HIV

This year's top HIV articles include one sharing data from a group of researchers from University of Pittsburgh who looked to see if T cell activation is sufficient to drive SIV disease progression.

Some people still have low levels of HIV despite taking antiretroviral therapy as prescribed and lacking any indications of drug resistance. Understanding why could yield new strategies for dealing with HIV.

New infections are decreasing, but U.S. statistics reveal some significant disparities.

U.S. and United Nations health officials have set ambitious 2030 goals for ending HIV and AIDS. It looks like those efforts will fall short unless there is a burst of progress in the next few years.

PEPFAR, having invested $100 billion and saved 25 million lives in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, faces Congressional hurdles in its reauthorization due to abortion debates. Despite widespread support and no evidence of abortion-related activities, the legislative process is at a standstill. Members of PEPFAR and authors of a recent editorial stress the significance of PEPFAR and advocate for integrating behavioral and social science into healthcare programs to achieve UNAIDS targets and address barriers in HIV/AIDS testing and treatment.

Despite its efficacy, PrEP remains underutilized compared to the need for it. High costs are among the barriers to PrEP use, along with limited knowledge among clinicians, lack of health insurance, stigma, and underestimation of personal HIV risk.

This was found to be true in a cross-sectional study published in BMC, where 890 adults with HIV and 1,364 HIV-negative adults in China completed the trial through a self-administered online survey.

The same adjuvant is part of Shingrix, the shingles vaccine.

The Biden administration is looking at a policy change that would enable more older Americans to get oral and injectable medications.

As the HIV epidemic rises in China, Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) face various mental health difficulties, including suicide ideation, depression and stigma.

CRISPR gene-editing therapy is predicted to cost about $1 million dollars per person which is considerably more expensive than keeping a patient on ART for the rest of their life.

After two years of use, the twice-yearly Sunlenca remains active against HIV in patients with multi-drug resistant disease.

Mental health disorders impact the lives of almost 1 in every 4 people who are living with HIV/AIDS here in the United States.

Researchers of a phase 3 trial aimed to determine whether statins, specifically pitavastatin, could reduce the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events among HIV patients, as the risk of cardiovascular disease is increased in those with HIV infection.

An HHS Office of Inspector General report found that 23% were missing viral load tests, 11% were missing antiretrovials prescriptions, and 10% were missing medical visits

Early results are expected late next year from the phase 1 trial, which is being funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infecious Diseases, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Vir Biotechnology, a San Franciso biotech company focused on vaccines and infectious disease.

A workshop of the International Agency for Research on Cancer looked at the gaps in knowledge of four different cancers associated with HIV: Kaposi sarcoma, cervical, lung and anal cancer.

In a JAMA Network Open study published Sept. 11, researchers wanted to take a deeper look into PrEP regimens’ impact on cardiometabolic health, as it is understudied. To do so they examined the risk of incident hypertension and statin use among adult health plan members starting PrEP with tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) compared adults taking tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF).

The GLAAD HIV Stigma Survey also showed big differences in HIV knowledge among generations.

The tentative approval by the FDA is through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program and is supposed to ease regulatory authority submissions, production and distribution in low- and middle-income countries.

Black women living with HIV have improved outcomes when interventions incorporate a support network and when the program emphasized trust.

Researchers of a recent study compared the clinical presentation and treatment outcomes of people with HIV and HIV-negative persons with monkeypox who were treated with tecovirimat, as it was previously unclear if treatment outcomes differed between those with and without HIV.

Some orthopedic surgeons have been reluctant to perform total hip arthroplasty on people with HIV/AIDS. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found no additional risks from HIV per se.

The company-sponsored study compared Sunlenca (lenacapavir) with Rukobia (fostemsavir) and Trograzo (ibalizumab).

A demonstration project showed that frequent testing reduced the median time to diagnosis by nearly 14 months.

When addressing errors, researchers focused on the individual who made the error and retraining. Lead author Fatima Laher says attention should be shifted to root cause analysis and process improvement.