The Rise of Superbugs and the Abuse of Antibiotics (The New York Times)
Posted in Letters to Editors, Print on Mar 8th, 2010
To the Editor:
Re “The Spread of Superbugs” (column, March 7):
After learning that Nicholas D. Kristof believes that agribusiness is a major culprit behind the emergence of superbugs, as an infectious diseases expert, I feel that he needs to make rounds with me.
In reality, a patient commonly receives (or in some cases, demands) an antibiotic — when it’s not needed. Those who fail to improve get admitted to hospitals and become victims to further abuse with even stronger antibiotics. This, not agribusiness, leads to the development of superbugs.
Some patients suffer; others succumb. As...
Flu Fight: Keep It Simple (The Baltimore Sun)
Posted in Op-Eds, Print on Dec 14th, 2009
Sick People Should Stay Home If They Can, Wear A Face Mask If They Can’t
October 01, 2009|By Faheem Younus
“I guess I’ll take my chances.”
I hear this a lot from patients when I fail to convince them about proper management and prevention of H1N1 flu. Why would someone in this day and age think like that? Why, when we have a rapid test to diagnose the flu; when we have two novel antiviral medications; when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are providing more timely information than one can read?
Part of the problem is access to treatment. Most Americans...
The True Cost of H1N1 (The Takeaway Morning Radio)
Posted in Radio on Oct 2nd, 2009
Flu season starts officially on Sunday, and while the government has been urging schools to close only as a last resort in the battle against H1N1, there have already been at least 187 school closures since the school year started last month. Ross Hammond from the Brookings Institution discusses his new report that reveals that the true cost to the nation of closing schools and day care centers could be as much as $47 billion. Kathleen Murphy is a registered nurse and the health services coordinator for the Milwaukee Public Schools; she tells us what her school district is doing to prevent...
Lessons learned from round 1 of swine flu (todayshospitalist.com)
Posted in Media, Online on Sep 14th, 2009
While the disease burden so far has been mild, hospitalists are preparing for a resurgence
by Phyllis Maguire
Published in the September 2009 issue of Today’s Hospitalist
One of the first signs that H1N1 influenza had hit Bel Air, Md., was the number of flu tests being sent to the lab at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. Doctors typically order only 10 flu tests there during the month of June. But that month, that testing burden increased many-fold.
“We were doing over 100 tests,” says Faheem Younus, MD, one of the hospital’s infectious disease specialists. “Out of that testing, we noted...
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