News headlines

A selection of news stories which have appeared since 11 September 2003.

Canada to use compulsory licensing to produce HIV drugs for developing world

Canadas International Trade and Industry Ministers say that they plan to introduce legislation within weeks to allow generic drug manufacturers in Canada to make generic versions of antiretrovirals for export to developing countries.

Compulsory licensing struggles continue: Cambodia loses rights as Brazil seeks new rights

Further evidence came to light this week of US-led attempts to pressurise developing world nations into accepting restrictions on access to essential medicines in return for future promises of liberalised trade with the US, the EU and Japan.

South Africa: MCC back pedals on nevirapine for mums to be

South Africa's Medicines Control Council (MCC) has issued a statement stressing that the use of nevirapine for the prevention of mother to child transmission is not `banned` in South Africa, following the publication of full results from the controversial HIVNET 012 study last Friday.

Long-term evidence for effectiveness of nevirapine in reducing mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission

A follow-up study among mothers with HIV-1 and their infants in this week's issue of The Lancet provides further evidence for the sustained efficacy of nevirapine as a low-cost option to help prevent vertical HIV-1 transmission from mothers to newborn children in less-developed countries.

HIV-positive Brazilian women find adherence hard

The majority of HIV-positive Brazilian women do not adhere properly to their HAART regimens, however, if a woman is pregnant her adherence is better, according to a poster presentation to the 43rd ICAAC in Chicago on September 15th.

Should isoniazid preventive therapy follow TB treatment in HIV/TB coinfection?

A paper in the latest issue of the journal AIDS, following a presentation at last year's international conference on AIDS in Barcelona, makes a case for using isoniazid to prevent recurrence of TB in people with HIV after they are successfully treated for active tuberculosis.

Sexually transmitted infections and HIV a complex interaction

A fall in syphilis rates is not always good news, if the findings of South African researchers, presented last week at the 13th ICASA meeting in Nairobi, Kenya are to be believed.

Infection with syphilis causes temporary rebound in HIV - case report

Immune activation caused by infection with syphilis can stimulate latent reservoirs of HIV and cause viral load to rebound to low levels, according to a case report published in the September 26th edition of AIDS. Syphilis should be considered as a cause of low-level rebound in patients with previously undetectable viral load, say the investigators.

Saliva may have infectious amounts of HCV in presence of high HCV viral load and gum disease

Saliva can contain potentially infectious quantities of hepatitis C virus (HCV), particularly if an individual has a high HCV viral load and poor oral hygiene, according to research conducted amongst HCV-monoinfected individuals and presented to the 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago on September 14 th.

Kaletra monotherapy: unorthodox but effective regimen challenges the rules

Nine years after the treatment of HIV with a single drug was discredited in the Delta study, monotherapy resurfaced this week at the 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago. This time it was monotherapy with a single potent protease inhibitor, chosen because the high drug levels achieved seem to reduce the risk of resistance.

Nevirapine, efavirenz and Kaletra regimens best for treatment naive

Initial HAART regimens including the NNRTIs efavirenz or nevirapine, or the boosted protease inhibitor Kaletra are most likely to achieve a sustained reduction in viral load below 500 copies/mL in HIV-positive treatment naive individuals, according to the results of an international observational study involving over 1,000 patients presented as a poster to the 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago on September 15th.

Further case report of lactic acidosis linked to tenofovir/ddI

Spanish doctors have reported what is believed to be the first case of lactic acidosis attributed to treatment with tenofovir. The case report appears in the September 27 edition of the British Medical Journal.

Tenofovir no more likely than d4T to cause kidney side-effects

Tenofovir is no more likely than d4T to cause kidney toxicities in treatment-naive patients when combined with 3TC and efavirenz, according to the results of an international study presented as a poster to the 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago on September 15th.

Abacavir hypersensitivity reaction experienced by 5% say GSK investigators

Analysis of the records of over 8,000 patients receiving treatment with the NRTI abacavir has revealed that 5% experienced the potentially life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction to the drug, according to a poster presentation to the 43rd ICAAC which is taking place in Chicago between September 14 - 17th.

Once-daily abacavir safe and effective - ICAAC late breaker

Abacavir looks likely to be the latest anti-HIV drug to become available for once-daily dosing after a study, presented as a late-breaker to the 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago on September 16th, found that a single 600mg dose of the drug a day was safe and effective in combination with 3TC and efavirenz.

Abacavir leads to better CD4 increase than AZT when combined with 3TC and EFV

A HAART combination comprising abacavir, 3TC and efavirenz is just as effective as AZT, 3TC and efavirenz at suppressing HIV viral load, but is much better at boosting the immune system in treatment-naive individuals, according to data presented to the 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago on September 14th.

Begin HAART before CD4 counts reach 200, but viral load matters, says US study

When to begin HAART for the first time continues to be more of an art than an exact science, as randomised clinical trials to assess this conundrum are unfeasible, and experts have to rely on observational data from large clinical cohorts, taking into account factors such as disease progression; short, medium and long-term drug toxicity; and the readiness of patients to take HAART, in order to avoid adherence issues that can lead to resistance.

Starting HAART at low CD4 count can mean that functional immune response blunted

Delaying the start of HAART until the immune system is severely damaged by HIV can mean that the body never fully regains functional immune responses, even if anti-HIV therapy causes a large rise in CD4 cell count and a sustained fall in viral load, according to research published in the September 26th edition of AIDS.