Aaron E. Glatt, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA

The CDC issued an advisory on Aug. 13 alerting health care providers and public health officials about the elevated activity of parvovirus B19 in the United States.

Rather than telling a patient they should get a vaccine, the CDC’s shared clinical decision-making recommendations advise patients to speak to providers about certain vaccines and decide on an individual basis if they should receive them. 

Some decisions in life are quite difficult and complex; others come more easily and naturally. For me, the latter was the case with my decision to pursue a career in infectious diseases. From early first year pharmacology classes, to learning at the feet of ID giants like Harold Neu, Glenda Garvey, Mark Goldberger and many others in my 3rd and 4th years, going into ID was an easy choice.