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[HATIP] #27, April 29 2004: News
A regular electronic newsletter for health care workers and community-based organisations on HIV treatment in resource-limited settings. It is supported by and produced in collaboration with St Stephen's AIDS Trust and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Its publication is also supported by Positive Action of GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim and the Access 4 Trust.
Its publication is also supported by Positive Action of GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim and the Access 4 Trust.
News
A selection of news stories which have appeared since March 26th 2004 at http://www.aidsmap.com.
Doctors in South Africa have reported the first case of Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) failure in a protease inhibitor-naïve individual to be associated with a pattern of protease resistance mutations that confer cross-resistance to other protease inhibitors, despite apparently excellent adherence. The case is reported in a letter featured in the latest issue of the journal AIDS.
HIV-positive individuals treated with a protease inhibitor are significantly more likely to develop lesions in their carotid arteries than HIV-positive patients treated with non-nucleoside analogues (NNRTIs), who are naïve to HAART (or who are taking dual nucleoside analogue treatment), according to a study published in the April 30th edition of AIDS.
Dementia and sensory neuropathy are common among untreated HIV-positive individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, according to research presented this week at the American Academy of Neurology 56th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Half of all HIV-positive patients presenting at an infectious disease clinic in Uganda had sensory neuropathy.
Russia's worsening HIV crisis is being exacerbated by government policy, police harassment, and prejudice, according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch.
The progression from HIV infection to AIDS and death from AIDS is more rapid in untreated young men infected with HIV-1 subtype E living in Thailand than in HIV-positive individuals with HIV-1 subtype B infection living in the United States and Europe, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences and Chiang Mai University in Thailand.
Representatives of drug regulatory authorities from southern Africa, Canada, Switzerland, Ghana, Tanzania, India, Indonesia, USA and Thailand have reached agreement on standards for approval of fixed dose antiretroviral combinations following a two day meeting in Gaborone, Botswana on March 29th and 30th.
Researchers from South Africa have published the first detailed journal report of clinical outcomes from the pioneering antiretroviral treatment programme delivered through primary care clinics in the Western Cape township of Khayelitsha. The findings appear in the April 9th edition of the journal AIDS.
Breastfeeding is not detrimental to the health of HIV-positive mothers, according to a study published in the April 30th edition of AIDS.
Less than 10% of HIV-positive individuals in South Africa will be eligible to receive antiretroviral therapy if World Health Organisation guidelines which mandate the use of anti-HIV therapy in patients with a CD4 cell count below 200 cells/mm3 are followed, according to a French-funded study published in the May 1st edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
Trough levels of the protease inhibitor Kaletra (lopinaivr boosted by ritonavir) are significantly higher in men with low body weight, according to a poster presentation at the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the British HIV Association (BHIVA) in Cardiff last week. The investigators, from Liverpool University Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Service, have called for further research to establish the clinical significance of their findings.
Migrants are not responsible for the increasing incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the UK, according to research presented to the April meeting of the Society of General Microbiology. This finding stands in stark contrast to sensationalist media reporting which has blamed a recent increase in the incidence of TB in the UK on asylum seekers, particularly those infected with HIV.
Patients taking the nucleotide analogue, tenofovir, are no more likely to experience kidney problems than individuals taking other antiretrovirals, according to a poster presentation to the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the British HIV Association (BHIVA), in Cardiff last week.
Vitamin A supplementation does not reduce the genital shedding of herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) in HIV-positive women, according to the results of a randomised placebo controlled trial published in the April 15th edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The investigators also found genital shedding of HSV was strongly associated with the secretion of HIV in the genitals and recommend that aciclovir therapy should be provided as a way of preventing the transmission of both HSV and HIV.
HIV-AIDS did not come from oral polio vaccine contaminated with chimpanzee virus, according to findings from an expedition designed to test the hypothesis by one of its key sympathisers. The findings are published online in the April 22nd edition of Nature.
Advocates for survivors of genocide in Rwanda today called for antiretroviral treatment to be made available free to women who were infected with HIV during the systematic rape of tens of thousands in 1994. The Survivors Fund has launched an online petition calling on the British government to do more to pressurise pharmaceutical companies to make antiretroviral treatment affordable in Rwanda. International donors are also being urged to do more to help Rwandan women.
Final results of a major international comparative study of nevirapine or efavirenz-based triple antiretroviral therapy suggest that nevirapine-based HAART may have proved inferior to efavirenz-based therapy over 48 weeks of follow-up, contrary to initial headline findings presented at the Tenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston in 2003. The full results are published in the April 17th edition of The Lancet.
HIV prevention work is neglecting to inform individuals about the role partner reduction can play in stemming the spread of HIV, according to an article in the April 10th edition of the British Medical Journal. The authors, who represent international development agencies, the US government, and US universities, argue that the importance of partner reduction to slowing the spread of HIV is not being recognised amidst ideologically driven discussions which focus on either abstinence or condom use as the best way to prevent HIV. The authors' position is supported by an editorial in the same edition of the BMJ, and is applauded for highlighting the "simple truth" that partner reduction is of key importance to HIV prevention.
A consortium of international agencies and the Clinton Foundation have developed a joint plan to purchase and distribute generic anti-HIV drugs and key HIV diagnostic tests to poorer countries hard-hit by HIV.
The yellow fever vaccine is effective and safe in HIV-positive individuals with a CD4 cell count above 200 cells/mm3, according to a retrospective French study published in the March 25th edition of AIDS.
Lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) has a potent and durable anti-HIV effect when used in combination with d4T and 3TC, and a good side-effect profile, according to a long-term safety study published in the March 25th edition of AIDS. The study investigators conclude that these results support the use of Kaletra in first-line HAART regimens.
HIV-positive women are less likely to get pregnant and more likely to have a miscarriage, according to a study conducted in Uganda and published in the March 26th edition of AIDS.
HIV-specific immune responses act to slow HIV disease progression, according to articles published in recent editions of the Journals of Infectious Diseases, Journal of Immunology, and The Lancet. The studies could have important implications for future HIV vaccine research.
The Microbicides 2004 meeting, which took place this week at London's Hilton Metropole hotel, drew 800 participants from 53 countries for four days of intensive discussion.
As reported here on aidsmap, the big news at the Microbicides 2004 Conference in London was the imminent start of five large efficacy trials of six different candidate microbicides. These could produce significant results by 2007, if the trials are successful in retaining the vast majority of volunteers (no mean feat given the degree of commitment these long studies imply for women who participate).
The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) has made a far-reaching agreement with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, a Belgian subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to develop an antiretroviral drug as a microbicide to prevent HIV. The agreement was warmly welcomed by UK International Development Secretary Hilary Benn, speaking on Monday at the Microbicides 2004 conference in London.
The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes affect the development of tuberculosis (TB) differently in people with and without HIV-1 infection, according to research published in the March 15th edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
A seminar held last Sunday in London ahead of the Microbicides 2004 meeting reviewed progress towards rectal microbicides, products to prevent HIV transmission through anal sex. The meeting was organised by the University of California, Los Angeles AIDS Institute, with participants from Europe, North America and South Africa, some of whose findings were also presented at the main meeting.
Drug-resistant strains of HIV can remain archived in the reservoir of latently infected cells for five years or more after a successfully suppressive HAART regime, according to research published in the April 15th issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. This confirms previous findings that drug-resistant strains prior to suppressive HAART can re-emerge when HAART is stopped, and has important clinical implications, particularly for highly treatment-experienced people on salvage therapy.
A selection of news stories which have appeared since March 26th 2004 at http://www.aidsmap.com.
Doctors in South Africa have reported the first case of Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) failure in a protease inhibitor-naïve individual to be associated with a pattern of protease resistance mutations that confer cross-resistance to other protease inhibitors, despite apparently excellent adherence. The case is reported in a letter featured in the latest issue of the journal AIDS.
HIV-positive individuals treated with a protease inhibitor are significantly more likely to develop lesions in their carotid arteries than HIV-positive patients treated with non-nucleoside analogues (NNRTIs), who are naïve to HAART (or who are taking dual nucleoside analogue treatment), according to a study published in the April 30th edition of AIDS.
Dementia and sensory neuropathy are common among untreated HIV-positive individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, according to research presented this week at the American Academy of Neurology 56th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Half of all HIV-positive patients presenting at an infectious disease clinic in Uganda had sensory neuropathy.
Russia's worsening HIV crisis is being exacerbated by government policy, police harassment, and prejudice, according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch.
The progression from HIV infection to AIDS and death from AIDS is more rapid in untreated young men infected with HIV-1 subtype E living in Thailand than in HIV-positive individuals with HIV-1 subtype B infection living in the United States and Europe, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences and Chiang Mai University in Thailand.
Representatives of drug regulatory authorities from southern Africa, Canada, Switzerland, Ghana, Tanzania, India, Indonesia, USA and Thailand have reached agreement on standards for approval of fixed dose antiretroviral combinations following a two day meeting in Gaborone, Botswana on March 29th and 30th.
Researchers from South Africa have published the first detailed journal report of clinical outcomes from the pioneering antiretroviral treatment programme delivered through primary care clinics in the Western Cape township of Khayelitsha. The findings appear in the April 9th edition of the journal AIDS.
Breastfeeding is not detrimental to the health of HIV-positive mothers, according to a study published in the April 30th edition of AIDS.
Less than 10% of HIV-positive individuals in South Africa will be eligible to receive antiretroviral therapy if World Health Organisation guidelines which mandate the use of anti-HIV therapy in patients with a CD4 cell count below 200 cells/mm3 are followed, according to a French-funded study published in the May 1st edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
Trough levels of the protease inhibitor Kaletra (lopinaivr boosted by ritonavir) are significantly higher in men with low body weight, according to a poster presentation at the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the British HIV Association (BHIVA) in Cardiff last week. The investigators, from Liverpool University Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Service, have called for further research to establish the clinical significance of their findings.
Migrants are not responsible for the increasing incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the UK, according to research presented to the April meeting of the Society of General Microbiology. This finding stands in stark contrast to sensationalist media reporting which has blamed a recent increase in the incidence of TB in the UK on asylum seekers, particularly those infected with HIV.
Patients taking the nucleotide analogue, tenofovir, are no more likely to experience kidney problems than individuals taking other antiretrovirals, according to a poster presentation to the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the British HIV Association (BHIVA), in Cardiff last week.
Vitamin A supplementation does not reduce the genital shedding of herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) in HIV-positive women, according to the results of a randomised placebo controlled trial published in the April 15th edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The investigators also found genital shedding of HSV was strongly associated with the secretion of HIV in the genitals and recommend that aciclovir therapy should be provided as a way of preventing the transmission of both HSV and HIV.
HIV-AIDS did not come from oral polio vaccine contaminated with chimpanzee virus, according to findings from an expedition designed to test the hypothesis by one of its key sympathisers. The findings are published online in the April 22nd edition of Nature.
Advocates for survivors of genocide in Rwanda today called for antiretroviral treatment to be made available free to women who were infected with HIV during the systematic rape of tens of thousands in 1994. The Survivors Fund has launched an online petition calling on the British government to do more to pressurise pharmaceutical companies to make antiretroviral treatment affordable in Rwanda. International donors are also being urged to do more to help Rwandan women.
Final results of a major international comparative study of nevirapine or efavirenz-based triple antiretroviral therapy suggest that nevirapine-based HAART may have proved inferior to efavirenz-based therapy over 48 weeks of follow-up, contrary to initial headline findings presented at the Tenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston in 2003. The full results are published in the April 17th edition of The Lancet.
HIV prevention work is neglecting to inform individuals about the role partner reduction can play in stemming the spread of HIV, according to an article in the April 10th edition of the British Medical Journal. The authors, who represent international development agencies, the US government, and US universities, argue that the importance of partner reduction to slowing the spread of HIV is not being recognised amidst ideologically driven discussions which focus on either abstinence or condom use as the best way to prevent HIV. The authors' position is supported by an editorial in the same edition of the BMJ, and is applauded for highlighting the "simple truth" that partner reduction is of key importance to HIV prevention.
A consortium of international agencies and the Clinton Foundation have developed a joint plan to purchase and distribute generic anti-HIV drugs and key HIV diagnostic tests to poorer countries hard-hit by HIV.
The yellow fever vaccine is effective and safe in HIV-positive individuals with a CD4 cell count above 200 cells/mm3, according to a retrospective French study published in the March 25th edition of AIDS.
Lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) has a potent and durable anti-HIV effect when used in combination with d4T and 3TC, and a good side-effect profile, according to a long-term safety study published in the March 25th edition of AIDS. The study investigators conclude that these results support the use of Kaletra in first-line HAART regimens.
HIV-positive women are less likely to get pregnant and more likely to have a miscarriage, according to a study conducted in Uganda and published in the March 26th edition of AIDS.
HIV-specific immune responses act to slow HIV disease progression, according to articles published in recent editions of the Journals of Infectious Diseases, Journal of Immunology, and The Lancet. The studies could have important implications for future HIV vaccine research.
The Microbicides 2004 meeting, which took place this week at London's Hilton Metropole hotel, drew 800 participants from 53 countries for four days of intensive discussion.
As reported here on aidsmap, the big news at the Microbicides 2004 Conference in London was the imminent start of five large efficacy trials of six different candidate microbicides. These could produce significant results by 2007, if the trials are successful in retaining the vast majority of volunteers (no mean feat given the degree of commitment these long studies imply for women who participate).
The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) has made a far-reaching agreement with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, a Belgian subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to develop an antiretroviral drug as a microbicide to prevent HIV. The agreement was warmly welcomed by UK International Development Secretary Hilary Benn, speaking on Monday at the Microbicides 2004 conference in London.
The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes affect the development of tuberculosis (TB) differently in people with and without HIV-1 infection, according to research published in the March 15th edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
A seminar held last Sunday in London ahead of the Microbicides 2004 meeting reviewed progress towards rectal microbicides, products to prevent HIV transmission through anal sex. The meeting was organised by the University of California, Los Angeles AIDS Institute, with participants from Europe, North America and South Africa, some of whose findings were also presented at the main meeting.
Drug-resistant strains of HIV can remain archived in the reservoir of latently infected cells for five years or more after a successfully suppressive HAART regime, according to research published in the April 15th issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. This confirms previous findings that drug-resistant strains prior to suppressive HAART can re-emerge when HAART is stopped, and has important clinical implications, particularly for highly treatment-experienced people on salvage therapy.
aidsmap resources
Africa news
- High early mortality after starting antiretroviral treatment in Africa
- A new day for health in South Africa: Manto is replaced as health minister by TAC supporter
- HIV treatment at same time as TB treatment halves death rate in South African study
Asia and Pacific news
- Switching to AZT from d4T poses challenges in resource-limited settings
- Survey shows less than 25% getting ARVS in many countries, despite growth in international funding
- HIV treatment at same time as TB treatment halves death rate in South African study
Eastern Europe and Russia news
- Criminal HIV transmission and exposure laws spreading around the world ‘like a virus’
- Anti-HIV treatment provided to 3 million in poorer countries by end of 2007
- 2010 International AIDS Conference set for Vienna, with Eastern Europe focus
Latin America news
- Brazil rejects tenofovir patent
- Immigration and prevention: the effect of migration on risk behaviour
- Treatment outcomes in Latin America, China and Botswana: successes and shortfalls
Middle East news
- Justice Edwin Cameron calls for a campaign against 'misguided criminal laws and prosecutions'
- Half of all new HIV infections could be averted if proven prevention efforts expanded
- Roche agrees to temporary suspension of nelfinavir's (Viracept) European license - updated
Treatment access news
- Survey shows less than 25% getting ARVS in many countries, despite growth in international funding
- HIV treatment must lead transformation of primary health care in developing world
- Brazil rejects tenofovir patent