially lethal disease. However, by the end of Read more
The front-page New York Times article, “A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy” and its companion pieces, “Candida Auris: The Fungus Nobody Wants to Talk About” and “Culture of Secrecy Shields Hospitals With Outbreaks of Drug-Resistant Infections” have sparked a lot of important conversations and concern about a fungus that has surprised many with Read more
Influenza is back among us—and with a vengeance. We are just about at the midpoint of the flu season, and already experts are calling it the worst epidemic since 2009, when a new (H1N1) influenza strain appeared, resulting in the deaths of more than 12,000 Americans. Now, not all “flu-like” illness is caused by the Read more
