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17 June 2016 VOLUME 17 ISSUE 24

Media Coverage

  • Philanthropist Bill Gates talks public health, biotech, and the race for the White House

    Bill Gates became one of the richest men in history after cofounding Microsoft. His impact on the world of personal computing cannot be understated.

    June 17, 2016
    STAT News

  • Consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection: Recommendations for a public health approach - 2nd edition

    These guidelines provide guidance on diagnosis of HIV infection, use of antiretroviral drugs for treating, preventing HIV infection, and care of people living with HIV, structured along the continuum of HIV testing, prevention, treatment and care. This edition updates the 2013 consolidated guidelines...following extensive review of evidence and consultations in mid-2015.

    June 16, 2016
    WHO

  • Study enables first-time analysis of earliest stage of HIV infection

    The first days after HIV infection are very important because sexual partners are exposed to extremely high risks of infection due to the subsequent high viral load in the infected person. Additionally, this period of time determines the further course of HIV infection. Scientists in Tanzania participated in a prospective, multinational study which investigated virological and immunological changes due to HIV.

    June 14, 2016
    Science Daily

  • Neurologic symptoms common in early HIV infection

    Half of people newly infected with HIV experience neurologic issues, research shows. These neurologic findings are generally not severe and usually resolve after participants started anti-retroviral therapy.

    June 13, 2016
    Science Daily

  • Topical application of antiretroviral drug combination prevents transmission of (S)HIV

    For the first time, researchers show that two powerful antiretroviral drugs can provide complete protection against HIV when delivered topically by a sustained release intravaginal ring device. The combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine delivered...via the pod-IVR was successful at preventing SHIV162p3 infection for over four months.

    June 13, 2016
    Science Daily

  • Tools to promote gender responsiveness in HIV prevention programs for women and girls

    At the Office on Women’s Health and Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, we recognize gender-related issues as a key driver of this epidemic....That’s why OWH developed the HIV Prevention Toolkit: A Gender-Responsive Approach, for health departments, clinical staff, academics, program planners, managers, and community providers involved in HIV-prevention programs for women and adolescent girls.

    June 13, 2016
    HHS/OWH

  • Sex, sugar daddies and HIV in South Africa

    It's the middle of sex education class in Zola Business High School and 90 teenage boys and girls are laughing and talking through a presentation about birth control, condoms and HIV....At the back of the room, about 10 teenagers -- mostly women -- wait in line to take an HIV test behind a small white screen...."It's hard, because if you take too long, people may know you are positive," says Thandi...."I tested twice last year and I was negative, but I'm very nervous." If statistics are any guide, she has reason to be.

    June 13, 2016
    US News

  • AIDS meeting was bold but disappointing, organisations say

    Though the High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS ended with the adoption of bold and life saving targets, many organisations have expressed disappointment in its outcomes. During the meeting, the international community adopted a new Political Declaration that lays down the groundwork to accelerate HIV prevention and treatment and end AIDS by 2030....Many were particularly concerned with stripped and exclusionary language on so-called key populations in the document.

    June 13, 2016
    IPS

  • This week in HIV research

    This week, a study finds that for women of color living with HIV, internalized stigma significantly contributes to sub-optimal adherence. Another study reports that for those living with HIV/HCV coinfection, CD4 testing once a year may be sufficient. And a study comparing maraviroc versus tenofovir/emtricitabine for initial HIV treatment was terminated early because maraviroc was found to have less efficacy.

    June 10, 2016
    The BodyPro

  • Innovative prevention options for women offer new hope to end HIV and AIDS

    Beyond these new tools, there is more work to do to translate a promising innovation into a real impact on women’s health. For one, further research is needed to overcome challenges to consistent product use, or adherence, especially among the youngest women. Further research is also needed to develop a diverse pipeline of self-initiated products, since no single product will fit into every woman’s life.

    June 10, 2016
    Devex

  • Big increases in proportion of HIV-positive people in US treated with ART and with viral suppression

    The proportion of people living with HIV receiving care in the United States who accessed ART and achieved viral suppression increased substantially between 2009 and 2013, according to research published in the online edition of AIDS...,"overall and in nearly every demographic sub-group examined,” comment the investigators. “However, there is still a significant gap between the percentage[s] of patients prescribed ART and have sustained viral suppression.”

    June 10, 2016
    aidsmap

  • Countries commit to double AIDS treatment

    Countries committed to nearly doubling the number of people who receive life-saving HIV treatment over the next five years as a high-level United Nations conference devoted to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 drew to a close Friday....[C]ountries also saw the UN's 193-member states commit for the first time to monitoring the quality of treatment, with a goal of getting 90 percent of those receiving anti-retroviral medicine to reduce their viral load to...where it is undetectable.

    June 10, 2016
    Treatment
    US News

  • Four countries eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV or syphilis

    WHO recently announced that Armenia has eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the Republic of Moldova has eliminated mother-to-child transmission of syphilis, and Thailand and Belarus have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of both infections....The reduction in new cases of [both] infections...[was] achieved as a result of efforts ensuring early access to free services for pregnant women, testing for the women and their partners, and early diagnosis in infants.

    June 10, 2016
    Healio

  • Researchers track HIV in real time as it infects, spreads in living tissue

    By watching brightly glowing HIV-infected immune cells move within mice, researchers have shown how infected immune cells latch onto an uninfected sister cell to directly transmit newly minted viral particles. The research challenges the long-held perception that the primary route of HIV infection of immune cells is from free-floating viral particles.

    June 9, 2016
    Science Daily

  • More than 75 percent of STD-negative patients receive antibiotics

    A study of [US] emergency department patients with symptoms of gonorrhea or chlamydia found that three in four patients who were treated with antibiotics actually tested negative for these sexually transmitted diseases, according to a new study...."According to the CDC, nearly a third of antibiotics prescribed in doctors' offices, emergency rooms, and hospital-based clinics in the U.S. are not needed."

    June 9, 2016
    Science Daily

  • A new way to nip AIDS in the bud

    Modern AIDS drugs control the disease by inhibiting protease. Now researchers have found how to turn protease into a double-edged sword: if they delay the budding of new HIV particles, protease itself will destroy the virus instead of helping it spread. That eventually might lead to new AIDS drugs with fewer side effects.

    June 9, 2016
    Science Daily

  • PrEP uptake poised to grow as physicians gain insight, stigmas fade

    Despite CDC estimates that say PrEP can reduce the risk for acquiring HIV through sex by more than 90% and through injection drug use by more than 70%, only a fraction of the people who meet the indication for PrEP are taking Truvada....But experts say some barriers that have led to a slow initial uptake in PrEP are beginning to crumble as more doctors learn about FTC/TDF and stigmas surrounding its use begin to fade.

    June 9, 2016
    PrEP
    Healio

  • Significant attrition at each stage of HIV care cascade in South Africa

    There is significant attrition at each stage of the HIV care continuum in South Africa, according to a study published in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The population-based research was conducted in North West Province and revealed that of those with HIV, only 48% of men and 76% of women were aware they were infected. Patients were then lost at each stage in the cascade of HIV care.

    June 6, 2016
    aidsmap

  • Botswana gets GSK's modern HIV drug in largest ever Africa deal

    An HIV drug first approved less than three years ago is being rolled out in Botswana as a core medicine for newly diagnosed patients, following the largest-ever tender secured by GlaxoSmithKline's HIV business in Africa. ViiV Healthcare, majority-owned by GSK, said it was the first time that Tivicay, or dolutegravir, was being made available as a first-line treatment as part of a national health program in sub-Saharan Africa.

    June 3, 2016
    Reuters

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