February 2004

Contents

Editorial

• Volume 5 Number 1/2 February/March 2004

Antiretrovirals

• Abbott raises price of ritonavir in the US by over 400%

• Development of T-1249 put on hold

• Tenofovir/abacavir/3TC triple-nuke fails as maintenance regimen

• New data on viral load ‘blips’ and the link to replication

• Invirase and Fortovase: new dosing regimens approved by FDA

• UK named-patient access to tipranavir

• FDA labelling changes for indinavir (Crixivan)

Treatment access

• Global Fund awards bring total to $2.1bn and supply ARVs to 700,000 people

• Commentary: The Global Fund and treatment access in Latin America – a critical view

• Commentary: China starts long march against HIV

• WHO guidelines for use of ARVs in resource-poor settings

• Millions will benefit after GSK and BI license generic manufacturers to produce AZT, lamivudine and nevirapine

• Scaling up treatment access risks damaging national health systems, says WHO/UK report

Paediatric care

• Should treatment be started in all newborns infected with HIV?

• Tenofovir levels in children approach adult values

• Study suggests paediatric dose of emtricitabine (FTC)

• HIV production in children with “undetectable” viral load

• Host genetic factors are important in disease progression in children

Diagnostics

• US approves 10-minute HIV test

• Rapid HIV tests offer economic advantages and convenience

• Use of total lymphocyte count (TLC) for monitoring response to antiretroviral therapy

Side effects

• Importance of dietary management in treating lipid disorders: soy diets may offer comparable effect as statins

Lipodystrophy and metabolic complications

• Human histology and persistence of various injectable filler substances for soft tissue augmentation

Coinfections and complications

• Treating oral hairy leukoplakia with high dose valacyclovir

• Stem-cell transplants help beat lymphoma

Hepatitis coinfection

• London study finds sexual and intranasal transmission of HCV

• HCV-coinfection is associated with diabetes and CD4 decline

Other news

• Controversy surrounds British health plans for visitors to the UK

• Doctors warn of death toll from silent epidemic of hepatitis C

On the web

• WHO guidelines for use of ARVs in resource-poor settings

• Conferences and guidelines

• Vaccine research

• Journal articles available online

• Online medical lectures

• Coinfection

• Newsletters and reports

PDFs

• Volume 5 Number 1/2 February/March 2004 PDF