16 August 2000

Contents

Treatment alerts

• Severe Hypersensitivity Reactions following reintroduction with Ziagen (abacavir sulphate)

Conference reports

• XIII International AIDS Conference, Durban, South Africa, 9-14th July 2000

• Mother-to-child transmission, maternal health and women’s access to care

• The M in MTCT: questions about HIV-positive mothers

• First report of ABT-378/r use in children

• Nelfinavir doses should be increased in infants less than 3 months

• Metabolic and lipodystropy issues: confusion continues to reign

• Switching studies: Can viral load be maintained and metabolic or fat redistribution significantly improved?

• Commentary on STI talk, early entry inhibitor research, increase in viral replication seen in isolates in presence of NNRTIs

• New developments in affordable antiretroviral therapy: intermittent treatment

• Cannabinoids effect on HIV-1 viral load and appetite

• IL-2 without HAART may delay need for antiretroviral treatment

• New potential dual NNRTI-based combinations

• Once-daily protease-based regimens

• Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in semen as surrogate marker for nucleoside analogue toxicity

• Antiretrovirals and fertility – implications for couples looking to conceive

• Incidence of adverse events at 4 weeks correlates with adherence and virologic failure at 4 months

• Prednisone and nevirapine rash

• The prevalence of hypogonadism in HIV positive patients receiving HAART

• Human papilloma virus and HIV

Antiretrovirals

• European drug approvals: amprenavir, ddI EC, Trizivr and Kaletra

Treatment access

• $1bn drug deal creates debt for “tomorrow’s AIDS orphans”

Basic science and immunology

• Maintenance of large numbers of virus-specific CD8+ T cells in HIV-infected progressors and long-term nonprogressors

On the web

• Evaluating structured treatment interruptions: rationale, experience, potential risks and benefits