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Dolutegravir-based second-line ART outcomes
Virological response rates were excellent among patients receiving second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) based on dolutegravir, even when regimens included a nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor...
SA's 'sobering' HIV drug-resistance figures
One in six people not on treatment in a large South African household survey already had drug-resistant HIV and more than half of those...
TB preventative therapy safe in pregnant women
Pregnant women who are infected with HIV and are at risk of tuberculosis co-infection can undergo isoniazid prevention therapy without causing harm to themselves...
Papers on weight gain associated with integrase inhibitor treatment
More evidence that HIV integrase inhibitor treatment is associated with weight gain, and that people gain more weight after beginning treatment with an integrase...
UK man the second to be cleared of the Aids virus
An HIV-positive man in Britain has become the second known adult worldwide to be cleared of the Aids virus after he received a bone...
Community-wide HIV prevention strategy can reduce infections by 30%
Researchers have presented results from the HPTN 071 (PopART) study at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle. The study...
HIV-associated cognitive disorder is being over-diagnosed
Cognitive impairment in people with HIV has multiple causes and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder is being over-diagnosed, clinicians from Brighton report. Assessment of patients attending...
PrEP guidelines/links to resources for medical practitioners in SA
South African guidelines recommend that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be considered for people who are HIV-negative and at significant risk of acquiring HIV infection....
Zimbabwe: Weight monitoring key to paediatric ART dosing in resource limited countries
Study findings have revealed that a large percentage of children living with HIV were prescribed inappropriate doses of antiretroviral therapy (ART) at a paediatric...
Data shows less than half of PrEP users keep taking it after 2 years
Real-world data from a large US chain of retail pharmacies show that only two in five people keep on taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for...
Need exists for specialist HIV cognitive impairment services
Prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) has increased among the HIV population while services for diagnosing and treating afflicted individuals remains scarce, according to a...
Concerns over kidney health among children receiving HIV treatment
Ethiopian children living with HIV experienced declining kidney function but improving liver enzymes while on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, in a recent study.
Researchers at Hawassa...
Latent HIV reservoir not replenished with only dolutegravir therapy
Dolutegravir monotherapy was non-inferior to combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in patients who started cART during primary HIV infection and were virologically suppressed for >48...
Treatment with efavirenz in children associated with a mild increase in neuro-psychiatric symptoms
A study by researchers at the department of internal medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre, Netherlands reveals children from Tanzania living with HIV on the...
Eliminating risk factors impacting on non-Aids conditions in people with HIV
Preventing smoking, lowering cholesterol, controlling blood pressure and curing hepatitis C would greatly reduce the burden of heart attacks, non-Aids cancers and end-stage liver...
Examining clinicians' concerns and biases toward prescribing PrEP
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV is an antiretroviral pill that is over 90% effective in preventing HIV acquisition when taken as prescribed. A new...
NAFLD a growing health problem in people with HIV
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major emerging health challenge for people living with HIV, according to a review of evidence by doctors...
'Urgent need' for antiretroviral pregnancy registry in SA
South Africa has an "appalling record" on pregnancy registries but one is urgently needed to answer questions about the new antiretroviral dolutegravir, which is being...
Third-line SA antiretroviral guidelines
Third-line antiretroviral treatment (ART) is used when a patient has experienced virological failure on drugs from the NRTI, NNRTI and PI classes, and has...
Urine test screening for TB in HIV patients is cost effective
Screening all hospitalised patients with HIV for tuberculosis (TB) using urine tests would improve life expectancy and be cost-effective in Malawi and South Africa,...
Increased risk of treatment failure in HIV-infected women with CIN
Women living with HIV are more likely than HIV-negative women to have residual or recurring abnormal cells after treatment for pre-cancerous cervical lesions, according...
Adopting modern marketing strategies to promote PrEP and avoid stigma
Current pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) strategies can slow roll-out and contribute to stigma surrounding PrEP use, found a study in The Lancet. The authors propose...
Staying on ART in Africa — a systematic review
An international team of researchers has carried out a review of the evidence examining what influences people who are HIV positive to go to...
Atripla or efavirenze plus Truvada failed in one in 16 people in first year
Estimates of how often people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) do not remain virally undetectable are important both in order to gauge the potency of...
Dolutegravir: Why new does not automatically mean better
As has been previously reported, the new and exciting anti-retroviral, dolutegravir, is soon to become widely available in South Africa. Whilst its very real...
With HIV, Undetectable = Untransmittable, says NHI review
In recent years, an overwhelming body of clinical evidence has firmly established the HIV Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) concept as scientifically sound, say officials...
Aggressively targeting partner violence lowers HIV rates in women
US states that aggressively target intimate partner violence (IPV) in their health care systems have lower rates of HIV infection among women, according to...
Integrase inhibitors and the risk of obesity
People who take an integrase inhibitor as part of their HIV treatment appear to gain more weight than others after starting treatment and the...
Review looks at what influences people to taking and continue with ARVs
An international team of researchers have carried out a review of the evidence examining what influences people who are HIV positive to go to...
Potential drug interactions among people with HIV taking statins
Drug interactions remain a potential problem for HIV-positive people who are treated with statins, according to research. Potential interactions were detected between statins and...
High but variable STI rates in PrEP studies – Is PrEP the cause or a potential solution?
A new meta-analysis of 20 studies and roll-out projects of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in gay and bisexual men confirms very high rates of...
SA reports successful third-line HIV treatment programme
People with resistance to first- and second-line antiretroviral drugs can still achieve high rates of viral suppression in the first year on third-line regimens...
Lower consent age for HIV testing linked to higher testing rates
Sub-Saharan African countries where adolescents 15 or younger could be tested for HIV without sign-off by parents or guardians show 11% higher rates of...
HIV treatment outcomes continue to improve — meta-analysis
The efficacy of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) continues to improve, according to an analysis of outcomes in 78,000 people in 181 studies, published by...
Growth in heart and kidney problems in people living with HIV
Reduced kidney function, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease have each become more common in a large cohort of Italians living with HIV followed...
Promising approaches to improving PrEP access
For pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to have a substantial public health impact, access to PrEP needs to be improved so that more people who would...
Resistance to second-line ARTs increasing in SA
An increasing number of HIV patients in the Western Cape and other parts of South Africa are experiencing resistance to second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART)....
Uninfected babies born to HIV-infected mums face higher risks
HIV-uninfected children born to mothers with HIV are prone to more severe infections, almost double the risk of dying before their first birthday, and...
Food insecurity and ART adherence among older people living with HIV
Older people in Langa and Khayelitshsa, Cape Town, living with HIV are the focus of a study that explores how food insecurity affects their...
Reducing maternal viral load in pregnancy helps reduce MTCT
Reducing maternal viral load during pregnancy is the most important factor in preventing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, results of a large study confirm....