Transmission and prevention

Transmission and prevention features

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  PrEP wars: debating pre-exposure prophylaxis in the gay community

  Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was approved in the US in July, following trials showing its efficacy in preventing sexual transmission of HIV. But, as Gus Cairns finds out, it...

  From:  HIV treatment update

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  Treatment as prevention: Experts in the UK agree it works

  Roger Pebody summarises the statement released in January that should now guide how our doctors talk to us about treatment as prevention. ...

  From:  HIV treatment update

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  "How are we going to have a baby? I’m positive and you’re not"

  Joanna Moss of the African Health Policy Network (AHPN) looks at conception and fertility guidelines and services for people living with HIV in the UK. ...

  From:  HIV treatment update

• Low levels of innate immune activation and high levels of gut antibodies may protect people from HIV

  Several research papers published in the last month have reported strong correlations between specific immune responses and protection against HIV infection or its effects. These include...

  From:  News

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  What kind of prevention do gay men need?

  A number of presentations at the 19th International AIDS Conference explored the 'hyperepidemic' of HIV amongst men who have sex with men, and especially black MSM. A paper...

  From:  News

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  Uncomfortable news on lubes for anal sex

  Commercially available sexual lubricants may increase people’s susceptibility to sexually transmitted infection (STIs), US scientists reported recently. A study found that people who consistently used shop-bought ‘lubes’ for...

  From:  HIV treatment update

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  Pre-exposure prophylaxis

  By Gus CairnsTwo studies of the use of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in heterosexual people show that oral PrEP will protect women against HIV. The 6th...

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Treatment is prevention!

  Results from a trial showing that antiretroviral treatment prevents HIV from being passed onto uninfected partners received a standing ovation today at the Sixth International...

  From:  HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Where next for HIV prevention?

  Gus Cairns finds that UK HIV prevention campaigners and researchers are all in agreement that something has to change. They’re not so certain about where we go...

  From:  HIV treatment update

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  The new prevention?

  The Health Protection Agency (soon to become part of Public Health England) has proposed a radical shake-up in HIV prevention for gay men at the highest risk of...

  From:  HIV treatment update

Transmission and prevention in your own words

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  Bored and horny

  It’s Sunday afternoon and it’s raining. I’m bored and horny. However, I’ve got £20 left over from the night before and this will be enough...

  From:In your own words

Transmission and prevention news from aidsmap

• Lukewarm reaction to government’s sexual health framework for England

  Just two weeks before local authorities take over the commissioning of sexual health services – and twelve years since a sexual health strategy was last published – the Department of Health has released a “framework” which outlines the government’s ...

  19 March 2013 | Roger Pebody

• Are we underestimating the proportion of virally-suppressed patients in the US?

  Several presentations at the recent 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta suggest that previous estimates of the proportion of people with HIV in the USA who are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and with an undetectable viral ...

  15 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• Contraceptive injections and HIV infection risk – a public health conundrum

  The concerns about a possible increase in risk of HIV acquisition with some hormonal contraceptive methods need to be understood in the context of the substantial uncertainties in the body of evidence, and considered alongside the ...

  10 March 2013 | Roger Pebody

• Slow progress in expansion of voluntary circumcision coverage

  Progress towards greater coverage of voluntary male circumcision (MC) in Africa remains slow, and is due as much to men’s fear of the operation as it is to resource constraints, despite low and decreasing rates of complications, the 20th ...

  07 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• Black gay men run higher risk of HIV infection despite fewer partners

  An analysis of four studies of sexual risk and HIV infection in US gay men, presented at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2013), has found a 22% higher risk of HIV infection per sexual ...

  06 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• Consistent condom use in anal sex stops 70% of HIV infections, study finds, but intermittent use has no effect

  An analysis by Dawn Smith of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2013) on 4 March has provided the first estimate of the efficacy of condoms ...

  04 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• Monthly injectable drug offers 100% protection against HIV in monkeys – could be dosed every three months

  An injectable, long-lasting integrase inhibitor drug, when given to rhesus macaques exposed to a monkey-adapted version of HIV, completely protected them against the virus. This drug, an injectable version of GSK1265744 (GSK744), has already been given as a single dose ...

  04 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• VOICE trial's disappointing result poses big questions for PrEP

  The failure of one of the largest trials yet conducted of HIV drug-based prevention methods poses questions for how to turn vaginal microbicides and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) into methods people can actually use, the 20th Conference on Retroviruses ...

  04 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• US gay youth PrEP study meets recruitment and adherence problems

  A small six-month pilot study of the feasibility and acceptability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in young gay men aged 18 to 22 in the US found that although participants reported adherence levels of 80%, their actual adherence (in the ...

  02 March 2013 | Gus Cairns

• Variations in genital shedding of HIV during menstrual cycle large enough to impact on risk of sexual transmission

  Genital shedding of HIV varies considerably during the menstrual cycle, investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The difference between peak and nadir shedding was approximately 0.74 log10, which the investigators believe would translate into a ...

  25 February 2013 | Michael Carter

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Transmission and prevention news selected from other sources

• Reinventing The Condom - modernizing a life-saving tool

  We have a product that is safe and effective, but underutilized. What if we could develop a condom that would provide all the benefit of our current versions, without the drawbacks? Even better, what if we could develop one that was preferred to no condom?

  2 hours ago | Impatient Optimists

• Kenya condom advert pulled after religious complaints

  A TV advertisement promoting condom use in Kenya has been withdrawn after an outcry by religious leaders, health official Peter Cherutich has said. Christian and Muslim clerics said the advert encouraged infidelity, rather than safe sex to curb HIV/Aids.

  8 hours ago | BBC

• Nearly one in ten S.African soldiers has HIV/AIDS: army

  The South African army Tuesday said 8.5 percent of the country's 79,200 soldiers have HIV/AIDS, angrily dismissing claims of a higher prevalence rate.

  20 March 2013 | Global Post

• US porn filmmaker sued over condom rule

  AN AIDS support group has announced legal action against a US porn film company for allegedly failing to enforce a new Los Angeles law requiring actors to wear condoms while on set.

  20 March 2013 | Herald Sun

• England: Sexual health improvement framework published

  ‘A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England’ sets out the government’s ambitions for improving sexual health. These are designed to be used by local organisations when they are looking at how best to provide sexual health services in their area.

  15 March 2013 | Department of Health

• Testing HIV Prevention Tools: Other Ways Up the Alley

  We need to design prevention trials that ask, “Is this test product better than nothing?” rather than, “Is this test product better than the best available prevention combination we have?”

  15 March 2013 | Poz

• Mitchell Warren: Listening to Women's Voices on HIV Prevention

  The VOICE trial results show that we still have a lot to learn about what women really want and need in HIV prevention. The women in the trial are telling us something that is true for every group at risk for HIV: to help more people avoid infection, we need to offer prevention tools they will actually want, demand and use.

  12 March 2013 | Huffington Post

• Puppets Now Apparently Most At Risk For HIV

  HIV/AIDS has almost completely fallen off the radar as a TV subject. Leave it to some puppets to rise to the occasion - Logo and Avenue Q recently teamed up for a series of public service announcements (PSAs).

  12 March 2013 | After Elton

• Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin: Five myths about AIDS

  1. The case of the Mississippi baby means we’re close to curing AIDS. 2. AIDS is the leading killer of babies worldwide. 3. Mothers with HIV should never breast-feed. 4. Drugs are the key to preventing HIV’s spread. 5. AIDS can’t be defeated.

  12 March 2013 | Washington Post

• Outbreaks and incidents relating to sexually transmitted or sexually transmissible infections in England

  Outbreak and incident management is a core element of sexual health commissioning and this briefing provides information on recent incidents across England and sets out recommendations for commissioners in local authorities.

  11 March 2013 | Health Protection Agency

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