In November of 1991, Los Angeles Lakers point guard, and basketball superstar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson sent shockwaves around the world when we announced that he had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. He announced that he would be retiring from the NBA, at the height of his decorated career, no less.
For as long as there have been living beings on this Earth, there have been infectious diseases. Plague and sickness has shaped the path of the world since before recorded history, and through every age, there are those who rise above, saving countless lives in their search for better treatment. These men and women put themselves on the front lines…
Let’s face it – 2020 hasn’t really gone as planned. Most everyone’s lives have been derailed by Covid-19, the novel coronavirus that began wreaking havoc in the U.S. in late February and early March. As of August 3, 2020, there have been approximately 4.6 million cases in the U.S. and, tragically, just over 154,000 people have died from complications from…
Advances in healthcare have developed rapidly in the U.S. over the last few decades. In 1954, the kidney was the first human organ to be successfully transplanted. Liver, heart and pancreas transplants were successfully performed by the late 1960’s, while lung and intestinal organ transplant procedures began in the 1980s. Consider now that almost 40,000 organ transplants were performed in…
Dr. Philip Styne is a gastroenterologist and volunteer physician at Shepherd’s Hope, a health clinic in Orlando that exists to provide care for uninsured and low-income patients. He noticed that a significant number of his patients had Hepatitis C so he decided to open a weekly clinic to better treat them. “The point is that these people really suffer, and…
Infectious Disease Associates of Tampa Bay (IDATB) is now offering Telemedicine for certain infectious disease services and treatments. We are delighted to embrace this new and ever-expanding technology in order to create a convenient, safe alternative for our patients.
Receiving medication by infusion therapy is a method of administering a drug by a needle or catheter inserted into a vein. In the hospital, IV therapy is commonly used when a patient cannot take medications orally or for treatments where an intravenous route is more effective.
Currently, 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV. While most regions of the country have seen a slow decrease in the number of new HIV cases each year, the number of new infections in the South has continued to grow at a steady rate and accounts for just under half of all cases in the US.
