With the accelerated distribution of vaccines, does COVID-19 testing still matter? How reliable are the new, home test kits? IDSA members Mary Hayden, MD, FIDSA of Rush Medical College and Romney Humphries, MD of Vanderbilt University Medical Center share updated considerations for COVID-19 diagnostic testing.

What drug therapies are producing the best outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19? What are the differences in treating patients suffering from severe COVID in the ICU setting versus those receiving non-critical treatment? Dr. Adarsh Bhimraj of the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Laura Evans, Director of Critical Care at the University of Washington Medical Center, join us to discuss treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19, including the challenges clinicians are facing.

This episode is produced in partnership with the Society of Critical Care Medicine. 

What strategies have been the most successful in boosting vaccine distribution and administration, and what key hurdles remain? When can low-risk populations expect to receive the vaccine? Dr. Saad Omer of Yale University and Dr. Matthew Zahn of Orange County Health Care Agency discuss the latest challenges, milestones and issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccine distribution. 

How can ID physicians advocate for improved physician value and compensation? In this episode, IDSA President Barbara Alexander, MD, FIDSA is joined by IDSA President-Elect Daniel McQuillen, MD, FIDSA of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Steven Schmitt, MD, FIDSA of the Cleveland Clinic to discuss increasing awareness, public support and compensation for ID professionals.

Should expectant mothers get the COVID-19 vaccine? What do we know about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine in people with HIV? In this episode, we discuss the COVID-19 vaccine and its possible effect on special populations, such as people living with HIV, pregnant people, and the transplant community with Dr. Rachel Bender Ignacio of the University of Washington, Dr. Denise Jamieson of Emory University and Dr. Aruna Subramanian of Stanford University.

This episode is produced in partnership with the American Society of Transplantation and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

Guideline Update: 2020 Guideline on Diagnosis and Management of Babesiosis

The Infectious Diseases Society of America's Guideline Podcast provides concise summaries of the most important IDSA guidelines.

For the full version of the guidelines presented, please go to idsociety.org or see the full article in Clinical Infectious Diseases Volume 72, Issue 2, 15 January 2021, Pages e49–e64, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1216

Presented by:
Neil Skolnik, M.D., Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Associate Director, Family Medicine Residency Program, Abington Jefferson Health

Peter Krause, M.D., Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, CT