October 2003

Contents

Editorial

• Volume 4 Number 8 October 2003

Treatment alerts

• Important new pharmacokinetic data for atazanavir sulfate (Reyataz) in combination with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Viread)

Conference reports

• 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), 14-17 September 2003, Chicago

• South African AIDS Conference, 3-6 August 2003, Durban

• Township project is a model for care in resource poor settings

• Projects band together to buy lowest-cost generic drugs

• MTCT-Plus operates in Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda and Zambia

• Further reports from 2nd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, Paris, 13-16 July 2003

• New atazanavir information

• Boosted PI therapy antiretrovirals in treatment-experienced patients: SQV/r, ATV, ATV/r

• HIV viral dynamics: viral fitness, genetic diversity, progression, co-receptor use

• Pulmonary hypertension: finally a treatment trial!

Treatment strategies

• Treatment interruption shows no benefit in drug-resistant HIV infection

Treatment access

• South Africa delays deregistering nevirapine

• Disagreement greets a new deal on patent protection and generic drugs for poor countries

• TRIPS agreement will not save lives

• Joint statement by 14 NGOs dismisses TRIPS deal as a ‘gift bound in red tape’

• An activist’s view from the WTO meeting in Cancun

• South African cabinet rules that public hospitals should provide ARVs

• Indian government taken to court over lack of treatment

Pregnancy

• Postnatal transmission of HIV to breastfed infants following short course ZDV regimen

• Subtype differences in mother to child transmission

• Influence of mothers’ health and survival on children’s survival

Paediatric care

• Higher than currently recommended NVP dose shows greater efficacy in HIV-infected children

Guidelines

• British 2003 HIV treatment guidelines are published online

Side effects

• Testosterone therapy prevents loss of lean body mass, improves mood and libido in HIV positive women and increases bone mineral density in HIV positive men

• Only time with HIV infection and not specific antiretroviral therapy is associated with decreased bone mineral density

Lipodystrophy and metabolic complications

• New guidelines for the evaluation and management of dyslipidaemia in HIV patients on HAART (2003)

• Treatments for lipoatrophy. Are there improvements? Are they noticeable?

• Rosiglitazone significantly increases triglyceride and cholesterol levels and does not improve HAART-associated lipoatrophy

• US approves and Europe rejects Serostim (recombinant growth hormone) for treatment of HIV-related wasting

Hepatitis coinfection

• Time on anti-HIV therapy is a protective factor for liver fibrosis in HIV-HCV coinfected patients

• HIV-HCV co-infected patients have poorer response to HCV therapy

TB coinfection

• CDC study shows rifampin/pyrazinamide therapy can cause severe liver damage

Basic science and immunology

• IL-2 induced increases in CD4 counts are blunted by use of prednisone

Other news

• Impact of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa on the pattern of HIV in the UK

• Dutch pharmacies sell medical marijuana

On the web

• Conferences and guidelines

• Medscape articles

• Journal articles

• HIV inSite: HIV Knowledge Database

• Online medical lectures

• Other websites

PDFs

• Volume 4 Number 8 October 2003 PDF