HIV update

HIV Weekly - October 30th 2007

A round-up of the latest HIV news, for people living with HIV in the UK and beyond.

Anti-HIV treatment

Illness

HIV transmission

HIV can be transmitted, or passed on to other people.

The risk is related to the level of a person’s viral load. The lower your viral load, the lower your risk of passing on HIV to someone else.

But it’s important to remember that an undetectable viral load doesn’t mean that you’re not infectious. Viral load in blood and sexual fluids can differ. Some sexually transmitted infections can cause viral load in sexual fluids to fluctuate, and the presence of HIV-infected cells can mean there’s a risk of transmission even if viral load is undetectable.

Viral load is highest in the few weeks just after infection with HIV. Many people haven’t yet had their HIV diagnosed at this time. Some researchers think that about 50% of all new HIV transmissions have their origin in people who themselves have been recently infected with HIV.

But a new study suggests that it’s people with moderate viral loads – a blood viral load of about 30,000 – who are most likely to pass on HIV.

It’s worth knowing that whatever your viral load, properly used condoms are an effective way of preventing HIV, most sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy.

HPV vaccination

Human papilloma virus – often called HPV for short – causes genital and anal warts. Some types of HPV can cause cells in the cervix and anus to change and become cancerous.

Vaccines have been developed against the main cancer-causing strains of HPV – HPV16/18.

These vaccines have only been tested in women and the results of studies show that they work very well if a woman hasn’t yet been infected with HPV16/18. They don’t help treat or cure existing HPV infection.

For the vaccines to have the best chance of working, they should be used before a girl has had sex and risked coming into contact with HPV. For that reason, the UK government has just announced a plan to provide an HPV vaccine to girls aged twelve and 13 in England. They’ll also be a programme to vaccinate girls up to the age of 18.

It is not known it the HPV vaccine is safe and effective in boys or men.

Anal and cervical cancer occur more frequently in people with HIV. This is because people with HIV are more likely to have HPV infection. It’s not yet known if the HPV vaccine is safe and effective in people with HIV. Because of this there are currently no plans to provide HPV vaccination to people with HIV.