The following HIV related papers were published in PLoS Medicine, Volume 9(3) March 2012

CD4 Cell Count and the Risk of AIDS or Death in HIV-Infected Adults on Combination Antiretroviral Therapy with a Suppressed Viral Load: A Longitudinal Cohort Study from COHERE.

Young j et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001194

The European COHERE cohort shows that in successfully treated patients the risk of a new AIDS event or death follows a CD4 cell count gradient in patients with viral suppression.

No Treatment versus 24 or 60 Weeks of antiretroviral treatment during primary HIV infection: The randomized Primo-SHM Trial.

Grijsen  ML et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001196

This study of approximately 170 people diagnosed in primary HIV infection randomised participants to immediate treatment for either 24 or 60 weeks or to now treatment, finding that both treatment arms resulted in significantly longer time until treatment was started or restarted.

The Evolving Landscape of the Economics of HIV Treatment and Prevention.

Nosyk B et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001174

The cost-effectiveness of HAART roll out has been significantly underestimated because economic analyses do not account for the beneficial impact of HAART on HIV transmission.

The abstract book and the late breakers are available in PDF format. This site includes daily summaries of the workshop that will be followed in the next few weeks by more detailed reports.

http://www.hiv-reservoir.net/index.php/the-news/189-abstract-book-2011-hiv-persistence-workshop.html

The article reviews the available evidence to demonstrate how a comprehensive response can reduce HIV infection rates in people who use drugs, by implementing coherent public health and law enforcement strategies. It is argued that cost-effective interventions such as needle and syringe exchange programs, increased access to treatment and the decriminalisation of people who use drugs, to name but a few, would benefit individuals, families and communities.

The documents can be downloaded from:
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/drugpolicy/articles_publications/publications/time-to-act-20100907

http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/31/jac.dkr599.full

Are there reasons to be optimistic that a cure for HIV infection may be achieved? From our point of view the answer is ‘yes’, but this will not be achieved in the short term.

http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/cure/2011-workshop-report

The meeting included a focus on the following issues:

• If HIV eradication is the goal, how can this be proved when the best currently available tests may still miss the tiny residual amount of the virus that can bring the infection roaring back to life when antiretroviral drugs are withdrawn?
• If treatment interruptions are necessary, how can they be conducted safely in research participants when prevailing data suggest that even relatively short treatment interruptions can be harmful for some?
• If immune control of the virus is the objective, what kinds of changes in the immune system and inflammatory markers will tell us we are on the right track? and
• If early trials require participants to take greater risks with little hope of gain, how can we ensure that studies are ethical and guarantee that those taking the risks are fully informed?

Optimal uses of antiretrovirals for prevention in HIV-1 serodiscordant heterosexual couples in South Africa: a modelling study. Hallet TB et al.

PLoS Medicine Volume 8 (11) November 2011.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001123

Timothy Hallett and colleagues use a mathematical model to examine the long-term impact and cost-effectiveness of different pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) strategies for HIV prevention in serodiscordant couples.

Cost-effectiveness of early versus standard antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected adults in Haiti. Koenig SP et al.

PLoS Medicine Volume 8 (9) September 2011.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001095

In a cost-effectiveness study, Bruce R Schackman and colleagues compares early versus standard antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV, based on randomised clinical trial data from Haiti, revealing that the new WHO guidelines for early ART initiation can be cost-effective in resource-poor settings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK6aswNV08E&feature=channel_video_title

Other material including over 35 other presentations from this workshop are available at:

http://www.cfenet.ubc.ca/node/5536/

To download the word-file you have to scroll to the bottom of this page:

http://www.esar-society.eu/index.cfm/t/Tropism_Guidelines/vid/5436FB5B-B04D-6E04-05EDE1DDA908FBF7

Webcasts from this meeting include the interventions by women activists.

• Tatyana Afanasiady from the Ukranian Network of People Living with HIV at the opening session. Speaking as an openly HIV positive woman and drug user.

http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2011/06/23682.html (English and Russian)

• Siphiwe Hlope, Alessandra Nilo, Adrienne Germain, a powerful young woman speaker from Zimbabwe, Lisette Trinidad from Peru, and several other strong statements from women in the Women Panel meeting.

http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2011/06/panel-4-women-girls-and-hiv-english.html

• Anandi regional coordinator for Asia and the Pacific for the International Community of women living with HIV.

http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2011/06/side-event-aids-health-and-sustainable-development-who-owns-the-aids-response-high-level-meeting-on-aids-original-language.html

• Silvia Petretti, speaking at the closing plenary on why people with HIV and key populations need to be at the centre of the fight against the HIV epidemic.

http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2011/06/global-network-of-people-living-with-hiv-2011-high-level-meeting-on-aids-95th-plenary-meeting.html

FDA approval of two hepatitis C-specific protease inhibitors, the first of the coming wave of oral antiviral drugs, is anticipated later this year. Dozens of drugs are in development to fight hepatitis C virus (HCV).

The Treatment Action Group 2011 Hepatitis C Treatment Pipeline Report is a comprehensive overview of drugs in clinical trials. The Pipeline covers a range of issues, including diagnostics, drug resistance,  access to, and delivery of treatment, and population-specific focus on the new HCV drugs, as well as research recommendations.

Download
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?TreatmentActionGroup/b5f575334e/9e21c20d7a/9ae5755cb4/id=4416

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR December 17, 2010; 59(RR12):1-110.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5912a1.htm?s_cid=rr5912a1_w

Tracy Swan’s 2011 Hepatitis C Treatment Pipeline Report produced by the Treatment Action Group in New York is a must-read. This clear concise and comprehensive overview of research shows that hepatitis C treatments in 2011 have a similarly dramatic potential as HAART had for HIV in 1996.

Issues covered include diagnostics, drug resistance,  access to, and delivery of treatment, and population-specific focus on the new HCV drugs, as well as research recommendations.

FDA approval of two hepatitis C-specific protease inhibitors, the first of the coming wave of oral antiviral drugs, is anticipated later this year. Dozens of other drugs are in development.

Download
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?TreatmentActionGroup/b5f575334e/9e21c20d7a/9ae5755cb4/id=4416

Tomescu C et al. Clinical & Experimental Immunology. Published online: 17 March 2011. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2011.04379.x

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2249.2011.04379.x/full

The description of highly exposed individuals who remain seronegative (HESN) despite repeated exposure to HIV-1 has heightened interest in identifying potential mechanisms of HIV-1 resistance. HIV-specific humoral and T cell-mediated responses have been identified routinely in HESN subjects, although it remains unknown if these responses are a definitive cause of protection or merely a marker for exposure.

Approximately half of HESN lack any detectible HIV-specific adaptive immune responses, suggesting that other mechanisms of protection from HIV-1 infection also probably exist. In support of the innate immune response as a mechanism of resistance, increased natural killer (NK) cell activity has been correlated with protection from infection in several high-risk cohorts of HESN subjects, including intravenous drug users, HIV-1 discordant couples and perinatally exposed infants.

This review highlights the most current evidence in HESN subjects supporting the role of epithelial microenvironment and the innate immune system in sustaining resistance against HIV-1 infection.

The authors argue that as a front-line defence the innate immune response determines the threshold of infectivity that HIV must overcome to establish a productive infection.

Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of expanding harm reduction and antiretroviral therapy in a mixed HIV epidemic: a modeling analysis for Ukraine

Alistar SS et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000423

A cost-effectiveness study by Sabina Alistar and colleagues evaluates the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of different levels of investment in methadone, ART, or both, in the mixed HIV epidemic in Ukraine.

A randomised controlled trial comparing the effects of counseling and alarm device on HAART adherence and virologic outcomes

Chung MH et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000422

Michael Chung and colleagues show that intensive early adherence counseling at HAART initiation resulted in sustained, significant impact on adherence and virologic treatment failure, whereas use of an alarm device had no effect.

HIV-1 drug resistance emergence among breastfeeding infants born to HIV-infected mothers during a single-arm trial of triple-antiretroviral prophylaxis for prevention of mother-to-child transmission: a secondary analysis

Zeh C et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000430

Analysis of a substudy of the Kisumu breastfeeding trial by Clement Zeh and colleagues reveals the emergence of HIV drug resistance in HIV-positive infants born to HIV-infected mothers treated with antiretroviral drugs.

Triple-antiretroviral prophylaxis to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission through breastfeeding—the Kisumu breastfeeding study, Kenya: a clinical trial

Thomas TK et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001015

Timothy Thomas and colleagues report the results of the Kisumu breastfeeding study, Kenya, a single-arm trial that assessed the feasibility and safety of a triple-antiretroviral regimen to suppress maternal HIV load in late pregnancy.

HIV neuroretinal disorder and ageing – Professor Mark Jacobson

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=md-expert-jacobson

Hepatitis B and HIV Coinfection

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-00&doc=kb-05-03-04

Hepatitis C and HIV Coinfection
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-00&doc=kb-05-03-05

Immunisations and HIV Coinfection

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-00&doc=kb-03-01-08

On 16 December 2010 the FDA published new draft guidance for industry entitled “Codevelopment of Two or More Unmarketed Investigational Drugs for Use in Combination.” This guidance is intended to assist sponsors in the codevelopment of two or more novel (not previously marketed) drugs to be used in combination to treat a disease or condition.

This guidance provides recommendations and advice on how to address certain scientific and regulatory issues that will arise during codevelopment. It is open now for public comment, requested by 14 February 2011.

Recent scientific advances have increased our understanding of the pathophysiological processes that underlie many complex diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infectious diseases, including HIV. This increased understanding has provided further impetus for new therapeutic approaches that rely primarily or exclusively on combinations of drugs directed at multiple therapeutic targets to improve treatment response and minimise development of resistance.

In settings in which combination therapy provides significant therapeutic advantages, there is growing interest in the development of combinations of investigational drugs not previously developed for any purpose. Because the existing developmental and regulatory paradigm focuses primarily on assessment of the effectiveness and safety of a single new investigational drug acting alone, or in combination with an approved drug, FDA believes guidance is needed to assist sponsors in the codevelopment of two or more unmarketed drugs.

This guidance is intended to describe a highlevel, generally applicable approach to codevelopment of two or more unmarketed drugs. It describes the criteria for determining when codevelopment is an appropriate option, makes recommendations about nonclinical and clinical development strategies, and addresses certain regulatory process issues.

The guidance is not intended to apply to development of fixed-dose combinations of already marketed drugs or to development of a single new investigational drug to be used in combination with an approved drug or drugs, nor to vaccines, gene or cellular therapies, blood products, or medical devices.

Diseased Pariah News – archive online

This influential community publication has now been archived online.

This magazine was produced before HAART was available, and written by activists who were unable to benefit from treatment when it did arrive.

But the style, anger and humour (“Hostess with the Toxoplasmostest”, the “Get Fat, Don’t’ Die” recipe column, “Ask Aunt Kaposi”, centrefold pin-ups with the models CD4 count and current meds, etc) used by these activists to challenge complacency still stands head and shoulders above most of worthy publications that followed.

This is uncomfortable reading from a historical perspective. Know your history.

http://www.diseasedpariahnews.com/

Pharmacological treatment of painful HIV-associated sensory neuropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Phillips TJC et al.

http://clinicaltrials.ploshubs.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0014433#pone-0014433-t002

A randomised trial to assess anti-HIV activity in female genital tract secretions and soluble mucosal immunity following application of 1% tenofovir gel.

Keller M et al.

http://clinicaltrials.ploshubs.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0016475

A phase I randomised placebo controlled trial of the safety of 3% SPL7013 gel (VivaGel) in healthy young women administered twice daily for 14 days.

Cohen CR et al.

http://clinicaltrials.ploshubs.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0016258

8-11 December 2009

Every other year since 2003, researcher Alain Lafeuillade has chaired a workshop on HIV persistence during therapy. The goal of the meeting is to work toward strategies for curing HIV infection, either by eradicating the virus or inducing long-term control of viral replication in the absence of ongoing treatment. The fourth meeting was held in December of 2009, and abstracts and selected slide presentations are now available online.

Final Program and Abstract Book
http://www.ihlpress.com/pdf files/AbstractBook_PW2009_111009.pdf

Selected Slide Presentations
http://www.ihlpress.com/gaj_persistence2009.html

Emerging Issues in clinical trials for new ARV development

Forum for Collaborative HIV Research (FCHR)

Details and presentations from the Forum’s roundtable on 30 September 30, 2010.

Objectives:

• To discuss general developments with non-inferiority margins and adaptive design in clinical trials and regulatory experience.
• To provide perspectives on recent clinical trial experiences with investigational HIV agents.
• To propose new models to study investigational HIV agents in clinical trials and discuss possible solutions to commonly encountered issues in clinical trials.
• To discuss the need for trials in treatment naïve patients, dose-finding and identification of biomarkers for longer term safety evaluations.

http://hivforum.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=57bb4a7a73d2cce9128afb09b&id=259573778e&e=ffb9e298b4

The new issue of the journal Immunity features a series of state-of-the-art reviews on the intersection of vaccine and human immunology research. All articles are free to access.

http://www.cell.com/immunity/current

Immunity Special feature: Vaccine Immunology

A perspective on vaccine and human immunology by Germain.

http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00357-2

Vaccine-focused reviews on:

• Memory T and B cells by Sallusto, Lanzavecchia, and Ahmed.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00368-7
• Dendritic cell subsets by Palucka, Banchereau, and Mellman.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00367-5
• Mucosal immunity by Chen and Cerutti.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00356-0
• Adjuvants by Coffman, Sher, and Seder.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00362-6
• Vectors by Liu.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00364-X
• Systems vaccinology by Pulendran, Li, and Nakaya.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00366-3
• Reverse vaccinology by Sette and Rappuoli.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00360-2
• HIV-AIDS by McElrath and Haynes.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00354-7
• Malaria by Good and Doolan.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00365-1
• Tuberculosis by Kaufmann.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00358-4
• Overview by D’Argenio and Wilson.
  http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(10)00371-7

Source: TAG basic science blog. (28 October 2010).
http://tagbasicscienceproject.typepad.com/tags_basic_science_vaccin/2010/10/special-open-access-feature-in-immunity-vaccine-immunology.html

NAT report

http://www.nat.org.uk/Media%20library/Files/Policy/2010/Psychological%20support%20July%202010%20updated.pdf

One of the recommendations from the report is that standards for psychological support for people living with HIV should be developed. The British Psychological Society’s Faculty of Sexual Health and HIV is taking the lead on this process, and BHIVA is one of the stakeholders on the working group.

As with previous IAS conferences, much of the conference material is available online and HTB reports include appropriate hyperlinks.

Locating the appropriate files, presentations, webcasts, transcriptions or even the basic abstracts is more challenging. Access is routed through the ‘Programme at a glance’ link on the conference homepage. This requires a free software plug-in called Silverlight, but an automatic download button should come up if you do not already have this installed.

Vienna Conference homepage

‘Programme at a glance’

The search facility requires selecting one of the seven options directly under the search bar ie to search the abstracts, you need to first click ‘abstract’ which when selected has the tiny white triangle in the red block turn to face down. Then search as you would normally by entering a keyword in the search box and clicking search. Results come up listed below.

The abstract books are available to download as free PDF files, but only for each day, so searching the whole conference requires repeating each search four times.

Download abstract books.

Although you can browse sessions by day and time, this is not so easy if you are looking for a specific session but don’t know when it was presented because there is not a programme that just shows the sessions. For example a search for ‘late breaker’ brings up no results whether searching ‘programme at a glance’, ‘abstracts’, or ‘oral sessions’.

If you find a session page, you then have to find and click the yellow ‘more info’ button at the bottom right of an empty box, and then you finally get to a page that makes sense. Don’t be entirely fooled. The ‘abstract’ links seems to work, but ‘slides with audio’ are not always available and the ‘powerpoint’ link doesn’t work at all. For presentation slides, scroll further down the page where slides that are available are listed under the ‘powerpoint presentations’ heading.

The audio works but you need to manually download the powerpoint slides to really follow the presentation.

To make things more confusing, some webcast presentations are provided by Kaiser Foundation on a different website.

http://globalhealth.kff.org/AIDS2010

These webcasts only show the presenter, with no slides and no easy links to slides. Although you often hear two different presentations simultaneously, this accurately captures the conference experience. Only a cloth curtain divided most session rooms, so the webcasts accurately reflect the conference atmosphere, including this difficulty.

Kaiser provide rough transcripts of the sessions that can be more useful with the slide set, than the webcast, though they are draft transcripts only.

Web access should be a leading priority for these conferences. The interface used by the Retrovirus (CROI) conference would be a much more useful model to use and would make this aspect of the meeting far more accessible, whether provided by IAS or Kaiser.

8–12 June 2010, Dubrovnik

Abstracts from the recent International HIV & Hepatitis Virus Drug Resistance Workshop & Curative Strategies meeting have been published in the journal Antiviral Therapy. The abstract book is are available to download free from the conference website:

http://www.intmedpress.com/journals/avt/abstract.cfm?id=1575&pid=88

‘Towards a cure’: HIV reservoirs and strategies to control them

16–17 July 2010, Vienna

Immediately prior to the XVIII International AIDS Conference, the International AIDS Society held a workshop entitled “Towards a cure: HIV reservoirs and strategies to control them” that focused on the moving beyond antiretroviral therapy and addressing HIV persistence.

Powerpoint presentations and abstracts along with rapporteur summaries of each session have now been posted to the workshop website:

http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=349

HIV in Maternal and Child Heath: Concurrent Crises Demand Cooperation

The PLoS Medicine editors argue that the time has come to integrate prevention and treatment of HIV into maternal and child health care programs.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000311

Antiretroviral Treatment of Adult HIV Infection 2010: Recommendations of the International AIDS Society–USA Panel – Thompson MA et al.

JAMA. 2010;304(3):321-333. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.1004

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/304/3/321#AUTHINFO

Treatment Action Group, now in collaboration with HIV i-Base has produced the the sixth edition of their Pipeline Report.

The 2010 report reviews the current clinical pipeline for new drugs and vaccines for HIV, hepatitis C virus, and tuberculosis, along with new sections on the hepatitis B virus pipeline and diagnostics for TB and HIV.

http://i-base.info/home/pipeline-report-2010/

AIDS cure research for everyone: a beginner’s guide to how it’s going and who’s paying for it.

A review from US treatment activists who ‘have written this simple report to share what we have learned about the search for a cure for AIDS’.

Section one analyses the scientific and cultural landscape that affects this research and makes recommendations. The second part surveys current US research.

The report is available free online in PDF format:

http://www.aidspolicyproject.org/documents/The%20Cure%20Final.pdf

RITA: Non-AIDS diagnoses and aging in people with HIV

Mark Mascolini

A report on HIV and Ageing by Mark Mascolini in this issue of RITA from the Center for AIDS in Houston.

The article includes three related interviews with Steven Grinspoon (Harvard), Carl Grunfeld (UCSF), and David Vance (UAB).

PDF:

http://www.centerforaids.org/pdfs/mar2010ritagm.pdf

The European Medicines Agency has launched a new website, accessible at the same address:

http://www.ema.europa.eu

New features include:

• Quick medicine searches: Allows you to search for human and veterinary medicines by name and active substance and for herbal medicinal substances by name.
• An online library: Enables you to search for all Agency documents currently online through a search on title and date published online.
• Improved navigation: More intuitive labelling and improved organisation of content so that browsing is quicker for all audience groups.
• Audience landing pages: Flags information of specific value to different key users.
• Online calendar and news search: Allows you to keep up to date with the latest news and events at the Agency.
• RSS feeds: Brings information straight to you as soon as it is published online.

Hepatitis C drug resistance slide set

The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research’s HCV Drug Development Advisory Group (academicians, clinicians, researchers and patient advocates) have contributed to a slide deck explaining resistance in HCV, its consequences as well as its mitigation. The slide deck explains important drug resistance concepts in HCV, including:

• How resistance can arise before, during and after stopping therapy;
• The mechanism of action of direct acting antivirals (DAAs) and their effects on viral kinetics and the possibility of cure;
• How mutations lead to changes which makes the virus resistant to DAAs;
• Viral, drug and patient factors that influence treatment outcomes.

http://www.hivforum.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=113

Paediatric HIV studies: collected reports

The Southern African Journal of HIV Medecine (Vol 10, No 4; 2009) has published a collection of articles on paediatric care including by Polly Clayden, HIV i-Base. The article is available in PDF format and like all journal contents is available free online.

http://www.sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/sajhivmed/article/viewFile/594/464

http://www.plosmedicine.org

• Impact of antiretroviral therapy on incidence of pregnancy among HIV-infected women in Sub-Saharan Africa: a cohort study - Myer L et al.

A multicountry cohort study in sub-Saharan Africa by Landon Myer and colleagues reveals higher pregnancy rates in HIV-infected women on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

• Pretreatment CD4 cell slope and progression to AIDS or death in HIV-infected patients initiating Antiretroviral Therapy—The CASCADE Collaboration: A Collaboration of 23 Cohort Studies - Wolbers M et al.

Analysing data from several thousand cohort study participants, Marcel Wolbers and colleagues find that the rate of CD4 T cell decline is not useful in deciding when to start HIV treatment.

• Effectiveness of Non-nucleoside Reverse-Transcriptase Inhibitor-Based Antiretroviral Therapy in Women Previously Exposed to a Single Intrapartum Dose of Nevirapine: A Multi-country, Prospective Cohort Study - Stringer JAS et al.

In a comparative cohort study, Jeffrey Stringer and colleagues investigate the risk of ART failure in women who received single-dose nevirapine for PMTCT, and assess the duration of increased risk.

• Causes of Acute Hospitalization in Adolescence: Burden and Spectrum of HIV-Related Morbidity in a Country with an Early-Onset and Severe HIV Epidemic: A Prospective Survey - Ferrand RA et al.

Rashida Ferrand and colleagues show that HIV infection is the commonest cause of hospitalisation among adolescents in a high HIV prevalence setting.

Volume 6(11) November 2009

The unintended consequences of clinical trials regulations.

McMahon AD et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000131

Alex McMahon and colleagues critique the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidance on good clinical practice (GCP), arguing that it is having a disastrous effect on noncommerical randomised clinical trials in Europe.

Effects of genital ulcer disease and HSV-2 on the efficacy of male circumcision for HIV prevention: analyses from the Rakai trials.

Gray RH et al.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000187

Ron Gray and colleagues analyse data from two circumcision trials in Uganda to assess how HSV-2 status and genital ulcer disease affect the procedure’s ability to reduce HIV infection.

Lydia Guterman, TAG

The goal of this funding analysis is to provide a comprehensive picture of the current state of U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) research investment in HIV/AIDS and three of its most common coinfections (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and TB) after five years of flat funding at NIH (2004–2009).

In FY 2007, NIH spent approximately 10% of its budget on HIV/AIDS but only 1.1% of all research investment in HBV, HCV, and TB combined. More than half (52%) of all programs for AIDS and these three diseases were administered by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

With flat funding, new initiatives and expansions of research on HIV/AIDS and the three most common coinfections cannot be funded. As the real value of the budget contracts, it is likely that more conservative research proposals by experienced researchers will trump higher risk (and potentially higher reward) proposals submitted by early-career researchers. This discourages innovation and has likely already led to missed opportunities for the funding of novel approaches in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and its common coinfections.

http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/publication.aspx?id=3052

PDF download

http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/uploadedFiles/About/Publications/TAG_Publications/2009/tag%20flatlined%202009%205.28web.pdf

Clinical management of the HIV-positive woman

TheBody.com

A podcast discussion with Kimberly Smith and Valerie Stone

http://broadcaster.thebody.com/t?ctl=179F25:B33203735488890861B00D26D4C955E3&

Recent years have brought HIV health care providers a deeper understanding of the unique challenges involved in providing care to HIV-infected women. Although there remains a dearth of information regarding the impact of HIV and antiretroviral therapy on women, there is much that we do know.

For instance, research has shown us that HIV-positive women can have a high rate of cervical cytological abnormalities and certain gynecologic complications. We are well aware that reproductive counseling is an essential part of care for HIV-infected women. In addition, the burdens of child and family care often create obstacles to adherence and continuation of care.

These and other issues make it more important than ever that today’s HIV health care providers have as complete an understanding as possible of the ideal manner in which to treat their HIV-infected female patients.

UK patient survey: you, your GP and HIV

This survey has been compiled by the Forum Link Project, a network that currently links patient support groups from 15 HIV clinics. The survey has been designed by HIV-positive people and to help  understand people’s relationship with their GP and how we would like to see Primary Care services develop in the future.

We believe this is the first online survey in the UK of GP services in relation to HIV care, that is organised, compiled and run by HIV-positive people. The data collected will be used by Forum Link members during consultations currently being undertaken by various Patient Groups and PCTs.

The survey is anonymous and is online here:

http://www.forum-link.org/research/gp/survey

HIV inSite resources

Health care of the HIV-positive transgender person
Barry Zevin, MD. September 2009. [RealAudio with slides]
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=cfphp-zevin

Dosing of antiretroviral drugs in adults with renal insufficiency and haemodialysis
UCSF Center for HIV Information
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=md-rr-18

11th International Workshop on Adverse Drug Reactions and Co-Morbidities in HIV
26-28 October 2009, Philadelphia, USA

It is an incredibly useful feature of this small specialised meeting that the organisers arrange for nearly all oral presentations to be available as free access webcasts.

The oral plenary lectures at the meeting are of a consistently high standard, often inviting experts from outside the HIV field to provide an overview on newly emerging issues relating to long-term HIV management.

https://lipo09.events-register.com/lipodystrophy/default.cfm?itemtypeid=15&title=Webcasts%20and%20videos

Webcasts from 12th EACS

11-14 November, Cologne

Presentations from this conference are now available online.

This year a comprehensive programme of lectures and sessions available as webcasts and podcasts and include many of the slide sets:

http://www.europeanaidsclinicalsociety.org

http://www.multiwebcast.com/eacs/2009/12th

Access requires a free one-time registration using the invitation code: EACS2009

The abstracts from the meeting are currently only available in a subscription issue of HIV Medicine (2009, volume 10, issue S2).

How to access the webcast?
1) Go to: www.europeanaidsclinicalsociety.org
2) Click on the Webcast link to the left
3) Click on the webcast banner
4) Click Sign In and enter your username and password

How to access a single presentation?
1) Click on the presentation you would like to access below
2) Enter your username and password when prompted

Some of presentations from the BHIVA Autumn Conference are now posted on the BHIVA website:

http://www.bhiva.org/cms1224475.asp

The conference website includes all abstracts and many PDF or powerpoint slides of posters and oral presentations, together with a limited amount of webcasts.

http://www.ias2009.org

http://www.who.int/hiv/events/artprevention/day1/en/index.html

November 2009 – Volume 52 – Supplement pp: S1-S68

http://journals.lww.com/jaids/toc/2009/11011

The report documents:

• In Saudi Arabia: mandatory HIV testing; detention for up to a year without access to medication; and deportation of HIV-positive migrants.
• In the United Arab Emirates: deportation of 1,518 non-citizen residents infected with HIV; hepatitis types B and C; or tuberculosis in 2008.
• In South Africa: the inability to continue treatment – amounting to a death sentence – for people living with HIV who are sentback to Zimbabwe.
• In the United States: poor access to treatment in detention and harsh conditions or lack of access to medical treatment for some HIV-positive individuals who are deported.
• In South Korea: mandatory HIV testing of migrants and the deportation of those found to be HIV positive, despite South Korea’s international legal obligations and a recent Seoul High Court ruling that such deportation is not the most effective means of protecting public health.

To read the Human Rights Watch report visit:

http://www.hrw.org/en/node/85610

The group believe that this is the first online survey in the UK of GP services in relation to HIV care that has been organised, compiled and run by HIV-positive people. The data collected will be used by Forum Link members during consultations currently being undertaken by Patient Groups and PCTs.

The survey is anonymous and is online here:

http://www.forum-link.org/research/gp/survey

Effects of genital ulcer disease and herpes simplex virus type 2 on the efficacy of male circumcision for HIV prevention: analyses from the Rakai trials

Gray RH et al.

The unintended consequences of clinical trials regulations

McMahon AD et al.

This article argues that recent EU trial regulations have dramatically reduced levels of noncommercial research in the UK, and that patients have suffered as a result.

The conference website includes all abstracts and many PDF or powerpoint slides of posters and oral presentations, together with a limited amount of webcasts.

http://www.ias2009.org

The publication aims to raise awareness and promote advocacy among patients, civil society groups, government officials, multilateral organisations and funding mechanisms (such as the Global Fund), and the pharmaceutical industry.

The report is online and available in English and Russian language editions from the Harm Reduction website.

In English:

http://www.harm-reduction.org/images/stories/documents/links/hepc_osi_en.pdf

In Russian:

http://www.harm-reduction.org/images/stories/documents/links/hepc_osi_ru.pdf

English and Spanish versions of the Guide are available on-line, at:

http://treatmentactiongroup.org/publication.aspx?id=3174

Hard copies of the Spanish and English versions are available at no charge. They can be ordered on-line at:

http://treatmentactiongroup.org/form.aspx?ekfrm=94

Please send any comments to:

Lei.Chou@treatmentactiongroup.org

The report also identifies critical gaps where research is falling short of the need for better tools to manage these diseases.

http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/publication.aspx?id=3212

http://www.tbevidence.org

Several agencies, groups and individuals have contributed to the development of the site that provides a comprehensive single source of evidence syntheses, policies, guidelines and research agendas on TB diagnosis. It provides access to published systematic reviews on TB diagnostics (grouped by various test types or platforms), the relevant policies, guidelines and research agendas on TB diagnosis, and several reports, monographs and training modules and slide presentations on TB diagnostics.

The website also provides guidance on how to conduct and report diagnostic TB research, on how to perform systematic reviews of diagnostics, tools on guideline development, including GRADE, and documents on improvement of laboratory quality and practice. Up to date information on the current TB diagnostics pipeline is also provided, along with SOPs and package inserts for several tests, and specimen banks and databases. All information is provided as open access, with no registration or fee requirements.

This new website resource addresses a long-standing need for a single portal that compiles all critical evidence on TB diagnosis, along with relevant policies and guidelines for clinicians, health professionals and policy makers.

http://www.catie.ca/tu.nsf

Sections include:

• The kidneys
• Drugs and the kidneys
• HIV and the kidneys – a look over time
• Cystatin C for monitoring kidney health
• Comparing viruses – HIV and hepatitis C in mostly men
• The kidneys and hep C in women
• Age, tenofovir and the kidneys
• A large study looks at tenofovir and kidney health

http://www.thebody.com/content/art53518.html

The September issue includes:

• H1N1 (swine flu) and HIV news and predictions.
• Why drinking heavily may be particularly risky for HIV-positive people.
• Whyeven treated genital herpes sores can increase HIVrisk.
• How Senator Edward M. Kennedy contributed more to the figh tagains HIV/AIDS than any other politician

Presentations from the recent BHIVA/CHIVA Consensus Conference are located for your review on the BHIVA website.

Please follow the direct link to the presentations home page:

http://www.bhiva.org/cms1223342.asp

http://www.hepatologytextbook.com

http://www.hepatologytextbook.com/hepatology2009.pdf

The book contains both approved and non-approved therapies.

The International Harm Reduction Development Program of the Open Society Institute has released a new guidebook that we would like to share with you: Human Rights Documentation and Advocacy: A Guide for Organisations of People Who Use Drugs. Written by veteran activist Karyn Kaplan, it is available at:

http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/ihrd/articles_publications/publications/hrdoc_20090218

People who use illicit drugs face daily harassment, discrimination, and abuse—incidents that often go unreported, due to fears of reprisal and other harmful physical, mental, social, or legal consequences. Investigations into rights violations against people who use drugs or efforts to bring perpetrators to justice are rare. Often law enforcement and the society-at-large do not recognize the basic rights of people who use drugs, and blame the victim for any human rights abuses endured as a result of their drug use. Moreover, some government laws and policies directly violate the rights of people who use drugs or create the conditions for violations to occur.

Human Rights Documentation and Advocacy: A Guide for Organizations of People Who Use Drugs aims to help activists recognize human rights abuses that are systematically conducted and condoned by state and non-state actors and silently suffered by people who use drugs. The guidebook provides activists with the tools necessary to develop a human rights advocacy plan, particularly by documenting abuses against people who use drugs.

The guidebook includes the following topics;

• Starting human rights documentation
• Guidelines for documenting human rights violations committed against people who use drugs
• Guidelines for conducting interviews
• Monitoring legal systems

The guidebook is being printed in English and Russian.

Although intended primarily for drug user activist organisations, the principles, strategies and international law described in the guide are universal and should be very useful to anyone seeking to support drug user health and rights through documentation efforts. A Russian language edition as well as print copies will be ready soon and can be had from IHRD’s Roxanne Saucier (rsaucier@sorosny.org).

The topics are as relevant now as when they were first filmed.

Senator Obama meets with TAC (2006)
http://www.beatit.co.za/archive-events/22-august-2006-senator-obama-meets-with-tac

Pallllative Care at Lizo Nobbanda (2005)
http://www.beatit.co.za/siyayinqoba-beat-it-2005/episode-2

PMTCT – Bongiwe M Mkhutyukellwa (2002)
http://www.beatit.co.za/beat-it-2002/episode-2

Learners beat HIV (2004)
http://www.beatit.co.za/siyayinqoba-beat-it-2004/episode-4

Chilldren on ARVs beat HIV (2004)
http://www.beatit.co.za/siyayinqoba-beat-it-2004/episode-7

Unregulated experimentation (2005)
http://www.beatit.co.za/siyayinqoba-beat-it-2005/episode-15

Special report – PMTCT, Khayelitsha Project (2000)
http://www.beatit.co.za/beat-it-2000/episode-3

Beating Kaposi’s Sarcoma with treatment (2005)
http://www.beatit.co.za/siyayinqoba-beat-it-2005/episode-7

Heallthcare workers and HIV (2004)
http://www.beatit.co.za/siyayinqoba-beat-it-2004/episode-23

Gender based viollence (2006)
http://www.beatit.co.za/siyayinqoba-beatit-2006/episode-11

Online coverage includes:

• Session webcasts, audio podcasts and transcripts with slide presentations of all plenary sessions and selected other sessions including the October 16th Stop TB Symposium: Working with the Whole Health System.
• Interviews with newsmakers providing analysis of current issues in the fight against TB.

http://www.Kaisernetwork.org/paris2008

Sorrell MF et al. Ann Intern Med 2009;150 104-110.

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/150/2/104?etoc

Antiviral Therapy for Adults With Chronic Hepatitis B: A Systematic Review for a National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference

Shamliyan et al. Ann Intern Med 2009;150 111-124

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/150/2/111?etoc

Kuller LH et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050203#top

“IL-6 and D-dimer were strongly related to all-cause mortality. Interrupting ART may further increase the risk of death by raising IL-6 and D-dimer levels. Therapies that reduce the inflammatory response to HIV and decrease IL-6 and D-dimer levels may warrant investigation.”

Effectiveness of cellulose sulfate vaginal gel for the prevention of HIV infection: results of a Phase III trial in Nigeria

Vera Halpern et al.

http://clinicaltrials.ploshubs.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003784

“Cellulose sulfate gel appeared to be safe in the evaluated study population but we found insufficient evidence that it prevented male-to-female vaginal transmission of HIV, gonorrhea or chlamydial infection. The early closure of the trial compromised the ability to draw definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of cellulose sulfate against HIV.”

Reporting bias in drug trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration: review of publication and presentation

Rising K et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050217

This study concluded “Many trials were still not published 5 years after FDA approval. Discrepancies between the trial information reviewed by the FDA and information found in published trials tended to lead to more favorable presentations of the NDA drugs in the publications. Thus, the information that is readily available in the scientific literature to health care professionals is incomplete and potentially biased.

Conducting unlinked anonymous HIV surveillance in developing countries: ethical, epidemiological, and public health concerns

Rennie et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000004

A comparison of international ethical guidelines on UAT with ethical and public health challenges encountered with HIV sentinel surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa, among populations usually targeted by UAT efforts, and proposals for practical approaches, informed by field research in southern Africa, to improve the quality of HIV surveillance data, strengthen the ethics of surveillance activities, and enhance the capacity of public health systems.

The abstracts from this recent meeting can be assessed online at the following link:
http://www.jiasociety.org/supplements/11/S1

They can also be accessed via the congress website at the following link:
http://www.hiv9.com/abstracts.asp

Webcasts from this meeting will be available shortly on a related site:
http://www.hivdrugtherapy.org

The AIDS Vaccine 2008 conference is just getting underway in Cape Town, South Africa. For those unable to attend, the publisher Mary Ann Liebert has made the conference abstract book available online in PDF format, free of charge as a supplement to the journal AIDS Research & Human Retroviruses.
http://www.hivvaccineenterprise.org/conference/2008

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. October 2008, 24(s1): 1-175.
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/aid.2008.9997a

A number of presentations from the recent BHIVA Autumn Conference are now on the BHIVA website: http://www.bhiva.org

Please follow the direct link to the presentations home page:
http://www.bhiva.org/cms1222734.asp

http://www.iavireport.org

Engineering immunity – Andreas von Bubnoff

http://www.iavireport.org/Issues/Issue12-4/Engineering.asp

Researchers are developing new approaches to introduce genes for antibodies as a novel way to protect against HIV infection

http://www.tac.org.za/community/node/2386

This article describes the irrational actions of Act Up-Paris and some other organisations in recent years. We have written this because their activities are threatening the development of new treatment and prevention technologies for people with HIV. They are also undermining scientific research programmes in developing countries.

The groups we discuss here couch their anti-science agenda in progressive rhetoric. They therefore persuade some wellintentioned people and organisations unfamiliar with HIV science to support their causes.

Country-level HIV/AIDS data have been updated to reflect the latest information just released by UNAIDS in its new “2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic.”

The data, including people living with HIV/AIDS and AIDS deaths, are displayed in tables, charts, and color-coded maps and can be downloaded for custom analyses.

GlobalHealthFacts.org, operated by the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides free, easy access to a range of global health information for the world’s countries.

http://www.globalhealthreporting.org

Final Program and Abstract Book available online to download:
http://www.informedhorizons.com/resistance2008/pdf/AbstractBook_RW2008_final.pdf

17th International AIDS Conference. Mexico City

Download the abstract books the conference website.
http://www.aids2008.org/mainpage.aspx?pageId=174

Jason Bratcher and Joel Palefsky

http://www.prn.org/index.php/coinfections/article/
anogenital_hpv_neoplasia_hiv_positive_502

The incidence of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) and anal cancer, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), is much higher in HIV-positive women and HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) than in the general population, and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV disease has had little or no impact on this trend. There is a growing need for definitive guidelines to assess for AIN in HIV-positive individuals, and with better treatment options available, it is
even more crucial to identify these patients at an earlier stage. New York is the first state to institute recommendations for anal cytology screening in HIV-positive patients.

Selected endocrine topics in HIV: osteoporosis and adrenal insufficiency

Todd T. Brown

http://www.prn.org/index.php/complications/
article/hiv_osteoporosis_adrenal_insufficiency_85

The care of HIV-infected patients has become increasingly complex. Endocrine problems, such as osteoporosis and AI, have been frequently reported in the HAART era. Additional considerations may be required regarding the etiologies, diagnosis, and treatment compared with the general population. Further research is required to understand the intricacies of these problems in HIV-infected patients in order to provide optimal care.

The gastrointestinal tract in HIV-1 infection: questions, answers, and more questions!

Saurabh Mehandru, MD

http://www.prn.org/index.php/progression/
article/hiv_1_gastrointestinal_galt_267

The GI tract is targeted during all stages of HIV disease, and this is especially so during acute and early HIV infection. CD4 cells are preferentially lost from the GI tract within weeks of HIV infection. Despite long-term antiretroviral therapy, CD4+Tcell reconstitution remains deficient in the GI tract in spite of the reconstitution seen in the peripheral blood.

Next stop, don’t block the doors: opening up access to clinical trials results

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050160

Under FDAAA, enrollment and outcomes data from trials of drugs, biologics, and devices (excluding phase I trials) must appear in an open repository associated with the trial’s registration, generally within a year of the trial’s completion, whether or not these results have been published. The new law is innovative in bridging the gap between a clinical trial’s registration at inception (now an established requirement for publication) and the public archiving of its final peer-reviewed report.

Safety outcomes must be posted as of 2009, and further information may be required in future years. These are not just recommendations; the law imposes fines of up to US$10,000 per day for noncompliance.

Minority HIV-1 drug resistance mutations are present in antiretroviral treatment-naïve populations and associate with reduced treatment efficacy

Johnson JA et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050158

These data suggest that a considerable proportion of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance is undetected by conventional genotyping and that minority mutations can have clinical consequences. With no treatment history to help guide therapies for drug-naïve persons, the findings suggest an important role for sensitive baseline drug resistance testing.

Transmitted Minority Drug-Resistant HIV Variants: A New Epidemic?

Steven G. Deeks

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050164

Despite high rates of viral turnover and viral evolution, HIV has proven to be surprisingly easy to suppress with combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the regions of the world where such treatment is available. Recent reports indicate that the vast majority of patients initiating ART should be able to achieve durable if not indefinite viral suppression. Given that there are now over 20 antiretroviral drugs from six unique classes, even if one regimen fails, others are often readily available. The emerging consensus among clinicians and clinical investigators is that fewer and fewer patients will generate highly resistant HIV during the course of their treatment.

A vaccine against nicotine for smoking cessation: a randomised controlled trial

Jacques Cornuz et al.

http://clinicaltrials.ploshubs.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002547

Whereas Nicotine-Qβ did not significantly increase continuous abstinence rates in the intention-to-treat population, subgroup analyses of the per-protocol population suggest that such a vaccination against nicotine can significantly increase continuous abstinence rates in smokers when sufficiently high antibody levels are achieved. Immunotherapy might open a new avenue to the treatment of nicotine addiction

Immunological outcomes of new tuberculosis vaccine trials: WHO panel recommendations

Hanekom WH et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050145

Scaling up programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis: a prioritised research agenda

Cobelens FGJ et al.

htt
p://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050150

Evidence-based tuberculosis diagnosis

Pai M et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050156

Can a topical microbicide prevent rectal HIV transmission?

Florian Hladik and Charlene S. Dezzutti

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050167

The researchers investigated whether rectal simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) transmission in macaques could be prevented by the topical pre-exposure application of tenofovir gel. Rectal SIV or HIV challenge bears a much higher transmission probability than vaginal challenge. With some caveats, as discussed further below, successful prevention of rectal transmission is therefore likely to have a better predictive value for human trials than vaginal challenge models. Moreover, anal intercourse in heterosexual populations has been underestimated in the past, and means to prevent rectal HIV transmission are thus urgently needed for both women and men who have unprotected anal intercourse.

Prevention of SIV rectal transmission and priming of T cell responses in macaques after local pre-exposure application of tenofovir gel

Martin Cranage M et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/
?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050157

These results indicate that colorectal pretreatment with ARV drugs, such as tenofovir, has potential as a clinically relevant strategy for the prevention of HIV transmission. We conclude that plasma tenofovir concentration measured 15 min after rectal administration may serve as a surrogate indicator of protective efficacy. This may prove to be useful in the design of clinical studies. Furthermore, in vitro intestinal explants served as a model for drug distribution in vivo and susceptibility to virus infection. The finding of T cell priming following exposure to virus in the absence of overt infection is provocative. Further studies would reveal if a combined modality microbicide and vaccination strategy is feasible by determining the full extent of local immune responses induced and their protective potential.

The gastrointestinal tract in HIV-1 infection: questions, answers, and more questions! – Saurabh Mehandru
The GI tract is targeted during all stages of HIV disease, and this is especially so during acute and early HIV infection. CD4 cells are preferentially lost from the GI tract within weeks of HIV infection. Despite long-term antiretroviral therapy, CD4+ T cell reconstitution remains deficient in the GI tract in spite of the reconstitution seen in the peripheral blood.

HIV-1 integrase inhibitors – Teresa Evering and Martin Markowitz
The integrase inhibitors are a welcome addition to the treatment armamentarium for HIV/AIDS in treatment-experienced patients failing available antiretroviral regimens. The promising efficacy and tolerability profile of the integrase inhibitors, absence of cross-resistance with other antiretroviral classes, and demonstrated synergism of the integrase inhibitors in combination with approved antiretroviral agents place them in a position to become important components of effective combination antiretroviral regimens in individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

Osteoporosis and adrenal insufficiency – Todd T. Brown
The care of HIV-infected patients has become increasingly complex. Endocrine problems, such as osteoporosis and AI, have been frequently reported in the HAART era. Additional considerations may be required regarding the etiologies, diagnosis, and treatment compared with the general population. Further research is required to understand the intricacies of these problems in HIV-infected patients in order to provide optimal care.

Update on CCR5 inhibitors: scientific rationale, clinical evidence, and anticipated uses – Athe Tsibris
The CCR5 antagonists are a welcome addition to the therapeutic armamentarium available for antiretroviral-experienced patients. Currently, their use in antiretroviral-naive patients should be restricted to enrollment in ongoing or planned clinical trials. The CCR5 antagonist maraviroc is FDA-approved for treatment-experienced patients with R5 virus (only), and no patient should receive maraviroc without first undergoing a tropism assay.

Viral reservoirs, residual viremia, and the potential of highly active antiretroviral therapy to eradicate HIV infection
Lin Shen, MD, Robert F. Siliciano, MD, PhD
Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Volume 122, Issue 1, Pages 22-28 (July 2008)
http://www.jacionline.org/article/PIIS0091674908010038/fulltext

Abstract: Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can reduce HIV-1 viremia to levels that are below the limit of detection of clinical assays, the virus persists in reservoirs, and trace levels of free virions can be found in the plasma. Whether this residual viremia represents ongoing cycles of replication continuing despite HAART or simply the release of virus from stable reservoirs has been controversial. Here we summarize the evidence that HAART can stop ongoing cycles of replication. The evidence comes from a detailed analysis of the residual viremia, which shows it to be archival and nonevolving in character. In addition, new pharmacodynamic measures incorporating a previously ignored slope parameter have provided the first real indication of how well HAART actually suppresses viral replication in vivo. Together, these results argue that the ultimate theoretical potential of HAART to control viral replication has already been reached. Progress toward eradication of the infection will require novel approaches to target the stable reservoirs that persist even when viral replication is completely halted.

Dr. Joel Palefsky reviews human papillomavirus and HIV, including both cervical and anal disease, and vaccine
development.

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=cfphp-palefsky2008

Access to the full text of the paper is free of charge but requires registration with the Nature website.
http://www.nature.com/nri/journal/v8/n6/full/nri2302.html

Hladik F and McElrath JM. Setting the stage: host invasion by HIV. Nature Reviews Immunology 8, 447-457 (June 2008) | doi:10.1038/nri2302

9th International Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology of HIV Therapy
7 – 9 April 2008, New Orleans, USA

6th European HIV Drug Resistance Workshop
26-28 March 2008, Budapest, Hungary

The group is run by gay men for gay men. It focuses on issues specific to gay men including: sexual transmission, HIV co-infection, stigma and discrimination within the gay community, and of course need for peer support from ones peers.

For further information contact David Pieper on 020 7089 6220. Helpline: 0845 223 4424 (from 10.30 – 16.30pm Mon to Fri)

Hepatitis C Trust

http://www.aidsinfonyc.org/tag/coinf/hepatitisPipelineApril08.pdf [228 KB]

Hard copies of the report can be ordered by email from:
tagnyc@verizon.net

http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/ihrd/articles_publications/
publications/developments_20080304/developments_20080304.pdf 1.4mb

Comprehensive new guideline document from the US CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/TB_HIV_Drugs/default.htm

PDF format.
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/TB_HIV_Drugs/PDF/tbhiv.pdf [232 Kb]

Drug-resistant tuberculosis: a survival guide for clinicians

The second edition of this guide is available online and in PDF format:
http://www.nationaltbcenter.edu/drtb

Over 70 studies and abstracts from this specialised liver-related meeting have been posted to the NATAP.org website.

http://www.natap.org/2007/AASLD/AASLD.htm

Ten studies and abstracts from this meeting have been posted to the NATAP website.

http://www.natap.org/2007/ENTRY/ENTRY.htm

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040348&ct=1

Randomised trials to optimise treatment of MDR TB – Carole D et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040292

Evolution of antiretroviral drug costs in Brazil in the context of free and universal access to AIDS treatment – Nunn AS et al.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040305

European Journal of Immunology
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/25061/home

Articles include:

• The macrophage: past, present and future – Gordon S.
• Seeing is believing: A focus on the contribution of microscopic imaging to our understanding of immune system function – Bajénoff M et al.
• Dendritic cells: understanding immunogenicity – Steinman RM.
• A history of AIDS: Looking back to see ahead – Greene WC.
• A brief history of CD8 T cells – Masopust D et al.
• NKT cells: In the beginning… – MacDonald HR

A moving target: the multiple roles of CCR5 in infectious diseases

Robyn S. Klein

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/524692

Genetic deficiency of chemokine receptor CCR5 Is a strong risk factor for symptomatic West Nile virus infection: a meta-analysis of four cohorts in the US epidemic

Jean K. Lim et al.

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/524691

A deletion in the CCR5 gene is associated with tickborne encephalitis

Elin Kindberg et al.

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/524709

The Journal of Infectious Diseases
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jid/0/0

WHO working group report on prioritising second-line drugs for adults and adolescents. WHO, December 07

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/pdf/WHO_second_line_ART.pdf

Missing the target #5: improving AIDS drug access and advancing health care for all

The fifth installment of a series on treatment access, this document details country-specific barriers to universal access and provides recommendations for improvement. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC). December 2007.

International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC)

http://www.aidstreatmentaccess.org

Epidemiological maps of HIV/AIDS prevalence and treatment worldwide

WHO. 2007.

http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary

Updated indicator database for 2007

Including revised HIV prevalence and ART coverage estimates from UNAIDS, population statistics from the Population Reference Bureau, and development indicators from UNDP. Using the database, you can easily create a comprehensive report by country, or compare indicators for up to seven countries. Alternatively, pick an indicator and create a report comparing it across 195 countries.

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/global?page=cr-01-00

New drug profile: raltegravir (Isentress)

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=ar-07-01

The site is dedicated to the issues of HIV and reproduction and aims to be an accessible and up to date information and exchange tool for all those concerned with parenthood for people living with HIV.

Centres for Reproductive Assistance Techniques in HIV in Europe

http://www.creathe.org

Simple messages from a complex disease.

http://lists.plos.org/lt.php?id=eklQBw1RUQBUVUUFB1sARQQEV1ENDA%3D%3D

Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: Erik von Elm et al.

Guidelines for reporting observational studies.

http://lists.plos.org/lt.php?id=eklQBw1RUQBbVkUFB1sARQQEV1ENDA%3D%3D

Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE): Jan P. Vandenbroucke et al.

Explanation and elaboration.

http://lists.plos.org/lt.php?id=eklQBw1RUQBbVEUFB1sARQQEV1ENDA%3D%3D

Patient retention in antiretroviral therapy programs in Sub-Saharan Africa: Sydney Rosen et al.

A systematic review.

http://lists.plos.org/lt.php?id=eklQBw1RUQBaVkUFB1sARQQEV1ENDA%3D%3D

R.G. Frank

The ongoing regulation of generic drugs.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/20/1993?query=TOC

The “HIV/TB Co-Infection: Meeting the Challenge” report and the accompanying press release are now available online:

http://www.hivforum.org/uploads/TB/Final%20HIV-TB%20Report.pdf 492 Kb

HIV-TB Fact sheet:

http://www.hivforum.org/uploads/TB/HIV_TB_Fact%20Sheet.pdf 256 Kb

The report is based on the symposium and roundtable discussion held in conjunction with the 4th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Sydney, Australia. These two events were sponsored by the Forum and the TB/HIV Working Group of the STOP TB Partnership in collaboration with ANRS, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CREATE, EDCTP, IAS, NIH, Tibotec, and the WHO TB-HIV Working Group.

In collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and UNAIDS, the Forum is also pleased to announce the release of another report, “HIV Testing and Counselling: Polices in Transition?” which was prepared for the International Public Health Dialogue on HIV Testing and Counselling.  A link to this report can be found on the Forum’s website at:

http://www.hivforum.org/uploads/PHAC%20hivtest_e.pdf 1.9 Mb

Links to other reports and current activities can be found on:

http://www.hivforum.org

http://www.immunity.com

The September issue of the journal ‘Immunity’ is offering free access to several commentaries and reviews regarding immunity to viral infections, including HIV.

The journal editors could not have anticipated the timeliness and topicality of the issue, which includes pieces on factors associated with immunological control of HIV infection, correlates of vaccine-induced immunity and memory CD8 T cell differentiation during viral infection.

The challenge of viral immunity
Doherty PC, Turner SJ.
http://www.immunity.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS1074761307004165

Correlates of immune protection and the development of an HIV vaccine
Letvin NL
http://www.immunity.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS1074761307004190

Antibodies and B cell memory in viral immunity
Dörner T, Radbruch A
http://www.immunity.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS1074761307004207

Heterogeneity and cell-fate decisions in effector and memory CD8+ T cell differentiation during viral infection
Susan M. Kaech SM, John Wherry EJ
http://www.immunity.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS1074761307004104

HIV controllers: mechanisms of durable virus control in the absence of antiretroviral therapy
Deeks SG, Walker BD
http://www.immunity.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS1074761307004141

http://www.hivvaccineenterprise.org/conference/archive/2007/abstracts.aspx

Abstracts from the 2007 AIDS Vaccine Conference, which took place in August in Seattle, are now online in PDF format.

2nd International Workshop on HIV Transmission

http://www.hivpresentation.com

26 – 28 August 2007, Washington DC, USA. Presentations from this recent workshop on HIV transmission are now available online.

The following earlier workshops from 2007 are also online at the same site.

• 5th European HIV Drug Resistance Workshop, Cascais
• 8th International Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology of HIV Therapy, Budapest, Hungary
• 1st International Workshop on HIV Treatment, Pathogenesis and Prevention Research in Resource-Poor Settings, Kampala, Uganda
• 3rd International Workshop on HIV & Hepatitis Co-infection, Paris, France

The abstract book from this important meeting is now online as a PDF file:
http://www.informedhorizons.com/resistance2007/pdf/AbstractBook_RW2007_final.pdf

Statistical and Epidemiological Issues in HIV Research Workshop

Posters and presentations from the 2007 Statistical and Epidemiological Issues in HIV Research Workshop are available on the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research website:
http://www.hivforum.org/projects/Statistical%20Epi.htm

Report on Expanded Access Programmes

The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research have published a new report: Re-thinking approaches to Expanded Access Programmes.

This report is available to download in PDF format:
http://www.hivforum.org/uploads/EAP/EAP%20Final%20Report.pdf

Presentations and other information associated with this project are available:
http://www.hivforum.org/projects/Expanded%20Access.htm

Scales of CD4+ T cell depletion in HIV infection
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040193

Understanding the slow depletion of memory CD4+ T cells in HIV infection
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040177

HIV inSite Knowledge Base

Resources updated in June 2007

HIV transmission and prevention in gay men
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kbr-07-04-04

Policy issues in AIDS vaccine development
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kbr-08-01-11

Voluntary counseling & testing (VCT) for HIV
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kbr-07-01-04

International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) have produced a paper that highlights the research conducted for Silent Voices, a participatory project carried out by and for HIV positive women on the experiences of HIV positive drug/alcohol using women living in London, UK.

The project aimed to address the current lack of support and information available for HIV positive women who also use drugs and alcohol. In order to find out what services the women needed,

The project also aimed to create links among HIV positive female drug users with the help of local partner organisations, to collate information on current policies and practice, and to develop advocacy tools around reproductive health rights, access to care, treatment and support, and prevention.

Special theme: tuberculosis control; Promising new tools for prevention, detection and cure; How reliable are the data?; The Global Drugs Facility; Barriers to completing treatment; Russian region reports progress; Public health classic: lessons from the past; Interview: Jorge Sampaio, UN special envoy to Stop TB

Contents include:

• The international TB control targets
• The new Stop TB Strategy and the Global Plan to Stop TB, 2006–2015
• Fast action urged to halt deadly TB; Russian oblast is model in fight against TB; New tools for an old disease
• Financing tuberculosis control: the role of a global financial monitoring system
• Planning to improve global health: the next decade of tuberculosis control
• The Global Drug Facility: a unique, holistic and pioneering approach to drug procurement and management
• Roles of laboratories and laboratory systems in effective tuberculosis programmes – John Ridderhof et al.
• Did we reach the 2005 targets for tuberculosis control?
• Targets for tuberculosis control: how confident can we be about the data?

Following the script: how drug reps make friends and influence doctors – Fugh-Berman A, Ahari S
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040150

Do CD4+ T cell functional responses to EBV provide protective immunity against CNS lymphoma in AIDS? – Jacobson MA
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040110

Impact and process evaluation of integrated community and clinic-based HIV-1 control: a cluster-randomised trial in Eastern Zimbabwe
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040102

Monopolising clinical trial data: implications and trends – Timmermans K
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040002

Adherence to HAART: Africans take medicines more faithfully than North Americans – Attaran A
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040083

PLoS Clinical Trials

Evidence-based treatment for HIV-associated dementia and cognitive impairment: why so little? – Ellis RJ
http://clinicaltrials.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pctr.0020015

Factors in AIDS Dementia Complex trial design: results and lessons from the abacavir trial – Brew BJ, et al
http://clinicaltrials.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pctr.0020013

Quality of life in HIV clinical trials: why sexual health must not be ignored – Koole O et al
http://clinicaltrials.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=getdocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pctr.0020008

The paper is aimed at HIV virologists or clinicians who may be called as expert witnesses in criminal HIV transmission cases, as well as professionals working in the criminal justice system. It explains how phylogenetic analysis should and should not be used.

The manner in which phylogenetic analysis has been used in certain cases has however caused widespread concern. The one acquittal to date in criminal prosecutions of HIV transmission came after Dr Anna Maria Geretti, HIV virologist and one of the co-authors of the paper, highlighted serious flaws in the prosecution’s use of phylogenetic analysis.

‘HIV Forensics: The use of phylogenetic analysis as evidence in criminal investigation of HIV transmission’ is available to download from the National AIDS Trust:

http://www.nat.org.uk

or from NAM:

http://www.aidsmap.com

For further information contact Rachael Bruce on 020 7814 6730.

• Utility of week-4 viral response to tailor treatment duration in hepatitis C virus genotype 3/HIV co-infected patients
• Efficacy and safety of TMC114/ritonavir in treatment-experienced HIV patients: 24-week results of POWER 1
• Randomized trial of 2 simplified, class-sparing regimens for HIV after an initial 3- or 4-drug regimen
• Adherence in antiretroviral therapy for HIV: a review of qualitative studies

Summary of articles and other resources:

Summary of articles on clinical care
http://www.medscape.com/viewpublication/880_index

Long-term CD4 response: where you start predicts where you end up

• After 6 years of successful antiretroviral therapy for HIV, the only patients likely to achieve a low-to-normal CD4-cell count were those who had started treatment with CD4s > 350.

Successful antiretroviral therapy eliminates virus from the CSF

• New findings suggest that antiretroviral effects are magnified in the CNS.

Routine testing for HIV infection: new CDC screening recommendations for the US population
http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/hBI8v0HC8BN0D1W0ILt70E6

Antiretroviral treatment and age-related comorbidities in a cohort of older HIV-infected patients
http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/hBI8h0HC8BN0D1P0ILvp0Ej

N. Nagot and others. NEJM – 21 Feb 2007

Synergistic copathogens — HIV-1 and HSV-2
http://click2.nejm.org/cts/click?q=137;185427;Q9LnyzqFa3PN3WoV38ESvrMDGWYfS3vbIq%2B111g2kDQ%3D

L. Corey. NEJM – 21 Feb 2007

Cosmetic interventions for HIV-associated lipoatrophy  -  Graeme J. Moyle
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/548185

Cardiovascular disease prevention in patients with HIV infection  -  Pablo Tebas
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/548184

Managing the Treatment-Experienced Patient  -  Calvin J. Cohen
http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/6406

Issues in Understanding the Resistance Tests  -  Richard Haubrich
http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/6406

Entry Inhibitors  -  Ian Frank
http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/6406

An updated systematic overview of triple combination therapy in antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected – Bartlett JA and colleagues.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/549035_print
Effects of metformin and tosiglitazone in HIV-infected patients with hyperinsulinemia and elevated waist/hip ratio – Kathleen Mulligan J and colleagues.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/549066_print
PLoS Medicine (Volume 3(12) December 2006)

Antiretroviral therapy on intestinal lymphoid tissues in HIV infection  -  Ronald S. Veazey, Andrew A. Lackner
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030515

Lack of mucosal immune reconstitution during prolonged treatment of acute and early HIV-1 infection  -
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030484

Impaired HCV-Specific T cell responses and recurrent HCV in HIV coinfection  -  Kim AY et al.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030492

Cost-effectiveness of male circumcision for HIV prevention in a South African setting  -  Kahn JG et al.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030517

HIV-1 viral load assays for resource-limited settings: clades matter  -  Preiser W et al.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030538

HIV-1 Viral Load Assays for Resource-Limited Settings: Authors’ Reply  -  Susan A. Fiscus
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030550

Enrolling adolescents in research on HIV: young women must be included  -  de Kock A et al.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030537

http://www.who.int/tb/xdr/news_feb07.pdf 180 Kb

• Global task force highlights progress
• German EU Presidency: XDR-TB “one of the highest priority health problems”
• CROI on XDR-TB
• Individual human rights versus public health protection – WHO response
• World TB Day 2007
• Green Light Committee strengthened to improve delivery of second-line drugs
• Related planning, capacity building and investigation efforts

This Special Issue of VAX provides a review of AIDS vaccine clinical trial activity in 2006 and a comprehensive listing of all ongoing trials as of January 2007. Last year 13 new trials of preventive AIDS vaccine candidates started in 8 countries around the world. All were either Phase I or Phase I/II trials designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the candidate vaccines. The Russian Federation began its first AIDS vaccine trial and three countries in sub-Saharan Africa—Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania—initiated new trials.

The map on the inside pages of this issue focuses on these trials as well as countries that started trials in 2003-2005 that are still ongoing.

The accompanying table provides information on all ongoing preventive AIDS vaccine trials.

http://www.iavireport.org/trialsdb

This report highlights the effect of stigma and discrimination in driving people living with HIV into poverty. Hate crime and discrimination not only have a damaging effect on the physical and mental health of people living with HIV, but can also lead to isolation and poverty. Recent research shows that a third of people living with HIV have experienced discrimination.

The report calls for action in tackling the root causes of poverty among people living with HIV, including addressing high levels of hate crime, unemployment and poor housing among people living with HIV.

http://www.crusaid.org.uk/poverty

• Lu: New Antiretrovirals In Development: The View In 2006
• Siegel: New Perspectives In HIV Treatment Interruption: The Smart Study
• Dumond: Understanding Primary And Secondary HIV Prophylaxis
• Liza King: Tb And HIV Coinfection: Current Trends, Diagnosis And Treatment Update
• Alejandra Gonzalez-Duarte: Selected Neurologic Complications Of HIV And Antiretroviral Therapy

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-05-03-02

November 2006

Sexual Transmission of HIV

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kbr-07-02-01

October 2006

Safer Sex Methods

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kbr-07-02-02

HIV Transmission and Prevention in Adolescents

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-00&doc=kb-07-04-03

HIV InSite Overview of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

Core documents, program management tools, and related resources. Updated July 2006

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=pr-rr-10

http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/6286?src=mp

• Management of HIV-associated lipoatrophy: emerging data in clinical context – Andrew Carr
• Cardiovascular disease: prevention in patients with HIV infection – Pablo Tebas
• Cosmetic interventions for HIV-associated lipoatrophy_- Graeme J. Moyle

http://www.iapac.org/home.asp?pid=7567

Presentations include:

IMPLICATIONS OF A DECADE OF HAART

• EuroSIDA: What Do the Numbers Tell Us? – Jens D. Lundgren
• 10 Years of Progress: State of the HAART – Jose M. Zuniga
• Future Directions in HAART – Schlomo Staszewski

NAVIGATING ARV DRUG RESISTANCE

• The Role of Newly Approved and Investigational ARV

Drugs – Jurgen Rockstroh

• Is there a Future for Structured Treatment

Interruptions? – Bernard Hirschel

SOCIOBEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF HIV CARE

• Prevention with Positives – Gus Cairns
• Promoting Adherence to HAART – Carmina Fumaz
• Addressing Substance and Alcohol Abuse in

HIV-Positive Patients – Fabrizio Starace

EMERGING ISSUES IN HIV CARE

• Adolescents and HIV: The Unmet Challenge – Carlo Giaquinto
• Hepatitis B/C Coinfection: Doubling the HIV

Management Challenge – Stefan Mauss

• Putting Non-Occupational PEP Into Practice: What Are The Implications? – Jesus Almeda

The near thousand researchers who gathered at the start of the annual AIDS Vaccine Conference in Amsterdam from 29 August to 1 September were greeted with a spirit of optimism that has become quite unusual for this field. Lawrence Corey of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network in Seattle called 2006 “a vintage year for vaccine development” when he gave a presentation on the AIDS vaccine pipeline at theconference’s opening plenary session.

http://www.iavireport.org/vax/VAXOctober2006.asp#1

The Lancet, Volume 368, Number 9534, 05 August 2006
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue?volume=368&issue=9534

Contents include many articles, opinion and discussion articles in addition to research papers, including

• AIDS in 2006 marks the time to deliver – Gayle HD
• HAART’s first decade: success brings further challenges – Dore GJ, Cooper DA
• Microbicides: stopping HIV at the gate
• HIV/AIDS harm reduction in Iran
• Scaling up antiretroviral treatment in resource-poor settings (3 articles)
• Russia, the G8, and HIV
• Informing children of their HIV status
• ESPRIT trial – 4 letter and authors reply
• Heart disease in Africa

Primary Research

• HIV treatment response and prognosis in Europe and North America in the first decade of highly active antiretroviral therapy
• CD4-guided scheduled treatment interruptions compared with continuous therapy for patients infected with HIV-1
• Durable efficacy of tipranavir-ritonavir in combination with an optimised background regimen of antiretroviral drugs for treatment-experienced HIV-1-infected patients at 48 weeks in the Randomized Evaluation of Strategic Intervention in multi-drug reSistant patients with Tipranavir (RESIST) studies: an analysis of combined data from two randomised open-label trials
• The KLEAN study of fosamprenavir-ritonavir versus lopinavir-ritonavir, each in combination with abacavir-lamivudine, for initial treatment of HIV infection over 48 weeks: a randomised non-inferiority trial

Department of Ethics

• Circumcision and HIV prevention research: an ethical analysis
• AIDS: from crisis management to sustained strategic response – Peter Piot
• An examination of the Global Fund at 5 years

What’s in the Pipeline? New HIV Drugs, Vaccines, Microbicides, HCV and TB Treatments in Clinical Trials

http://www.aidsinfonyc.org/tag/tagline/pipeline2006.pdf

The report summarises the advocacy activities, lessons learned, and next steps. It was ably written by Jeff Hoover and jointly published by OSI’s Public Health Watch and TAG’s TB/HIV Project.

http://www.aidsinfonyc.org/tag/tbhiv/ositagreport.pdf