A few weeks ago my old Podiatric College roommate sent me a link to a fascinating YouTube video. I then sent it to a few friends who, in turn, posted it on a few other blogs so it has become a minor viral (or should I say “bacterial”) success. This lecture, by Professor Eshal Ben-Jacob … Read more
I wish all of my readers a healthy, happy and prosperous 2012. With this post I am trying something a bit different. In the past I usually waited to put up a post until I come up with an “ah ha” moment on something I have seen, heard or read about which I then pontificate … Read more
One of the most frequent questions I am used to be asked is about when antibiotic prophylaxis should be used in performing foot and ankle surgery. I have an entire lecture on this topic where I go through the data, or lack thereof, on the subject and suggest the clinical situations where prophy has traditionally … Read more
As I have mentioned in a previous post there are a number of journals I follow to stay abreast of developments in the ID, microbiology and antibiotic world. For updates on the latest in antibiotic development from pre-clinical through clinical testing no journal beats the American Society of Microbiology’s Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (http://asm.org/). Just … Read more
The more I read the infectious disease literature the more my diet becomes limited. It seems that new reports of contaminated food are published regularly. It gets to a point where you don’t know what you should and should not eat! I have always been wary of raw foods and rarely eat sushi especially after … Read more
For a number of years I have referred in my lectures to the word I have termed “Pseudomonaphobia”. Basically, this is an irrational fear of the organism Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) when isolated from a culture of a wound in the foot. I really believe that this arises in most Podiatrists during the residency interview process … Read more
After an extended, deliberative writing and review process the brand new Infectious Diseases Society of America clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of MRSA have finally been published (full text at http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/01/04/cid.ciq146.full.pdf+html). I really feel that this document is a MUST READ for anyone interested in treating infections of the lower extremity. For right or … Read more
One of this blog’s readers, Dr. McLeod, asked the following: My question is: Does one need to prescribe antibiotics after I+Ding an abscess? I use to work at a county hospital in Oakland, California where there was a high MRSA rate. At that time (2005), we were being taught not it is unneccessary to prescribe … Read more
Well, the comments have come in and this is what I received – my comments, if any, are in italics: – Interesting question as I just received a memo from the dental school at the University asking my preferences regarding antibiotic prophylaxis with implant (hardware) patients and dental surgery. The letter outlined the 2003 decision … Read more
With this blog entry I am going to try something a bit different. I know that there is a good readership of my posts but, to date, I have been somewhat disappointed in the number of comments and interactions I have received from you, the readers. I stated in my very first post: The whole … Read more