An IDWeek 2013 poster presentation quantified clinician fatigue with the finding that Boston-area primary care physicians were more likely to prescribe antibiotics for ARIs at the end of the day than when they were fresh on the job in the morning.

Broad-spectrum antibiotics offer no advantage over guideline-recommended agents, even against severe community-acquired pneumonia.

English- and Spanish-speaking parents cited widely differing reasons for avoiding vaccination for their eligible daughters or failing to ensure the 3 doses were received.

In hospitalized HIV patients, medication errors are common and can be mitigated by enlisting ID specialists.

The norovirus vaccine, while not preventive of all disease, does significantly reduce the severity of symptoms.

Clostridium difficile colitis can be cured by having patients swallow capsules brimming with other people’s concentrated stool. Inexpensive, effective, and readily available. This could be an enormous opportunity for primary care (if the FDA approves it).

This is an opportunity for primary care to help avert a public health catastrophe. Physicians need to take ownership over this issue and demand more time for URI patients-E&M criteria do not capture what is lost when these visits are viewed simply as “Level 2 Office Visit, CPT 99212.”

Most parents of boys aged 9 to 18 years do not know that an HPV vaccine is available for their sons. One major factor is a lack of information. This is where you play a vital role.

“STD organisms are all part of an ecological pool that simply share one thing in common: sex," says the author of a new study. Testing for all important STD pathogens is the only way to detect all agents that might be involved in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Details here.

Once you've decided that an opioid analgesic is indicated, what can you do to ensure that your patient uses the medication safely?

When counting sheep fails as first line therapy, what measures can you recommend to help your patient get some sleep?

Dr Margaret Fisher- who helped write the (Red) book on immunizations for youngsters- succinctly summarizes the latest guidelines here.

Marc B. Garnic, MD, addresses these questions in this short video. Dr Garnic, who spoke on this topic at the 2011 American College of Physicians meeting in San Diego

Psychiatrist Sidney Zisook, MD-a guest speaker at the recent American College of Physicians meeting in San Diego

Exercising at least 4 times a week can increase left ventricular mass and preserve elasticity, thereby reducing the risk of diastolic heart failure. Researchers from Texas presented their study results at the American College of Cardiology’s 60th Annual Scientific Session.

Measurement of pulse pressure may help identify patients with "white coat" hypertension, according to data presented by Korean researchers at the American College of Cardiology’s 60th Annual Scientific Session.

What is the optimal duration for antiplatelet therapy after placement of drug-eluting stents? Initial results of the EXCELLENT study show that 6 months of antiplatelet therapy is as effective as the 12-month regimen recommended by current guidelines.

A Danish study found no clinical benefit from using NT-proBNP (b-type natriuretic peptide) to identify and monitor high-risk patients with chronic heart failure, according to research from the NorthStar study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 60th Annual Scientific Session in New Orleans.

Compared with medical therapy alone, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) significantly reduced cardiovascular deaths and the composite end point of all-cause deaths and cardiovascular-related hospitalizations, reported investigators from the Surgical Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) trial. However, the effect of the two management strategies on overall survival in patients with ischemic heart failure was similar.

Recently, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) released a focused update to the 2007 guidelines for the management of patients with unstable angina (UA)/non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (non-STEMI).