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2 JUNE 2023 VOLUME 25 ISSUE 22

Media Coverage

  • Lenacapavir’s Action May Curb HIV Infection Risk

    Lenacapavir (Sunlenca, Gilead) may inhibit virion maturation by blocking the formation of HIV-capsid pentamers, leading to a reduced risk for HIV infection, according to data presented at the CROI 2023, held in Seattle. An HIV-1 capsid contains approximately 1,500 capsid proteins divided into approximately 250 hexamers and 12 pentamers. During virion maturation, the pentamers introduce curvatures, which allow for the assembly of a closed, cone-shaped structure.

    June 2, 2023
    PrEP
    Infectious Disease Special Edition

  • Biden Plans To Pick Physician Mandy Cohen To Lead CDC

    President Biden plans to select former North Carolina health secretary Mandy Cohen to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to three people with direct knowledge of the pending announcement. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra spoke with Cohen this week to congratulate her on her selection, the people said. Biden’s formal announcement is expected later this month, after White House officials finalize Cohen’s paperwork, the people said.

    June 1, 2023
    General
    Washington Post

  • Half of New HIV Cases in African Women Could Have Been Prevented Had More Programmes Targeted Men

    Had there been additional efforts to reach and maintain men in treatment services with HIV suppression at levels equal to that of their female counterparts between 2016 and 2018, half of the new infections in adolescent girls and women could have been averted, bringing gender equality in the HIV burden. An international team of researchers recently published these findings as a pre-print, which means they have not yet been reviewed by other scientists.

    June 1, 2023
    General
    aidsmap

  • How Ignoring Trans Populations Is Hampering Africa’s Fight Against HIV

    Though transgender and gender-diverse people are 13 times more likely to acquire HIV than the rest of the adult population, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS, researchers have hardly looked at the barriers that keep members of the community in sub-Saharan Africa from getting tested — and, if they are positive, started on life-saving treatment.

    June 1, 2023
    General
    Devex

  • Clinical Overview: Different Options for HIV PrEP Help Prevent Disease Spread

    Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been shown to be an effective way to prevent the spread and control of infectious diseases. This is especially true among individuals who do not have HIV but have a high-risk of contracting HIV, which may include those exposed to the virus through sexual contact or injection of drugs.

    June 1, 2023
    PrEP
    Pharmacy Times

  • Failing To Learn the Lessons: The US Response on Global Health Security Ignores 20 Years of PEPFAR

    Sometimes compared to the post-war US aid package for Europe, the Marshall Plan, the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is among the most successful US foreign aid investments in the twenty-first century.

    June 1, 2023
    General
    Journal of the International AIDS Society

  • Gay and Bisexual Men Urged To Get Vaccinated Against Mpox As New Cases Reported

    As clusters of new mpox (formerly monkeypox) are reported in cities including London and Chicago, health officials are urging gay and bisexual men and transgender people to get vaccinated -- or to get their second dose if they’ve had only one.

    May 31, 2023
    General
    aidsmap

  • People With Weakened Immune Systems Still at Risk of Treatment Failure, Even With Newer ART Regimens

    Delays between acquiring HIV and initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) often translates to people beginning treatment with weakened immune systems, a scenario that incurs a significantly higher risk that their therapy will fail to suppress the virus. Two new studies suggest that modern integrase inhibitor-based therapies currently recommended as part of first-line ART regimens do not mitigate that risk compared to older formulations.

    May 31, 2023
    Treatment
    aidsmap

  • HIV in Graphs – Latest Figures Confirm Declining Rates, but Areas of Concern Remain

    According to recently published estimates from Thembisa, the leading mathematical model of HIV in South Africa, about 7.8 million people, or 13.2 percent of the population, were living with HIV in South Africa in 2022. Marcus Low looked at the numbers and what they tell us about the state of HIV in the country.

    May 31, 2023
    General
    Daily Maverick

  • How Well Do Mpox Vaccines Work?

    New clusters of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) cases have been reported as summer arrives, leading health officials to reemphasize that gay and bisexual men, transgender people and others in their sexual networks should get vaccinated—or receive their second shot if they’ve had only one.

    May 31, 2023
    General
    POZ Magazine

  • Estimating the Lifetime Burden of Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Trichomoniasis in the US in Terms of QALYs Lost

    The following is a summary of “Estimated Lifetime Quality-Adjusted Life-Years Lost Due to Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Trichomoniasis in the United States in 2018,” published in the April 2023 issue of Infectious Diseases by Li, et al. A comprehensive evaluation of the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) lost due to chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis in the United States has not been conducted.

    May 30, 2023
    STI Vaccines
    Physician's Weekly

  • Lifeblood Sexual Activity and PrEP Deferrals

    On 25 May 2023 the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved applications submitted by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood (Lifeblood) to remove most of the sexual activity ineligibility criteria for plasma donors used for fractionated products only. Lifeblood refers to this approach as ‘the plasma pathway’.

    May 30, 2023
    PrEP
    Mirage News

  • More Research, Understanding Needed for Women With HIV

    In 2020, there were 37.7 million women with HIV, comprising approximately half of the global population with HIV. Women with HIV have a high burden of comorbidities, leading to AIDS-related illnesses being the leading cause of death globally among women of reproductive age. There is a well-recognized sexual dimorphism in people with HIV, and sex differences in HIV acquisition.

    May 30, 2023
    General
    Infectious Disease Special Edition

  • New Method May Help Identify the Essential Ingredients for Making an Effective HIV Vaccine

    Since it was identified in 1984 as the cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected more than 80 million people and been responsible for some 40 million deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, the WHO reports more than 38 million people globally live with the retrovirus, and each year, another 1 million new cases are diagnosed. While antiretroviral therapy helps keep HIV in check, patients must stay on their medication to prevent the development of AIDS.

    May 30, 2023
    HIV Vaccine
    News Medical

  • PEPFAR Turns Twenty: What America’s AIDS Program Teaches Us About Leadership

    “A cresting wave of death.” That’s how former White House aide Michael Gerson described the AIDS crisis in the early 2000s. Every day, nearly 8,500 people were dying from AIDS-related causes while over 9,500 people were becoming newly infected with HIV. Without leadership and immediate intervention, the cresting wave of death in sub-Saharan Africa threatened to become a global tsunami.

    May 30, 2023
    General
    Forbes

  • Uganda’s President Signs Into Law Tough Anti-Gay Legislation

    Uganda’s president has signed into law tough new anti-gay legislation supported by many in this East African country but widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad. The version of the bill signed by President Yoweri Museveni doesn’t criminalize those who identify as LGBTQ, a key concern for campaigners who condemned an earlier draft of the legislation as an egregious attack on human rights.

    May 29, 2023
    General
    Politico

  • Real-World Data Confirm the Efficacy of Dolutegravir-Based Dual Therapy

    Over six years’ worth of real-world data gathered from people with HIV switching to dolutegravir-based two-drug regimens confirm efficacy comparable to three-drug regimens, aligning with previous findings from clinical trials. Dr Conor Bowman and colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital published these findings in the journal AIDS.

    May 29, 2023
    Treatment
    aidsmap

  • An HIV Drug Is Showing Promise as a Treatment for Dementia

    Two recent studies have indicated the promise of a well-known HIV drug to treat dementia. In 2007, the US and European Union approved a drug called Maraviroc (muh-RAV-a-roc) for HIV treatment.

    May 28, 2023
    Treatment
    LGBTQ Nation

  • Military Members Half As Likely as Civilians To Receive HPV Vaccine

    Active-duty military and veterans are twice as likely as civilians to develop cancers associated with human papillomavirus, or HPV. Now, research shows they are also half as likely to be vaccinated as those civilians — a disparity experts say will lead to preventable cancer deaths.

    May 28, 2023
    HPV Vaccines
    Washington Post

  • PEPFAR’s $6.6 Billion Invested To Save Lives in Tanzania in 20 Years

    Tanzania has so far received $6.6 billion (or roughly Sh15 trillion) from the US government as part of the support for HIV programmes in the past 20 years. The assistance has helped significantly in accelerating the fight against HIV. In 2003, the US government announced a relief fund whose aim was to control the HIV epidemic by preventing new infections and reducing the mortality rate in more than 50 countries.

    May 28, 2023
    General
    The Citizen

  • Pregnant Mothers, Traditional Birth Attendants and Rising Cases of HIV in Children

    There is a rising cases of children being infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the country due to failure by many pregnant women to register for antenatal services in hospitals, instead patronise traditional birth attendants (TBAs) among other factors fuelling the rate of Child-HIV in the country. Chijioke Iremeka writes on how the situation makes unborn children vulnerable to the disease and increases the burden of HIV-infected kids as well as the way forward ahead of 2030 world target of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

    May 27, 2023
    General
    The Guardian

  • Put Family Planning, PrEP for HIV Prevention Under One Roof

    Today is HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, an important day to acknowledge. Afterall, an HIV vaccine would be the most efficient, inexpensive way to control and possibly eradicate this stubborn, decades-old virus.

    May 27, 2023
    PrEP
    New Vision

  • Living Healthy Lives With HIV for Decades Thanks to ARVs

    Mbarali. When he tested HIV-positive in 1993, Douglas Kisunga thought it was a death sentence. It got worse when doctors told him that there was neither medicine nor a vaccine against the viral disease.

    May 27, 2023
    Treatment
    The Citizen

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