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12 AUGUST 2022 VOLUME 24 ISSUE 32

Media Coverage

  • HIV Is Still a Big Threat in Africa

    Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry the greatest burden of HIV infections in the world and instead of abating, the problem was getting worse. But Africa itself is participating in global efforts to end the threat of HIV to public health internationally via donations to the existing global fund that was initiated early this year. The global fund is replenished every three years and France was the first host of the campaign followed by Canada and now the US.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    The Citizen

  • ‘Cruel’ Ban on Fertility Treatment for People With HIV Must End, Charity Says

    The National AIDS Trust (NAT) has called for an end on the government’s “cruel” ban on fertility treatment for people living with HIV. The HIV rights charity called for the Department of Health and Social Care to end the ban in a statement on Sunday (7 August), stating scientific evidence which shows there is little risk of passing on HIV when using fertility care. Widespread HIV treatment means that approximately 97 percent of people in the UK who are HIV-positive cannot transmit the virus to others.

    August 9, 2022
    Treatment
    PinkNews

  • Immune Recovery, Integrase Inhibitors Improve Survival for People With Late HIV Diagnosis

    For people diagnosed late with HIV, use of integrase inhibitors and immune recovery during the first two years after diagnosis were key predictors of long-term survival, according to a new study unveiled at the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) last week in Montreal. Among individuals diagnosed after their CD4 count had fallen below 350, T-cell recovery during the next two years was a better predictor of mortality than their lowest-ever count.

    August 9, 2022
    Treatment
    POZ Magazine

  • Preventive HIV Drug Shows Urgent Need for Transparency on Pricing

    Every year, around 1.5 million people are infected with HIV. This number is falling, although not fast enough to reach a United Nations target of fewer than 370,000 new infections a year by 2025. Last month’s decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend a new drug that protects people against HIV infection is a promising development.

    August 9, 2022
    PrEP
    Nature

  • Incidence of STIs Stabilized Among Gay and Bisexual Men Using HIV PrEP

    Rates of bacterial sexually transmissible infections stabilized among gay and bisexual men in Australia who received HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, according to a recent analysis of sentinel surveillance data. The study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, included 22,730 gay and bisexual men who had been prescribed PrEP between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2019, and were tested for sexually transmitted infections at least twice during that time.

    August 9, 2022
    PrEP
    Contagion Live

  • Why Is the AIDS Conference Still Being Held in Global North? AU Expert Laments Double Standards

    The world's largest AIDS gathering – the International AIDS Society's bi-annual International AIDS Conference – should never be held in Europe or the United States again, says Ayoade Alakija, co-chair of the African Union's African Vaccine Delivery Alliance. The organisation, set up during the COVID-19 pandemic, works towards the equitable delivery of immunisations. Most people with HIV live in the Global South, so that's where the gathering of the most important new HIV research should be held, according to Alakija.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    news24

  • We’re Making the Same Mistake With Monkeypox That We Made With HIV/AIDS

    I’ve watched the rise of monkeypox with great sadness and horror. Sadness because of all the people suffering from what can be an excruciating infection. And horror because it seems we are watching as public health officials make the same mistakes they made during the HIV/AIDS pandemic. As HIV/AIDS surged in previous decades, the government scrambled to address the strange illness that seemed to afflict mostly men who had sex with men.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    Washington Post

  • Anger and Anxiety Stalk EU’s Monkeypox Vaccine Lottery

    Europe has a case of collective public health amnesia. The COVID-19 pandemic witnessed vaccine nationalism, contradictory official guidance and marginalized groups forced to advocate for themselves; while the early days of the HIV crisis were marred by virulent homophobia, stigmatization, and unequal access to treatments. Now, with 16,500 cases of monkeypox reported in Europe – largely among men who have sex with men – history is repeating itself.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    Politico

  • The Pandemic Has Drastically Changed the Sex Lives of Young Adults, Report Says

    More than two years into the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the sex lives of young adult Canadians have changed, says advocacy group LetsStopAIDS. A new study of Canadians aged 18 to 24 suggests the pandemic has robbed them of formative sexual experiences, but has allowed them to learn more about themselves and “re-emerge more sexually adventurous.” This has major implications for how Canada should approach testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), the group says.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    Xtra Magazine

  • In Africa, ‘The Heart of HIV Stigma’ Is Within Healthcare Settings

    According to research presented at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal, people living with HIV in Africa, especially key populations and adolescents, are experiencing stigma in healthcare settings while accessing care. What’s more, even staff living with HIV in health facilities conceal their status for fear of being stigmatised by their colleagues. A South African qualitative study explored the manifestations of HIV-related stigma in clinical settings.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    aidsmap

  • Could Drones Provide HIV Care in Hard-to-Reach Areas?

    Could drones be the future of getting antiretroviral treatment and other medications to people in hard-to-reach areas? Some scientists think so. At the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) last week in Montreal, two teams presented research testing the technology in Uganda and Guinea. This approaches could potentially also help in the United States, especially in rural and Indigenous communities.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    POZ Magazine

  • CDC: People with Untreated or Advanced HIV May be at Risk for Severe Monkeypox

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its Interim Guidance for Prevention and Treatment of Monkeypox in Persons with HIV Infection, which was published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on August 5, to offer clinicians information as well as alerting people in these populations to be aware and take precautions to avoid catching the virus. “Persons with advanced HIV might be at increased risk for severe monkeypox. Postexposure prophylaxis and antiviral treatments are available for persons with HIV infection,” the MMWR wrote.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    Contagion Live

  • What Will It Take To End Advanced HIV Disease-Related Deaths?

    “A key point when thinking about how to reduce AIDS-related mortality is to recognise that while scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is absolutely necessary for decreasing deaths, ART alone is not sufficient to achieve mortality reduction targets,” Dr Laura Broyles from the Global Health Impact Group told the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) in Montreal last week. The latest Global AIDS update by UNAIDS shows that 650,000 people died in 2021 due to AIDS-related causes: one every minute.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    aidsmap

  • What Is Paxlovid Rebound, and How Common Is It?

    When President Joe Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19, he started taking an oral treatment of the antiviral Paxlovid almost immediately. Four days after finishing the Paxlovid regime and testing negative, however, Biden once again tested positive for COVID-19—but without any symptoms of the disease. This is perhaps the highest-profile example of what people are calling “Paxlovid rebound.” Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical advisor, also experienced it.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    Scientific American

  • Finger Prick Nucleic Acid HIV Self-Test Using a USB-Interfaced Device

    A finger prick nucleic acid testing (NAT) USB-interfaced device can increase accessibility to HIV self-testing, according to findings of a study published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics. A team of investigators created a device containing a microfluidic reagent cartridge and a compact NAT-on-USB analyzer that is able to extract results from a 100-μL sample of blood obtained from a finger prick. The user places a drop of blood into the collection tube containing a lysis buffer and loads the lysate onto the microfluidic cartridge.

    August 5, 2022
    General
    Infectious Disease Advisor

  • UN Report: Fight Against HIV/AIDS Slowed During Pandemic

    A United Nations report is warning that progress in the global fight against HIV/AIDS has slowed as of late in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and emerging financial constraints in lower-income and middle-income countries. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report, entitled “IN DANGER,” highlighted concerning trends across HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, deaths, and cases in different parts of the world.

    August 5, 2022
    General
    Gay City News

  • Long-Lasting HIV Prevention Drug Could Be Game Changer — But Who Will Pay?

    An injectable drug that protects people at high risk of HIV infection has been recommended for use by the World Health Organization (WHO). Cabotegravir (also known as CAB-LA), which is given every two months, was initially approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in December 2021. Cabotegravir is currently manufactured by ViiV Healthcare, a UK-based company jointly owned by GSK in London, Pfizer in New York City and Shionogi in Osaka, Japan.

    August 5, 2022
    PrEP
    Nature

  • Nkengasong’s Vision for PEPFAR in an ‘Era of Multiple Pandemics’

    Shortly after the World Health Organization announced its classification of monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern last month, Dr. John Nkengasong, the newly appointed leader of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — or PEPFAR — encouraged using the initiative as a “platform” to assist with the monkeypox response.

    August 5, 2022
    General
    Africa.com

  • Why Monkeypox Vaccine Shortage May Threaten the Immunocompromised

    The shortfall of monkeypox vaccine doses in the United States, expected to last for months, is raising urgent questions about how well and for how long a single shot may protect against the virus. The vaccine, called Jynneos, is approved as a two-dose regimen, but most people at risk of infection have been receiving one dose — if they can find it. Now the shortage has led federal officials to consider a rarely used approach: a so-called dose-sparing strategy, which gives shots that each contain just one-fifth of a single dose.

    August 5, 2022
    General
    New York Times

  • Now That Monkeypox is a Public Health Emergency, Can Vaccine Supply Problems Be Fixed?

    The Biden administration officially declared monkeypox to be a national public health emergency (PHE) on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022, as cases of the disease in 48 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico rose to more than 6,600 nationwide, according to the CDC. (Only Montana and Wyoming have yet to report any cases.) “This public health emergency will allow us to explore additional strategies to get vaccines and treatments more quickly out to the impacted communities.

    August 5, 2022
    General
    Infectious Disease Special Edition

  • The HIV Prevention Drug That Could Save Millions of People – If They Can Afford It

    Someone was blowing a whistle. A crowd with placards surged into the conference room, chanting “PrEP costs pennies, ViiV’s greed kills”. Not an obvious slogan, but everyone in the room knew what it meant. The protesters took over the stage, denouncing “pharma’s greed” at the microphone. On the platform, those whose session had been interrupted smiled, even applauded. “Thank you for your advocacy. Please allow the session to continue,” read prepared slides on the overhead screens.

    August 3, 2022
    PrEP
    The Guardian

  • Just Six Injections a Year Can Prevent HIV: Here’s What It Will Take for the World To Afford Them

    An injection every two months of the antiretroviral cabotegravir is the most effective way to prevent HIV that the world has ever seen. Making it affordable will depend, in part, on how many generic manufacturers will invest in producing it — and for that, the world must show the promise of markets: millions of otherwise healthy people who will line up at a pharmacy or clinic for a quick injection every two months. The question is: how do you create a market for a product that most of the world has not yet seen?

    August 2, 2022
    PrEP
    aidsmap

  • GSK, Still Early in US Launch, Licenses Long-Acting HIV PrEP Drug Apretude To Patent Pool for Poorer Nations

    Antivirals have historically made up the bulk of licenses that allow generic companies to copy innovative drugs for poorer countries. Now, GSK’s ViiV Healthcare is adding the world’s first long-acting HIV prevention med to a patent-sharing program merely seven months into an FDA approval. GSK has signed a licensing deal with the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for its long-acting HIV PrEP drug Apretude, or cabotegravir, the two parties unveiled during the 24th International AIDS Conference.

    July 28, 2022
    PrEP
    Fierce Pharma

Published Research

  • Passion, Commitment, and Burnout: Experiences of Black Gay Men Working in HIV/AIDS Treatment and Prevention in Atlanta, GA

    HIV-focused organizations, care providers and research programs often hire Black gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in their efforts to reach highly affected communities. Due to their unique social position within and outside of organizations, Black GBMSM are ideally situated to contribute to HIV care and prevention programming targeting their own communities, but may also be at risk for stress and burnout in these settings.

    August 10, 2022
    PrEP
    PLOS One

  • Using the Implementation Research Logic Model as a Lens to View Experiences of Implementing HIV Prevention and Care Interventions with Adolescent Sexual Minority Men—A Global Perspective

    Adolescents and sexual minority men (SMM) are high priority groups in the United Nations’ 2021 − 2016 goals for HIV prevention and viral load suppression. Interventions aimed at optimizing HIV prevention, testing and viral load suppression for adolescents must also attend to the intersectional realities influencing key sub-populations of SMM. Consequently, there is not a robust evidence-base to guide researchers and program partners on optimal approaches to implementing interventions with adolescent SMM.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    AIDS and Behavior

  • Estimating the Number of People Who Inject Drugs Using Repeated Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) in a Community-Based Program: Implications for the Burden of Hepatitis C and HIV Infections and Harm Reduction Coverage

    Estimates of the population size of people who inject drugs (PWID) are essential for efficient program planning and for monitoring key targets. Existing estimates in Greece are based on the capture-recapture method applied to drug treatment sources. We aimed to obtain estimates based on data collected from a community-based program addressing PWID in Athens, Greece. The program was implemented in 2012–2013 to increase diagnosis and treatment for HIV among PWID during an HIV outbreak.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    AIDS and Behavior

  • Implementation Science for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV among Adolescents and Young Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review

    Despite many evidence-based adolescent and young adult (AYA) HIV interventions, few are implemented at scale in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A growing implementation science literature provides important context for scaling up AYA HIV interventions in this high HIV-burden region. This scoping review examined the use of implementation research in AYA HIV studies conducted in SSA.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    AIDS and Behavior

  • Prevalence of HIV Infection and Associated Factors Among Infants Born to HIV-Positive Mothers in Health Institutions, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021

    Mother-to-child transmission of the HIV remains the main source of HIV infection in children. Targeting pregnant women attending antenatal care follow-up provides a unique opportunity for implementing prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs against HIV infection in newborn babies. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of HIV infection and associated factors among infants born to HIV-positive mothers in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission clinic in the Gondar city health institutions, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    SAGE Journals

  • Sarcopenia in People Living With HIV

    The aim of this review is to know the current status of sarcopenia in people living with acquired immunodeficiency virus, as well as predictors, prevalence, and associated factors. Searches were done in PubMed, Scielo, and ScienceDirect databases (January 2010 to August 2021), using predefined search terms. Prevalence, intervention, and meta-analysis studies investigating sarcopenia or muscle mass and function in people living with Human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) were selected.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    AIDS Reviews

  • Addressing Gaps in Cardiovascular Care for People With HIV: Bridging Scientific Evidence and Practice

    People with HIV continue to have an excess burden of cardiovascular disease compared to the general population. The reasons for these disparities in cardiovascular disease include HIV-specific risk enhancers, traditional atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk factors, and sociodemographic disparities, all of which are ripe targets for intervention.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS

  • Compassionate Use of Long-Acting Cabotegravir Plus Rilpivirine for People Living With HIV-1 in Need of Parenteral Antiretroviral Therapy

    Physicians could request compassionate use of oral and long-acting (LA) cabotegravir + rilpivirine for people living with HIV-1 under a single-patient request programme supported by ViiV Healthcare and Janssen. Outcomes are reported.

    August 9, 2022
    PrEP
    HIV and Medicine

  • Revisiting the Evidence Base for Modern Day Practice of the Treatment of Toxoplasmic Encephalitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    Toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) is an opportunistic infection of people living with HIV or other causes of immunosuppression. For decades, the standard of care has been combination therapy with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine (P-S) or pyrimethamine and clindamycin (P-C). However, a substantial price increase has starkly limited access to pyrimethamine. Consequently, some centers have transitioned to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), an inexpensive alternative treatment.

    August 9, 2022
    Treatment
    Clinical Infectious Diseases

  • Adherence to Antiretroviral Medications Among People Living With HIV in the Era of COVID-19 in Central Ethiopia and Perceived Impact of the Pandemic

    This study assessed the level of adherence to antiretroviral drugs and the associated factors among clients who have a follow-up at public health facilities in central Ethiopia. A multi-site cross-sectional study was conducted from August 1–30, 2020 at seven public health institutions. A systematic random sampling method was used to recruit 385 participants. Data was collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics, and binary logistic regression model.

    August 9, 2022
    Treatment
    SAGE Journals

  • Amphetamine-Related Intoxications in People Living With HIV: An Observational Study in an Emergency Department in Barcelona (Spain) From 2018 to 2020

    Stimulant drugs, particularly amphetamines, are more commonly implicated in drug-related deaths in people living with HIV; however, the clinical characteristics of amphetamine-related intoxication in people living with HIV are poorly described. We conducted a retrospective study in people living with HIV who were admitted for amphetamine-related intoxication to an emergency department of a teaching hospital between 2018 and 2021. Severe intoxication (SI) was arbitrarily defined as requiring admission to the emergency medical support unit and receiving medical treatment for ≥6 h.

    August 9, 2022
    General
    HIV and Medicine

  • HIV-Positive and Breastfeeding in High-Income Settings: 5-year Experience from a Perinatal Center in Germany

    Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for women living with HIV (WLWH) in low-income - but not in high-income - countries, where milk substitutes are preferred. Some guidelines for high-income countries opted for a shared decision making process regarding breastfeeding in optimal scenarios with adherence to antiretroviral therapy (cART), suppressed maternal viral load (mVL) and clinical monitoring. While vertical transmission (VT) risk under cART is estimated below 1 percent in low-income settings, data from high-income countries is rare.

    August 9, 2022
    General
    JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes

  • Missed Opportunities for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among People With Recent HIV Infection: The French ANRS 95041 OMaPrEP Study

    Our objective was to identify missed opportunities for the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in people with recently acquired HIV, factors associated with PrEP knowledge, and reasons for not using PrEP. We found two gaps in the retrospective PrEP cascade: insufficient provision of PrEP information by healthcare providers (mainly general practitioners) and low PrEP acceptability by informed, eligible patients. More diverse healthcare providers need to be involved in PrEP prescription, and at-risk people need to be sensitized to the risk of HIV infection.

    August 9, 2022
    PrEP
    HIV Medicine

  • Barriers and Facilitators to HIV Prevention Interventions for Reducing Risky Sexual Behavior Among Youth Worldwide: A Systematic Review

    Interventions aimed at reducing risky sexual behavior are considered an important strategy for averting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection among youth (15–24 years) who continue to be at risk of the disease. Enhancing intervention success requires a comprehensive understanding of the barriers and facilitators to interventions targeting youth.

    August 8, 2022
    PrEP
    BMC Infectious Diseases

  • “I Am Alive Because of Her”: Factors Affecting Adherence to Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Among People Living With HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    People living with HIV need to take lifelong, combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), but there have been only limited explorations of how factors affecting adherence can change over the course of an individual’s lifetime. Periods of non-adherence to cART are common. While many cART counseling models are based on conveying facts to people prescribed cART, providing opportunities for supportive relationship where people can process their varied experiences is likely important to maintaining health for people living with HIV.

    August 8, 2022
    Treatment
    BMC Infectious Diseases

  • Factors Influencing Exclusive Breast Feeding Among Children Born to HIV Positive Mothers Attending Public Health Facilities in Western Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Study

    Only about 39 percent of infants in low- and middle-income countries are exclusively breast-fed for the first six months. In particular, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive women report confusion about the best feeding methods. Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) practices in HIV positive mothers are sub-optimal in Ethiopia. This study aimed to identify the main factors influencing EBF among HIV positive breast-feeding mothers.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    PLOS One

  • Network-Level HIV Risk Norms Are Associated With Individual-Level HIV Risk and Harm Reduction Behaviors Among People Who Inject Drugs: A Latent Profile Analysis

    The COVID-19 related US-Mexico border-crossing restrictions disrupted social networks and HIV harm reduction services among people who inject drugs (PWID) in San Diego and Tijuana. We assessed associations of descriptive network norms on PWID’s HIV vulnerability during this period. Between 10/2020 and 10/2021, 399 PWID completed a behavioral and egocentric questionnaire.

    August 8, 2022
    General
    AIDS and Behavior

  • Explicit Relationship Agreements and HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Use by Gay and Bisexual Men in Relationships

    Relationship agreements are important for HIV prevention among gay and bisexual men (GBM) in relationships, with research earlier in the HIV epidemic often finding that agreements specified monogamy or condom use with casual partners. There is evidence that HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has shifted sexual practices among some men in relationships, such as allowing condomless sex with casual partners, but there has been little attention paid to relationship agreements among GBM who use PrEP.

    August 8, 2022
    PrEP
    AIDS and Behavior

  • Sleep Disturbances in HIV Infection and Their Biological Basis

    Antiretroviral therapy has significantly reduced morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV (PLWH). However, a direct consequence of higher survival is the development of ageing-related co-morbidities that have considerable potential to affect quality of life. Sleep disturbances in PLWH are a significant source of morbidity. A meta-analysis has estimated the prevalence of self-reported sleep disturbances in PLWH to be 58 percent, with commonly identified disturbances including insomnia, obstructive sleep apnoea and poor sleep quality.

    August 6, 2022
    General
    Sleep Medicine

  • Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability Among Older Adults Living With HIV

    Since the emergency approval of several therapeutic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in the United States, >500 million doses have been administered. However, there have been disparities in vaccine acceptability and uptake. We examined demographic, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease, and psychosocial factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptability in older adults (≥50 years) living with HIV in the Coachella Valley, California.

    August 5, 2022
    General
    Medicine

  • Multi-level Factors Driving Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Non-initiation Among Young Women at High Risk for HIV in Kenya

    Few studies have focused on understanding pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) non-initiation among young, high-risk women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to qualitatively explore why young women in Kenya at high-risk for HIV chose not to enroll in a PrEP adherence trial. We performed 40 semi-structured interviews with young high-risk women assessing concerns about PrEP and/or study participation. We also assessed community-level factors influencing decision-making around PrEP through 10 focus groups involving peers, young men, caregivers, and community leaders.

    August 5, 2022
    General
    AIDS and Behavior

  • HIV Prevention Metrics: Lessons To Be Learned From Contraception

    As the range of effective HIV prevention options, including multiple biomedical tools, increases, there are many challenges to measuring HIV prevention efforts. In part, there is the challenge of varying prevention needs, between individuals as well as within individuals over time. The field of contraception faces many similar challenges, such as the range of prevention methods and changing contraceptive needs, and has developed many metrics for assessing contraceptive use at the program level, using frameworks that move beyond the HIV prevention cascade.

    August 5, 2022
    Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV
    Journal of the International AIDS Society

  • Immunogenicity, Safety, and Efficacy of the HPV Vaccines Among People Living With HIV: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    Cervicovaginal CD4+ T cells are preferential targets for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and have consequently been used as a proxy measure for HIV susceptibility. The ECHO randomized trial offered a unique opportunity to consider the association between contraceptives and Th17-like cells within a trial designed to evaluate HIV risk. In a mucosal substudy of the ECHO trial, we compared the impact of initiating intramuscular depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-IM), copper-IUD, and the levonorgestrel (LNG) implant on cervical T cells.

    August 2, 2022
    General
    eClinicalMedicine

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