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Two-drug HIV regimen effective in treatment-naive patients
ViiV Healthcare has released data from two phase 3 trials that showed a once-daily, two-drug regimen of dolutegravir and lamivudine was non-inferior to a...
Syringe programmes an important tool in preventing HIV outbreaks
A study by researchers investigating the 2015 HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana, found that a syringe services programme is an important tool to...
Predictive computer models to optimise HIV therapy
New predictive computer models designed to optimise HIV therapy in countries with limited healthcare resources have been published online. The models, which were developed...
Understanding how partnerships help with ART adherence
As more countries recommend the use of treatment partners to help people living with HIV adhere to their antiretroviral treatment, there is a need...
Pro-140 on track to be part of combination MDR/HIV treatment
Positive results support the continued development of PRO 140 – CytoDyn’s investigational humanised monoclonal antibody for the treatment of patients with HIV who are...
Hepatitis B or raised liver enzymes predict liver toxicity when TB drug is combined with ART
The risk of liver toxicity in people with HIV taking antiretroviral therapy and isoniazid preventive therapy for tuberculosis is strongly associated with either hepatitis...
Potential interactions between ART and other medications
Over half of older HIV-positive people are at risk of experiencing an interaction between their anti-HIV drugs and medications taken for the treatment of...
WHO, EMA and FDA warn on 'wonder' drug and birth defects
Within a week, the 'revolutionary' HIV drug dolutegravir has gone from being highly regarded to being the subject of international warnings. Health-e News reports that recent...
Switzerland's successful HIV prevention policy for IV drug users
Switzerland's pragmatic HIV prevention policy for intravenous drug users has been extremely successful. Medical Xpress reports that thousands of HIV infections and Aids cases...
Women with limited power over decisions could benefit from PrEP
A study among pregnant women in South Africa has found many lack control over condom use – and would be willing to use pre-exposure...
PrEP may make it hard to detect HIV infection
It may be very difficult to tell if someone who has just started HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has actually caught HIV just before or...
The risk of hypertension in people with HIV
People with HIV are more likely than people without the virus to have high blood pressure, in part because of treatments and repercussions of...
Warning of birth defect risk to women receiving dolutegravir in early pregnancy
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety alert warning patients and providers about a potential risk for neural tube birth...
Possible to provide good quality public sector care to the MSM group
Research has shown that addressing HIV in certain key populations is a priority in order to end the epidemic in the general population. Kate...
PHIA data provide a robust picture of country-level HIV epidemics
In a perspective recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, ICAP researchers Drs Jessica Justman, Owen Mugurungi, and Wafaa El-Sadr at the...
No or low risk of HIV transmission from spitting and biting
There is no risk of transmitting HIV through spitting, and the risk from biting is negligible, according to research. An international team of investigators...
Studies question the benefits of TAF over TDF
The claimed health benefits of tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) over tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) could be something of a mirage, writes Benjamin Ryan, editor at...
Treating major depressive disorder improves outcomes in HIV patients
Despite the prevalence of depression in people with HIV (estimates of up to 42%), few data exist on antidepressant efficacy in this population.1 Previous...
Early treatment to halt neurological damage
Soon after an individual’s initial infection with HIV, damage to brain volume and cortical thickness progressively worsens until anti-retroviral treatment is started, a study...
HIV primary care visit intervals up to 9 months do not worsen viral load
Gaps of up to 9 months between primary care visits for patients with HIV did not result in significant increases in viral load, according...
Tenofovir and FTC does not increase pre-term birth and early infant death
A drug combination aimed at preventing transmission of HIV from a pregnant woman to her foetus likely does not increase the risk for preterm...
Gaps in health outcomes for adolescents with HIV but treatment expanding
Research highlights significant gaps in health outcomes for adolescents born with HIV across the world – but paints a hopeful picture for the future...
Drop in US funding may cause HIV/Aids epidemic to 'go out of control'
The HIV and Aids epidemic could become uncontained if current funding trends continue, warned Dr Mark Dybul, one of the founding architects of the...
Puzzle over whether HIV accelerates cancer progression
Although people living with HIV may be diagnosed with cancer at an earlier stage because they get more consistent care than the general population,...
TAF only superior to TDF when used with a boosting agent
The benefits of tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) over tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) may have been overstated, according to the results of a meta-analysis. It was...
Violence impacts on HIV treatment adherence in SA
Adolescents living with HIV in South Africa are less likely to be adherent to their HIV treatment after experiencing or witnessing violence in the...
Those with very low CD4 counts have highest mortality risk after starting Tx
Mortality in people with a low CD4 cell count at the time of HIV diagnosis is associated with a group of risk factors including...
Comparative safety and efficacy of HIV 1 treatment regimens
For patients infected with HIV-1, tenofovir alafenamide plus emtricitabine has a renal and bone safety profile similar to that of abacavir plus lamivudine, according...
Peer navigation helps HIV-positive released prisoners
HIV-positive inmates who receive healthcare navigation services from peer mentors stand a better chance at maintaining long-term viral suppression after their release from incarceration.
Researchers...
Regimen including efavirenz raises suicidal behaviour risk
An analysis of the global START trial has found that beginning treatment with a regimen including Sustiva (efavirenz) is associated with an increased risk...
Abdominal obesity and elevated LDL a risk for people with HIV
People living with HIV are at increased risk for abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol but not hypertension, according to a...
Explaining the stubborn decline of HIV rates in SA women compared to men
The reason the extremely high rates of HIV infection in women are not declining compared to men, is because more conscientious treatment-and-care behaviors of...
Cardiovascular risk higher for people with HIV
People with HIV are more likely to develop cardiovascular conditions, including atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease, than their HIV-negative counterparts, researchers reported at the...
Emergency HIV testing effective in identifying patients currently missed
A non-targeted testing approached by the emergency department in a South African hospital revealed a high HIV prevalence with a significant burden of undiagnosed...
Integrase inhibitors not raising risk of IRIS in the severely immunocompromised
Use of an integrase inhibitor, which can bring down viral load rapidly, was not associated with an increased risk of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome...
Powerful new PrEP treatment has potential to be first oral weekly
Merck's MK-8591 has considerable potential to become the first HIV drug that could be taken as an oral pill weekly, either as treatment or...
PrEP project sees Australian HIV infection rates fall
The state of New South Wales in Australia has seen a fall of one-third in diagnoses of recent HIV infection since it started its...
Statins lower cancer risk in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative people
Both HIV-positive and HIV-negative people who use statins to manage cardiovascular disease risk also have a lower risk of cancer, according to research presented...
Importance of primary care physicians for people with HIV
People with HIV who have other medical conditions such as high blood pressure or high lipids appear to do better if they have a...
Women more vulnerable to HIV infection during pregnancy and months after birth
A study presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2018) found that women in two prevention studies were nearly three times...