19 OCTOBER 2018 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 42

Media Coverage

• Majority of US young adults who use drugs are not tested for hepatitis C or HIV

  Only about a third of adolescents and young adults diagnosed with opioid use disorder in the United States are screened for hepatitis C virus (HCV) or HIV, even though injection drug use is one of the main risk factors for transmission, according to a study presented at the recent IDWeek 2018 in San Francisco.

  October 19, 2018

  aidsmap

• First HIV-positive to HIV-negative liver transplant raises intriguing questions for cure research

  An HIV-negative child received a liver transplant from its HIV-positive mother and now appears to have no evidence of HIV infection apart from a very weak antibody response, despite extensive testing for the virus, South African researchers report in the journal AIDS.

  October 19, 2018

  aidsmap

• Virus detectives test whole-body scans in search of HIV's hiding places

  Now scientists are trying to figure out how, and where, HIV hides when blood tests show that a person’s viral load is low or undetectable. The location of this reservoir has long been a mystery, but that could soon change.

  October 19, 2018

  General

  Nature

• Drop in Australia HIV sparks call for greater drug roll-out

  HIV transmission rates among gay and bisexual men fell by almost a third in the Australian state of New South Wales following the wide-scale introduction of a daily anti-HIV drug, sparking calls for other health authorities to follow suit.

  October 18, 2018

  Reuters

• Why do some people produce HIV-fighting antibodies? Duke researchers may have an answer

  Duke researchers have recently discovered why some people can produce antibodies capable of fighting HIV, and the answer might lie in one special protein. The study focused on better understanding broadly neutralizing antibodies—which are able to bind to HIV and block infection—in order to develop a vaccine against the virus.

  October 18, 2018

  Antibody Related Research

  Duke Chronicle

• Gilead, Aelix ally to trial HIV-suppressing combination

  Gilead has teamed up with Aelix Therapeutics to trial a combination designed to free people with HIV from the need to take antiretroviral drugs. The planned clinical trial will test Gilead’s TLR7 agonist in combination with Aelix’s T-cell vaccine.

  October 18, 2018

  Antibody Related Research, Treatment

  Fierce Biotech

• Coming soon: news from HIVR4P 2018

  The third HIV Research for Prevention conference (HIVR4P) in Madrid next week (21 to 25 October) will feature news from every aspect of HIV prevention. HIVR4P came from a merger between the HIV vaccine and HIV microbicides conferences, and the breadth of its coverage reflects this.

  October 18, 2018

  General

  aidsmap

• Guideline updates for the treatment of adolescents and adults with HIV

  The update included new data on dolutegravir and added bictegravir to the list of recommended initial regi­mens for HIV.

  October 17, 2018

  Treatment

  Contagion Live

• Pain highly prevalent among people with HIV and has a major impact on mental health, quality of life, employment and use of healthcare

  Pain is very common among people living with HIV (PLWH) and has a major impact on quality of life and use of healthcare resources, investigators from the UK and Ireland report in the online edition of AIDS.

  October 17, 2018

  aidsmap

• HIV-Positive infants are at high risk for acquiring congenital cytomegalovirus infection

  Infants born to HIV-positive mothers had high rates of congenital cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Infants who also were infected before birth by the virus that causes AIDS were especially prone to CMV infection.

  October 17, 2018

  Science Blog

• Gilead’s HIV prevention pill can greatly reduce new infections in targeted rollouts

  For the first time, a study has confirmed that using the HIV-prevention pill can effectively thwart the virus in uninfected men by a significant amount, a finding that patient activists argue should spur public health officials to more aggressively push for wider access to the medicine.

  October 17, 2018

  PrEP

  STAT News

• Faulty STI and HIV test kits seized amid fears 10,000 could have given WRONG results

  The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has seized 10,000 test kits since 2015…. Fake test kits could potentially give false negatives and lead to an increase in diseases such as chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea as well as HIV.

  October 17, 2018

  The Sun

• Combined treatment for smoking cessation, anxiety and depression more effective than smoking cessation alone

  A randomised control trial published in The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes by researchers in Boston found that an integrated cognitive-behavioural treatment approach aiming to target smoking cessation as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms in people with HIV was more effective than a standard smoking cessation intervention conducted in isolation.

  October 17, 2018

  aidsmap

• Why HIV vaccine research is now about much more than HIV

  The press release, issued earlier this year, announced a partnership that surely raised a few eyebrows. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative would be working with a coalition on epidemic preparedness to develop a Lassa fever vaccine.

  October 17, 2018

  HIV Vaccine

  STAT News

• Ending criminalization of HIV

  From hundreds of public events, ranging from professional conferences to community forums, it has been remarkable to witness the growing interest in ending HIV criminalization and the coalescing of national networks of activists and advocates, particularly people living with HIV, along with social justice groups; community organizers; public health, criminal justice, medical and scientific professionals, and political and public policy leaders. We've got allies today who only a few years ago we might have thought unlikely.

  October 17, 2018

  General

  The Body

• Despite another failure, experts say HIV prevention drug PrEP is still effective

  Health officials recently reported the sixth confirmed failure of Truvada, but experts stress the HIV-prevention pill is still nearly 100 percent effective.

  October 15, 2018

  PrEP

  NBC News

Published Research

• It is not just about “the trial”: the critical role of effective engagement and participatory practices for moving the HIV research field forward

  This special supplement aims to explore the impact of GPP and broader community engagement efforts on the conduct and outcomes of HIV (chiefly prevention) research. We begin by looking at the state of engagement practice today.

  October 18, 2018

  JIAS

• Strengthening stakeholder engagement through ethics review in biomedical HIV prevention trials: opportunities and complexities

  Is stakeholder engagement a legitimate component of what Research Ethics Committees (RECs) should review for HIV prevention trials? Second, what are the core features of engagement that should be under ethics review? Third, what are the key practices that should be highlighted in ethics review?

  October 18, 2018

  JIAS

• Collateral benefits: how the practical application of Good Participatory Practice can strengthen HIV research in sub‐Saharan Africa

  This article examines Wits RHI's lessons learned from implementing GPP, its ongoing efforts to institutionalize GPP, and the yet to be realized potential in creating fully sustainable structures for meaningful stakeholder engagement in HIV prevention research, implementation science and beyond.

  October 18, 2018

  JIAS

• Using theory of change frameworks to develop evaluation strategies for research engagement: results of a pre‐pilot study

  Brief, targeted surveys of trial sites to characterize use of broad strategies, specific practices and some outcomes are a feasible option for evaluating good participatory practice.

  October 18, 2018

  JIAS

• Power to participants: a call for person‐centred HIV prevention services and research

  This commentary highlights the potential of person‐centred programming and research for increasing the cultural relevance, applicability and use of efficacious HIV prevention strategies.

  October 18, 2018

  JIAS

• Building effective multilevel HIV prevention partnerships with Black men who have sex with men: experience from HPTN 073, a pre‐exposure prophylaxis study in three US cities

  Clearly, effective interventions to increase PrEP uptake among BMSM are urgently needed; yet, in public health and medicine, we continue to miss the mark.

  October 18, 2018

  PrEP

  JIAS

• Population-level effectiveness of rapid, targeted, high-coverage roll-out of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in men who have sex with men: the EPIC-NSW prospective cohort study

  PrEP implementation was associated with a rapid decline in HIV diagnoses in the state of New South Wales, which was greatest for recent infections. As part of a combination prevention approach, rapid, targeted, high-coverage PrEP implementation is effective to reduce new HIV infections at the population level.

  October 17, 2018

  PrEP

  Lancet HIV

• Stakeholder engagement to inform HIV clinical trials: a systematic review of the evidence

  We used the PRISMA checklist and identified English language studies describing stakeholder engagement to inform HIV clinical trials....we found that stakeholder engagement was more frequently conducted to inform early stages of HIV clinical trials compared to later stages.

  October 17, 2018

  JIAS

• Qualitative research on community experiences in large HIV research trials: what have we learned?

  We offer examples from work we have been involved in to illustrate how qualitative research conducted within trials can reveal vital contextual factors that influence implementation and outcomes

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  October 17, 2018

  JIAS

• Village community mobilization is associated with reduced HIV incidence in young South African women participating in the HPTN 068 study cohort

  We examine the association of community mobilization with incident HIV among AGYW (ages 13 to 21) enrolled in the HPTN 068 cohort in the Agincourt Health and socio‐Demographic Surveillance System, South Africa.

  October 17, 2018

  JIAS

• Mechanisms that contribute to a profound reduction of the HIV-1 reservoir after allogeneic stem cell transplant

  Allo-HSCT resulted in a profound long-term reduction in the HIV reservoir. Such factors as stem cell source, conditioning, and a possible “graft-versus-HIV-reservoir” effect may have contributed. Understanding the mechanisms involved in HIV eradication after allo-HSCT can enable design of new curative strategies.

  October 16, 2018

  Annals of Internal Medicine

Announcements