27 NOVEMBER 2020 VOLUME 22 ISSUE 46

Media Coverage

• Glasgow Outreach Service Shows the Feasibility of PrEP for People Who Inject Drugs

  A proactive, outreach-based service for people who inject drugs has successfully delivered the HIV prevention medication PrEP in the midst of Glasgow’s HIV outbreak, Dr Ceilidh Grimshaw of Sandyford told the virtual British HIV Association conference this week.

  November 25, 2020

  PrEP

  aidsmap

• HIV and Circumcision: Where Are We at the End of 2020?

  Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) has been shown to reduce the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission by 60 precent. Studies have also shown that by reducing infections in men and boys, the intervention in turn also reduces HIV infections in women and girls, although to a lesser degree.

  November 25, 2020

  Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision

  Spotlight

• U=U: We Should Put People Living With HIV at the Centre of HIV Prevention Efforts

  The message is simple to understand. An undetectable viral load in people living with HIV equals an untransmissible virus. The success of this concept, however, depends on strict adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART).

  November 24, 2020

  Treatment

  Spotlight

• Male Circumcision Vital to HIV Prevention Strategy

  Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula says voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is an integral part of Namibia’s HIV prevention strategy and has thus called upon men to get a “smart cut” in order to reduce the risk of contracting HIV.

  November 24, 2020

  Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision

  New Era Live

• Can HIV Meds Interact With COVID-19 Treatment? Here’s What We Know So Far

  Each of the past three weeks has brought encouraging news about the efficacy of a coronavirus vaccine candidate. But given the complexities involved with distribution, most experts agree that even if these and other vaccines are approved for use, it could be six months at least before they’re widely available in the US.

  November 24, 2020

  General

  The Body

• FDA Approves HIV Test That Also Measures Viral Load

  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Hologic’s Aptima test to be used simultaneously to diagnose HIV and to measure viral load. According to the company’s press release, the Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx Assay is the “first FDA-approved assay for both qualitative diagnosis and quantitative viral load monitoring.”

  November 23, 2020

  General

  POZ

• Meet a Stem Cell Patient on the Front Lines for Finding an HIV Cure

  A new docuseries, Ending Disease, is giving a human face in the fight to cure HIV. Andrew, who is HIV-positive, is part of a clinical trial using stem cell research for this purpose. He is one of 10 patients—others have cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, paralysis, and blindness—followed in Ending Disease, which shows how a revolution in medicine is tackling some of humanity's most vexing illnesses and conditions.

  November 23, 2020

  Cure

  The Advocate

• ‘HIV/AIDS Stats Must Be Inclusive’

  The National AIDS Council (NAC) has challenged stakeholders, including civic organisations and Government ministries to ensure that people with disabilities are captured in HIV statistics and databases.

  November 23, 2020

  General

  The Herald Zimbabwe

• UK: Black People Less Likely to Be Engaged in HIV Care, With More Cases of Viral Rebound

  There are ethnic disparities in relation to two key indicators of the quality of HIV care, but there are no differences in viral suppression within a year of starting treatment, Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan told the virtual British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference yesterday. Although the differences are not large, dealing with them is necessary if the UK is to end the HIV epidemic without leaving anyone behind.

  November 23, 2020

  Treatment

  aidsmap

• Uganda Embarks on New HIV-PrEP Study

  A new HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) study is underway to establish whether a six months-long injectable drug, Lenacapavir (LEN), and oral drug Descovy can protect HIV negative women and girls from acquiring the virus.

  November 20, 2020

  PrEP

  Independent Uganda

Published Research

• Multilevel Factors Shaping Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention among Criminal Justice-Involved Women

  Although CJI women were generally unaware of PrEP, attitudes toward PrEP were enthusiastic. Barriers to PrEP acceptability included medication side effects (individual level); distrust in HIV prevention mechanisms (community level); lack of local HIV prevention efforts among high-risk women (public policy/HIV epidemic stage level). Factors promoting PrEP included perceived HIV risk (individual level); PrEP being an HIV prevention method that women can control without partner negotiation (social and sexual network level); and availability of public health insurance (community level).

  November 24, 2020

  PrEP

  Archives of Sexual Behavior

• Getting Indonesia’s HIV Epidemic to Zero? One Size Does Not Fit All

  Indonesia has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. AIDS related deaths in Indonesia have not fallen and have increased significantly since 2010. HIV infection rates remain high and rising in key affected populations. We provide an on the ground, evidence-based perspective of the challenges Indonesia faces. We discuss what is required to adopt tailored public health approaches that address context specific challenges, confront structural barriers and the heterogeneity of the current evolving HIV epidemic.

  November 23, 2020

  General

  International Journal of STD & AIDS

• Male Circumcision Uptake and Its Predictors Among Sexually Active Men Aged 15–59 Years Living in the Highest HIV Prevalence Region of Ethiopia: Evidence From 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey

  Despite all efforts made by different stakeholders to promote the provision of male circumcision in the Gambella region, its magnitude of uptake is still unacceptably low. The federal HIV prevention and Control Office and other stakeholders working on HIV prevention and control should give due emphasis to promoting HIV-related knowledge through community-based education and through religious leaders.

  November 23, 2020

  Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision

  BMC Public Health

• Optimizing the Efficiency and Implementation of Cash Transfers to Improve Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy: Study Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

  This trial will provide evidence not only about the real-world effectiveness of cash transfers for retention in HIV care and viral suppression, but also on the implementation challenges and successes that will facilitate or hinder wider scale-up within Tanzania and beyond.

  November 23, 2020

  Treatment

  Trials

• “I Think Everybody Should Take It if They’re Doing Drugs, Doing Heroin, or Having Sex for Money”: A Qualitative Study Exploring Perceptions of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Female Participants in an Opioid Intervention Court Program

  Findings suggest courts may provide a venue to offer women PrEP education and HIV risk assessments. Study findings inform public health, substance use, and criminal justice research and practice with justice-involved participants experiencing opioid use disorder on the development of gender-specific PrEP interventions with the ultimate goal of reducing HIV incidence.

  November 23, 2020

  PrEP

  Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy

• Prevalence of Nonsuppressed Viral Load and Associated Factors Among HIV-Positive Adults Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy in Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe (2015 to 2017): Results From Population-Based Nationally Representative Surveys

  Countries are approaching global viral load suppression (VLS) targets for adults. Treatment support, in particular for younger adults, and people with higher CD4 counts, and switching of people to protease inhibitor‐ or integrase inhibitor‐based regimens may further reduce nonsuppressed viral load (NVL) prevalence.

  November 22, 2020

  Treatment

  JIAS

• Design and Delivery of Real-Time Adherence Data to Men Who Have Sex with Men Using Antiretroviral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis via an Ingestible Electronic Sensor

  In this investigation, we conducted individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 MSM with self-reported non-alcohol substance use to understand their responses to the DPS, willingness and perceived barriers to its use, and their perceptions of its potential utility. We also sought to describe how MSM would potentially interact with a messaging system integrated into the DPS. We identified major themes around improved confidence of PrEP adherence patterns, safety of ingestible radiofrequency sensors, and design optimization of the DPS. They also expressed willingness to interact with messaging contingent on DPS recorded ingestion patterns. These data demonstrate that MSM who use substances find the DPS to be an acceptable method to measure and record PrEP adherence.

  November 21, 2020

  PrEP

  AIDS and Behavior

• COVID-19 Antibody Development Fueled by HIV-1 Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Research

  Passive transfer of antibodies is a promising approach when the elicitation of protective immune responses is difficult, as in the case of HIV-1 infection. Antibodies can also play a significant role in post-exposure prophylaxis, in high-risk populations that may not mount robust immune responses after vaccination, and in therapy. We provide a review of the recent approaches used for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody discovery and upcoming challenges in the field.

  November 21, 2020

  Antibody Related Research

  Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS

• High Prevalence of Indications for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Among People Who Inject Drugs in Boston, Massachusetts

  Indication for pre-exposure prophylaxis was high, but awareness was low, conversations about pre-exposure prophylaxis with healthcare providers were uncommon, and pre-exposure prophylaxis use was extremely low. These findings highlight important areas for clinical and community-based interventions to improve pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake among and delivery to people who inject drugs.

  November 21, 2020

  PrEP

  AJPM

• Factors Associated with Condom Failure in a Longitudinal Cohort of Men who have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria

  Condom failure was common in this population despite freely available condoms, compatible lubrication and education. Increased risk of condom failure over time could reflect message fatigue or a ceiling for effective condom use, or new uptake of condoms by inexperienced users.

  November 20, 2020

  Male and Female Condoms

  JAIDS

• Diverse HIV-1 Escape Pathways From Broadly Neutralizing Antibody PGDM1400 in Humanized Mice

  Recent studies have shown the potential of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) for HIV-1 treatment. One of the candidate antibodies moving into clinical trials is the bnAb PGDM1400. Here, we studied the therapeutic potency and escape pathways of bnAb PGDM1400 during monovalent therapy in human immune system (HIS) mice using the BG505, REJO, MJ4 and AMC008 virus isolates.

  November 20, 2020

  Antibody Related Research

  mAbs

• Tailored HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Intervention Needs from a Latent Class Analysis Among US Healthcare Providers

  Three distinct classes of providers emerged: (1) PrEP naïve, (2) PrEP aware, and (3) PrEP prescribers. Providers with lower community protection beliefs and staff capacity were more likely to be classified as PrEP naïve compared to aware. Providers with concerns about PrEP-related tasks and staff capacity were more likely to be classified as PrEP aware compared to prescribers. PrEP-naïve providers could benefit from continuing education, whereas PrEP-aware providers might benefit from capacity building and prescribing optimization interventions.

  November 20, 2020

  PrEP

  AIDS and Behavior

• Quantifying the Evolving Contribution of HIV Interventions and Key Populations to the HIV Epidemic in Yaoundé, Cameroon

  Condom use and recent ART scale-up mitigated the HIV epidemic in Yaoundé and changed the contribution of different partnerships to onward transmission over time. Findings highlight the importance of prioritizing HIV prevention and treatment for MSM and clients of FSW whose unmet needs now contribute most to onward transmission, while maintaining services which successfully reduced transmissions in the context of commercial sex.

  November 20, 2020

  Male and Female Condoms, Treatment

  JAIDS

• Added Benefits of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Use on HIV Incidence with Minimal Changes in Efficiency in the Context of High Treatment Engagement Among Men Who Have Sex with Men

  We used a previously published agent-based model to simulate HIV transmission in a dynamic network of Black/African American and White men who have sex with men (MSM) in Atlanta, Georgia (2015–2024) to understand how reductions in HIV incidence attributable to varying levels of PrEP use change when United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) “90-90-90” goals for HIV treatment are achieved and maintained.

  November 19, 2020

  PrEP, Treatment

  AIDS Patient Care and STDs

• Low Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Uptake Among Men Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV): Cross-Sectional Findings From a Clinical Cohort

  Our findings reveal that few men living with HIV were vaccinated against HPV. This may be influenced by low HPV awareness, prohibitive cost, and lack of physician recommendation. Several men reporting lower socio-economic status, older men, and heterosexual, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men were missed for vaccination. Primary care and HIV clinics may be ideal locations to increase uptake.

  November 19, 2020

  HPV Vaccines

  Preventive Medicine

• Access to Subsidised Healthcare Affects HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Uptake Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia: Results of National Surveys 2013–19

  Willingness to use PrEP has plateaued as its use has rapidly increased among GBM in Australia. PrEP use is concentrated among more sexually active men with access to subsidised healthcare. Free or low cost access schemes may facilitate broader access among GBM who want or need PrEP but lack access to subsidised healthcare.

  November 16, 2020

  PrEP

  JAIDS

Announcements