26 APRIL 2019 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 16

Media Coverage

• Dengue Researcher Faces Charges in Vaccine Fiasco

  Rose Capeding, former head of the dengue department of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila, has been indicted in a series of criminal cases over the failed introduction in the Philippines of Dengvaxia, a vaccine against dengue that was yanked from the market in 2017 because of safety issues. In February, a panel of prosecutors concluded that there is probable cause to indict Capeding and 19 others for "reckless imprudence resulting [in] homicide," because of their role in the vaccine's approval and rollout.

  April 26, 2019

  General

  Science

• Massachusetts General Hospital Receives Record $200 Million Gift to Endow Vaccine-Research Center

  Phillip "Terry" Ragon and his wife, Susan Ragon, are donating $200 million to Mass. General to permanently endow a vaccine research center headed by Dr. Bruce Walker.

  April 25, 2019

  HIV Vaccine

  Boston Globe

• AIDS Council Sounds Alarm on High Infection Rates Among Youth

  National Aids Control Council (NACC) has sounded the alarm over increasing HIV infections among youth aged between 18 and 24.

  April 24, 2019

  General

  Standard Media

• Education Key to Preventing HIV/AIDS Among Housewives

  With the Health Ministry’s data showing that housewives are the group most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS in Indonesia, a female reproductive health forum has said that educating women on reproductive health rights and fighting the stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are key to prevention.

  April 24, 2019

  General

  Jakarta Post

• To Curb Spread of HIV, Episcopal Hospital Starts People on PrEP in Emergency Room

  A few months ago, doctors at Temple Health’s Episcopal Hospital in Kensington started hearing a new request from patients coming into their emergency department: They were asking for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

  April 24, 2019

  PrEP

  Philadelphia Tribune

• Gilead Defied a Government HIV Patent. The Justice Department Has Opened a Review

  The Department of Justice has launched a review of a government patent for use of a drug that prevents HIV infection, according to a retired Centers for Disease Control scientist who was among scientists who spoke with a department lawyer last week.

  April 24, 2019

  PrEP

  Washington Post

• Proactive HIV Management Key Among Adolescents

  SOME 780 000 young women and girls are living positively with HIV in the country while an estimated 460 female adolescents get infected with the pandemic every day in the eastern and southern Africa regions, a UNAIDS report recently indicated.

  April 24, 2019

  General

  NewsDay

• AIDS Activists Set Up sh3.7b HIV/AIDS Fund

  Members of the public advocating for the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS have started up an HIV/AIDS fund aimed at raising money for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in Uganda. The Ugandans under their umbrella group One Dollar Initiative (ODI) have set a target of $1b (Sh3.7b) to be collected in a space of five years.

  April 23, 2019

  General

  New Vision

• How Scientists Turned HIV From a Death Sentence Into a Vanishing Virus

  Thiry five years ago the US government announced a scientist had found the cause of the devastating AIDS virus.

  April 23, 2019

  General

  Mirror

• First Data on Trans People Accessing HIV Care in England

  There is a dearth of data on transgender and non-binary people receiving HIV care in the UK, but Public Health England (PHE) is beginning to redress this: 123 trans people were recorded as accessing HIV care in England in 2017.

  April 23, 2019

  General

  aidsmap

• Irish Government to Combat HIV With New National PrEP Programme

  The Irish government has confirmed today that they will be implementing a new national PrEP programme this year.

  April 23, 2019

  PrEP

  Pink News

• Historic Moment as World’s First Ever Malaria Vaccine Campaign Launched

  Malawi has become the first country in the world to launch a landmark malaria vaccine in what the World Health Organization is hailing as a historic moment in the fight against the disease.

  April 23, 2019

  General

  Telegraph

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Bans Co-pay Accumulators

  People with a chronic illness who need to buy brand-name drugs may be able to save money on their meds thanks to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The federal health agency issued a regulation that bans what are called co-pay accumulators from applying to brand-name drugs for which a generic version is unavailable.

  April 23, 2019

  General

  POZ

• Communication Was Dr. Manasseh Phiri’s Prescription for Infectious Diseases

  In all the myths he tackled, the policies he questioned, the etiquette he ignored, and through the progress he promoted that brought him closer to the day he could envision his grandchildren living in a world free from HIV, his message remained consistent. Whatever stands in the way of honest communication, he told us, stands in the way of health.

  April 23, 2019

  General

  Science Speaks

• Trump’s Gag Rule Jeopardizes Preventative Care for Women

  President Trump declared at the 2019 State of the Union that his administration was starting an initiative to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. However, these bold words have not been proceeded by similarly bold action. Over 1.1 million people in the United States live with HIV — 270,000 of those people are women, and African American women are disproportionately affected. In the United States black women account for 59 percent of all women living with HIV.

  April 22, 2019

  General

  The Hill

• Nobody Uses Dental Dams. So Why Do They Still Exist? An Object Lesson

  The students have survived watching their teacher demonstrate how to put a condom on a “wooden penis model.” They’ve been assigned homework to find examples of contraception use in sex scenes in movies or TV shows. But before they go, they have one final lesson, one last barrier method for their teacher to sheepishly explain: the dental dam, a latex sheet used as a barrier during oral sex.

  April 21, 2019

  General

  Atlantic

Published Research

• Impact of PrEP Training for Family Planning Providers on HIV Prevention Counseling and Patient Interest in PrEP in Atlanta, Georgia

  After a brief PrEP training, most women with HIV risk indicators received PrEP counseling during their visits. Once counseled, women expressed interest if it were offered at the family planning clinic rather than through off-site referral. Findings highlight the potential impact that PrEP capacity building within safety net family planning clinics in high HIV burden areas may have on PrEP scale up for women.

  April 24, 2019

  PrEP

  JAIDS

• Differences Between Groups of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Using Couples in HIV-Negative/Unknown Relationships

  PrEP use occurred during times of higher risk behavior engagement, but further efforts are needed to expand PrEP use to more partnered gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM).

  April 24, 2019

  PrEP

  JAIDS

• Updates on HIV Nonoccupational Postexposure Prophylaxis

  Research of HIV nPEP shows that it is effective when used correctly, but there needs to be increased education and awareness to increase provider prescription and patient use as well as institutional changes to help patients complete the full course of medication.

  April 24, 2019

  General

  Current Opinion in Pediatrics

• Preparing for PrEP: Estimating the Size of the Population Eligible for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in England

  In 2015, approximately 10 000 HIV-negative MSM were considered potentially eligible for HIV-PrEP based on clinic history in GUMCAD. These data were used to inform the initial recruitment target for the PrEP Impact Trial and will inform future evaluations at a population level.

  April 22, 2019

  PrEP

  Sex Transm Infect

• Preventive Misconception and Risk Behaviors in a Multinational HIV Prevention Trial

  A majority of trial participants expressed some belief that their risk of HIV infection would be reduced by using a vaginal ring, which may signal “preventive misconception” (PM). However, such beliefs were not associated with adherence, condom use, or subsequent HIV infection, and there was variability across sites. Further work is needed to understand these findings.

  April 19, 2019

  Microbicides

  AJOB Empirical Bioethics

• Modeling the Effect of Tat Inhibitors on HIV Latency

  Here we present a mathematical study to understand the potential role of Tat inhibitors as virus-suppressing agents. For this aim, we implemented a computational model that reproduces intracellular dynamics. Simulating an HIV-infected cell and its intracellular feedback we observed that removing Tat protein from the system via inhibitors resulted in a temporary and reversible viral suppression. In contrast, we observed that compounds that interact with Tat protein and disrupt the integrated viral genome produced a more permanent viral suppression.

  April 17, 2019

  Cure

  Journal of Theoretical Biology

• Early Outcomes After Implementation of Treat All in Rwanda: An Interrupted Time Series Study

  Implementation of Treat All in Rwanda was associated with a substantial increase in timely ART initiation without negatively impacting care retention. These early findings support Treat All as a strategy to help achieve global HIV targets.

  April 16, 2019

  Treatment

  JIAS

• Strategies Used by Gay Male HIV Serodiscordant Couples to Reduce the Risk of HIV Transmission From Anal Intercourse in Three Countries

  Couples used condoms, PrEP or perceived undetectable VL for prevention in the majority of anal intercourse acts. Only a very small proportion of events were not protected by these strategies. Variation between countries may reflect differences in access to HIV treatment, education, knowledge and attitudes.

  April 15, 2019

  Male and Female Condoms, PrEP, Treatment

  JIAS

• The Future of a Partially Effective HIV Vaccine: Assessing Limitations at the Population Level

  A first-generation partially effective vaccine would primarily serve as an intermediate milestone, furnishing correlates of immunity and platforms that could serve to accelerate future development of a highly effective, durable, and scalable next-generation vaccine capable of reversing the HIV epidemic.

  April 13, 2019

  HIV Vaccine

  International Journal of Public Health

• HIV-Specific Humoral Immune Responses by CRISPR/Cas9-Edited B Cells

  Immunization with cognate antigen in wild-type mouse recipients of edited B cells elicits bNAb titers that neutralize HIV-1 at levels associated with protection against infection. This approach enables humoral immune responses that may be difficult to elicit by traditional immunization.

  April 11, 2019

  HIV Vaccine

  Journal of Experimental Medicine

• Predictors of Disengagement in Care for Individuals Receiving Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)

  Clinic services and ancillary services (like mental health) may facilitate retention in care. In this study select social and behavioral determinants of health were not found to be linked to retention. Focused investigation of reasons for dropout may elucidate the challenges to maintaining individuals in PrEP care and direct resource allocation to those in greatest need.

  April 11, 2019

  PrEP

  JAIDS

• PrEP-RN: Clinical Considerations and Protocols for Nurse-Led PrEP

  In this article, we overview current U.S. and Canadian PrEP guidelines and provide explicit guidance about how nurses can provide PrEP, including the clinical pathways and medical directives we use in our clinic. We call nurse-led provision of PrEP, PrEP-RN (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis–Registered Nurse) and feel it may be an important step forward in HIV prevention.

  April 1, 2019

  PrEP

  Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care

• Design of an Implant for Long-Acting HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis: Input from South African Health Care Providers

  Challenges experienced with past contraceptive implant rollout may taint perspectives on future PrEP implants and must be carefully considered during product development and planning for clinical studies. Particular consideration should be given to the health system context of future distribution, including staff who would be providing and monitoring implants.

  March 27, 2019

  PrEP

  AIDS Patient Care and STDs

• Consistent Condom Use and Associated Factors among HIV-Positive Clients on Antiretroviral Therapy in North West Ethiopian Health Center, 2016 GC

  Consistent condom utilization among HIV clients on ART was low (55.8%). Place of residence and condom use initiation during sexual contact were significantly associated with consistent condom use. It is better to give more emphasis on health education and counseling service about consistent condom use for PLWHA who are on ART during follow-up especially for those who came from rural areas.

  March 17, 2019

  Male and Female Condoms

  AIDS Research and Treatment

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