News from aidsmap
The Buenos Aires patient: Argentinian woman controls HIV for at least 12 years after stopping treatment
An Argentinian woman, now in her 50s, has controlled HIV below the limits of detection since stopping HIV treatment due to side effects in 2007, researchers from Buenos Aires and the US National Institutes of Health report.
HIV self-testing increases uptake of HIV testing, but with poorer linkage to care
A study has concluded that HIV self-testing is safe, increases testing uptake and increases the yield of HIV-positive results among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people. Among female sex workers, results are more mixed. While HIV self-testing improves testing uptake, it does not increase the yield of positive results and it worsens linkage-to-care outcomes.
European PrEP programmes face two big issues: how to get more people coming forward, and how to serve them if they do
There remains a substantial gap throughout Europe between the need and desire for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and the number of people actually using it, an online workshop convened towards the end of last year by the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) heard.
Middle-aged people with HIV and no hepatitis co-infection have a twofold increase in the risk of liver fibrosis
Having HIV almost doubles the risk of liver fibrosis, according to European research published in the online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Investigators in Denmark and the Netherlands compared rates of liver fibrosis between people living with HIV and people without HIV. Importantly, none of the participants had hepatitis B or hepatitis C. All were aged between 50 and 70 years and liver fibrosis was present in 12% of people with HIV and 7% of HIV-negative comparison group.
New video series
We've started to publish the first videos in two new series that we've been working on with other UK HIV organisations.
In the first video from our series for women ageing with HIV, working with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and University College London, Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma shares her experiences.
In our HIV testing video series, in collaboration with Africa Advocacy Foundation, Angelina Namiba and Rev. Jide Macaulay talk about the importance of testing for Black communities.
News from HIVR4P 2021
African studies explore reasons to start, stick with or stop PrEP
This year's HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) virtual conference featured a large number of sessions examining PrEP usage and discontinuation rates among a variety of users, especially in Africa.
Products to prevent both pregnancy and HIV begin to emerge
Preventing unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection by using one product could be a reality one day. Early research on several products presented at the conference showed that they are safe and that potential users are attracted by the idea of a two-in-one prevention method.
Nearly a million have started taking PrEP worldwide – only a third of UNAIDS’ 2020 target
Despite the incredible efficacy of oral PrEP and 78 countries currently offering PrEP in some form, its effectiveness at reducing HIV incidence in the real world has been dependent on far-reaching factors that go beyond how well PrEP is able to prevent HIV acquisition at a cellular level: political leadership, quality health services and funding.
New ethical obligations for researchers in places where existing HIV prevention services are inadequate
A full package of effective prevention interventions, up to international standards, must be offered to people taking part in HIV prevention trials, say UNAIDS and WHO in new guidance issued in January. This means that if researchers want to run a study in a country in which PrEP is not routinely available, they must find a way to provide it to study participants. If the study demonstrates that a new product is effective, the researchers have new obligations to provide it to study participants at the end of the trial and help make it available to the wider population.
Once-a-month PrEP pill easily passes its first big test
Islatravir (MK-8591) is an antiretroviral drug with a novel mode of operation that has excited a lot of interest in the last two years because of its extraordinary persistence in the body. This means it may only need to be given once a week as an HIV treatment, and a subcutaneous implant that releases the drug might only need to be replaced once a year when used as PrEP.
A triumph for injectable PrEP, but a sobering result for oral PrEP
Women taking long-acting injections of cabotegravir had 89% fewer HIV infections than women prescribed daily PrEP pills in a landmark study conducted in seven African countries, Professor Sinead Delany-Moretlwe of the University of Witwatersrand told the virtual conference.
Antibody-based PrEP did not stop most types of HIV – but is still hailed as a ‘game changer’
Results from the AMP (Antibody-Mediated Protection) studies of infusions of a so-called broadly neutralising antibody (bNAb) called VRC01 as a medication to prevent infection showed that VRC01 was not enough to do the job. The overall reduction in HIV infections, compared to placebo, was 19%, and this reduction was some way off statistical significance. However, the VRC01 antibody did produce a 75% reduction in the number of infections in the type of viruses that were most sensitive to this particular bNAb.
aidsmapCHAT
We'll be back this Thursday 11 February on Facebook and Twitter at 6pm (UK time) for our final episode of this series of aidsmapCHAT. Our guests are HIV doctor and health activist Dr Oni Blackstock, infectious diseases clinician Dr Muge Cevik, and HIV and LGBT activist Josh Robbins.
Watch the last episode, with guests Professor Chloe Orkin, writer Juan Michael Porter II, and researcher Maryan Said, on aidsmap.
Editors' picks from other sources
ViiV Healthcare receives Marketing Authorisation for Rukobia (fostemsavir), a first-in-class attachment inhibitor in combination with other antiretrovirals for the treatment of adults with multidrug-resistant HIV | ViiV Healthcare press release
Fostemsavir addresses a critical need in HIV care for those with little to no treatment options left who are at risk of further disease progression, or complications from HIV.
Why broadly neutralising antibodies might be the next big thing in HIV | Spotlight
We know antiretroviral therapy can prevent HIV infection, but can natural biological substances do the same? The results of a recent scientific trial have answered this question: Yes, using broadly neutralising antibodies. But what are broadly neutralising antibodies? How do they work? And when will the average person get access to them? Amy Green breaks down the science.
Exclusive: 5 potential picks to succeed Deborah Birx at PEPFAR | Devex
Five names have risen to the surface as potential leaders: Shannon Hader, Charles Holmes, Chris Beyrer, Vanessa Kerry, and Paul Farmer. Among the group, three are well-known experts within the global HIV community, two are veterans of former President Barack Obama’s administration, and two are prominent global health leaders.
The unique catharsis of It's a Sin | VICE
Russell T Davies's drama about the AIDS crisis demands so much more of us than to simply mourn the dead.
WHO recommends the dapivirine vaginal ring as a new choice for HIV prevention for women at substantial risk of HIV infection | World Health Organization
WHO has recommended that the dapivirine vaginal ring may be offered as an additional prevention choice for women at substantial risk of HIV infection as part of combination prevention approaches.
New injectable antiretrovirals
Injectable HIV treatment – cabotegravir & rilpivirine – has been approved in the UK, Europe, US and Canada. Find out more about this new treatment in our pages on aidsmap.