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2 NOVEMBER 2018 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 44

Media Coverage

  • HIV vaccine offers hope in defeating ‘cleverest virus in the world’

    Scientists are optimistic that an HIV vaccine on trial in SA could hold the key to outwitting “the cleverest virus in the world”.

    November 2, 2018
    Antibody Related Research, HIV Vaccine
    Times Live

  • Generic PrEP bought online 'contains correct amount of drug'

    A blinded analysis of nine different formulations of the HIV prevention drug therapy (PrEP) tenofovir/emtracitabine (TDF/FTC, Truvada, Gilead Sciences) manufactured by nine companies, including Gilead Sciences, found that the tablets did indeed contain equivalent amounts of active drugs, and none were counterfeit.

    November 1, 2018
    PrEP
    Medscape

  • PrEP is safe for pregnant women who want the HIV prevention drug, a new study finds

    Though World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines already recommend PrEP for high-risk pregnant women, this data should further reassure clinicians that it's safe to prescribe PrEP for any women who need it regardless of their pregnancy status, according to the study's lead author, Julia Dettinger, M.P.H., research scientist, University of Washington, Seattle.

    November 1, 2018
    PrEP
    The BodyPro

  • Ray of hope for children with HIV and AIDS

    Hope may be close by for children living with HIV if a new powder form of anti-retroviral drug formulation, specifically made for children, is adopted and introduced by 2019.

    November 1, 2018
    Treatment
    Standard Digital

  • San Francisco awarded $8M for 4-year HIV care, prevention project

    The grant would contribute $2 million each year over a four-year period to San Francisco's Project Opt-In, which intends to improve services for people infected with HIV as well as prevention services for high-risk individuals.

    November 1, 2018
    General
    NBC Bay Area

  • Dolutegravir or lower-dose efavirenz equally effective, but less resistance with dolutegravir

    Despite the non-inferiority of efavirenz-based treatment in this study, the investigators concluded that it is preferable to use dolutegravir-based treatment in low- and middle-income countries, owing to the frequent development of drug resistance in people who experienced failure of efavirenz-based treatment.

    November 1, 2018
    Treatment
    aidsmap

  • Nigeria highest producer of HIV-infected babies

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, told newsmen at the launch of a roadmap on implementation of the National Treatment and Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS in Abuja, Tuesday, that the situation was worrisome and requires collective action of all stakeholders, with the support of global partners to correct the statistics.

    October 31, 2018
    General
    Daily Post

  • New HIV prevention method for women to be availed

    Women now have one more HIV prevention method, a dapirivine vaginal ring which has been scientifically proven to reduce the risk of HIV. One of the clinical trials which led to that conclusion was carried out in Zimbabwe where it was proven that the ring is more than 60 percent effective in preventing HIV.

    October 31, 2018
    Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV, Microbicides
    Nehanda Radio

  • Going local – prevention conference hears about rings, douches, and soluble suppositories

    Last week’s HIV Research for Prevention conference (HIVR4P 2018) in Madrid heard a lot about oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): not only its efficacy but also that poor retention and adherence could severely limit its impact in some populations. There is therefore interest in injections and implants, although the lengthy persistence of drug in the body could cause problems with resistance when injectables are used for prevention.

    October 31, 2018
    Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV, Microbicides
    aidsmap

  • Beyond Truvada – what is the future of PrEP?

    Speaking at the same plenary session, Craig Hendrix of Johns Hopkins University made an eloquent plea for research to continue into PrEP formulations which are topical (applied vaginally or rectally, at the site of potential HIV exposure) rather than systemic (spreading the drug throughout the body). Topical products such as films, inserts or gels would provide immediate, rather than long-term protection. However, the US National Institutes of Health is reducing its investment in topical PrEP research.

    October 31, 2018
    Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV, Microbicides, PrEP
    aidsmap

  • Trump's State Department eyes ban on terms like 'sexual health'

    U.S. diplomats may soon be prohibited from using the phrases “sexual and reproductive health” and “comprehensive sexuality education” under a proposal being floated to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, four people familiar with the issue said.

    October 31, 2018
    General
    Politico Magazine

  • Long-lasting HIV injection is a step closer after second GSK study

    The experimental two-drug injection of cabotegravir and rilpivirine was shown to suppress the HIV virus in a cohort of adults who had not been on a long-established daily three-drug oral regimen, GSK’s majority-owned HIV unit ViiV Healthcare said.

    October 30, 2018
    Treatment
    Reuters

  • Confirmed: PrEP is safe for high-risk patients

    In a meta-analysis of almost 16,000 participants, there were also no significant differences in the rates of serious adverse events, bone fractures, and severe renal outcomes among those taking PrEP, reported Victoria Pilkington, MD, of Imperial College London in England.

    October 30, 2018
    PrEP
    MedPage Today

  • Combination approach may be key to achieving HIV ' cure'

    A combination approach will likely be needed in order to achieve either a sustained functional or a "sterilizing" cure for HIV, experts said here. This approach to a "functional cure" would look toward induction, followed by remission and maintenance -- similar to the approaches to treatment in the oncology space. HIV researchers may also be able to benefit from current research in oncology, particularly in immunotherapy, they said.

    October 30, 2018
    Combination Prevention, Cure
    MedPage Today

  • Zimbabwe First Lady sources HIV machines

    First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa has sourced machines designed to carry out Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) of HIV which are expected to improve maternal and child health.

    October 30, 2018
    General
    The Herald

  • PrEP providers and communicators should stop talking about ‘risk’

    It’s unhelpful to frame the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in terms of ‘risky behaviour’, Sarit Golub, professor of psychology at the City University of New York told the HIV Research for Prevention conference (HIVR4P 2018) in Madrid last week. Healthcare providers and those developing materials to educate on PrEP should focus on reasons why people might want to take PrEP other than because they are ‘high risk’, she argued.

    October 29, 2018
    PrEP
    aidsmap

  • HIV rates still rising in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

    Nearly one in four people living with HIV in Eastern Europe don't know they have the virus. And only 46% of people who have been diagnosed are in care and receiving antiretroviral drugs.

    October 29, 2018
    General
    Medscape

  • Enhanced treatments, access to care reduce high-risk behaviors among men with HIV

    People newly infected and diagnosed with HIV know the consequences they face and the risks ahead for themselves and others, a new study published on October 15 in the journal AIDS suggests.

    October 29, 2018
    Contagion Live

  • Scientists support use of HIV drug linked to birth defects in babies

    Researchers have warned countries against stopping the use of a drug linked to birth defects in HIV-positive women. They said the decision to ban the drug was arrived at without outweighing the benefits and risks of dolutegravir (DTG) in women living with the virus.

    October 28, 2018
    Treatment
    Daily Nation

  • Funding cuts threaten HIV prevention targets

    HIV prevention research funding continued to decline in 2017 for the fifth consecutive year, driven largely by a five-year low in US public sector funding, according to a report released on Thursday at the HIV Research for Prevention conference in Madrid, Spain.

    October 27, 2018
    General
    Times

  • New vaginal ring to prevent HIV, pregnancy safe in study

    The dual-purpose ring releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine and the contraceptive hormone levonorgestrel, said researchers led by Dr. Sharon Achilles, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

    October 26, 2018
    Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV, Microbicides
    UPI

  • HIV and AIDS in East and Southern Africa regional overview 2017

    Despite the continuing severity of the epidemic, huge strides have been made towards meeting the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. In 2016, 76 percent of people living with HIV were aware of their status, 79 percent of them were on treatment (equivalent to 60 percent of all people living with HIV in the region), and 83 percent of those on treatment had achieved viral suppression (equivalent to half of all people living with HIV in the region).

    October 26, 2018
    General
    iAfrica

  • The Miami monkey cured with two antibodies

    Researcher José Martinez-Navio of the University of Miami told the HIV Research for Prevention conference (HIVR4P 2018) that the monkey received no antiretroviral therapy (ART) at any time other than two therapeutic vaccinations containing the genes that induce antibodies, and has remained with an undetectable viral load for nearly three years so far.

    October 26, 2018
    Antibody Related Research, Treatment
    aidsmap

  • How to evaluate PrEP and vaccines: urgency for next generation compounds

    Several presentations at R4P 2018 looked at the new challenges of evaluating efficacy of new PrEP and vaccine candidates. They highlighted the urgency for new trial designs, using new endpoints and statistical approaches, given the ethical need for control arms to include oral PrEP as a standard of care. By definition, this reduces the number of people likely to become HIV positive compared to earlier placebo controlled studies.

    October 24, 2018
    HIV Vaccine, PrEP
    i-base

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