IAS 2013

aidsmap news from IAS 2013

• Loss of kidney function in older people with HIV underlines need for earlier treatment

  Kidney problems
  Michael Carter | 10 September 2013

  Kidney function deteriorates more rapidly in older people with HIV than in age-matched controls in both untreated and treated people, suggesting that antiretroviral therapy should be started soon after diagnosis with ...

• HIV/HCV co-infected people can do well on hepatitis C triple therapy despite contraindications

  Hepatitis C treatment
  Liz Highleyman | 22 July 2013

  Nearly three-quarters of HIV/HCV co-infected patients in the French HEPAVIH cohort achieved end-of-treatment virological response to hepatitis C treatment with telaprevir plus pegylated interferon/ribavirin, even though one-third had potential contraindications to this type ...

• Genetic testing lowers risk of nevirapine skin rash

  Side-effects
  Liz Highleyman | 15 July 2013

  Screening for genetic mutations could substantially reduce the risk of hypersensitivity reactions involving skin rash among people starting nevirapine, according to a late-breaker report at the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, ...

• Vaccination could prevent infection with anal cancer-associated HPV strains in older gay men

  Cancer
  Michael Carter | 15 July 2013

  A large number of infections with anal cancer-associated strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) among older gay men could be prevented with the use of HPV vaccines, Australian research presented to the recent 7th ...

• Male circumcision: the message is catching on, but scale-up poses monitoring and follow-up problems

  Circumcision
  Gus Cairns | 15 July 2013

  Programmes offering voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as part of HIV prevention are now starting to expand in a number countries in sub-Saharan Africa, delegates at the recent 7th International AIDS Society Conference ...

• Text messages to mothers improve early infant HIV diagnosis rates in Kenya and Mozambique

  Diagnosing children
  Carole Leach-Lemens | 10 July 2013

  Use of text messaging significantly improved the rate of early infant diagnosis (EID) among HIV-positive pregnant women enrolled in a prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme in Kenya, researchers reported in a poster ...

• 'Option B+' women are at increased risk of loss to follow-up after starting HIV treatment

  Retention and linkage to care
  Lesley Odendal | 10 July 2013

  Women who begin HIV treatment during pregnancy, or while breastfeeding, prior to the CD4 cell threshold previously recommended for starting treatment (350 cells), were significantly more likely to be lost to follow-up than ...

• Kidney problems linked to tenofovir use, improve with switch to abacavir

  Kidney problems
  Liz Highleyman | 10 July 2013

  Indian people with HIV taking tenofovir had a higher rate of kidney impairment than westerners, according to a study presented at the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention ...

• Stigma, delay and misunderstanding slow access to ART in Africa

  Access to medicines and treatment
  Gus Cairns | 10 July 2013

  Three presentations at the recent 7th International AIDS Society conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention from different parts of Africa looked in turn at the potential impact on the HIV epidemic of ...

• Scientists and clinicians must challenge HIV-related stigma and ensure enabling legal and policy environments, IAS conference hears

  Human rights
  Edwin J. Bernard | 09 July 2013

  Scientists should not only create knowledge to improve the HIV epidemic, they also have a duty to speak out about human rights abuses and ensure that access to effective, high quality HIV prevention, ...

• Efavirenz in children: WHO dosing guidelines raise the risk of side-effects in Thai children

  HIV treatment for children and young people
  Carole Leach-Lemens | 09 July 2013

  Taking efavirenz according to 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines ensures a higher proportion of children with HIV have drug levels in the blood above recommended therapeutic levels (1mg/L) compared to the ...

• Non-African middle-income countries pay four times more for ARVs than African middle-income countries

  Access to medicines and treatment
  Lesley Odendal | 09 July 2013

  Middle-income countries outside Africa are paying, on average, four times more for antiretrovirals than African countries with similar gross national incomes (GNI), according to a study presented last week at the 7th International AIDS Society ...

• Darunavir/ritonavir safe and effective for younger children

  HIV treatment for children and young people
  Carole Leach-Lemens | 09 July 2013

  Over 80% of treatment-experienced children with HIV aged three to six years from ten sites in Argentina, Brazil, India, Kenya and South Africa receiving darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) with an optimised background regimen were virologically ...

• Lower-dose lopinavir/ritonavir reduces side-effects, maintains viral control in Thai children

  HIV treatment for children and young people
  Carole Leach-Lemens | 09 July 2013

  Low dose lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) – 70% of the standard dose – worked as well as standard dose in maintaining viral suppression and with less dyslipidaemia in children with HIV in Thailand, Dr Puthanakit ...

• Magical thinking? FEM-PrEP trial may have failed because participants used testing as prevention

  PrEP science
  Gus Cairns | 09 July 2013

  While the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2013) featured news from two trials of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that had positive results, it also featured an analysis of ...

• Malaysia’s harm reduction programmes are preventing infections and saving money, but reaching far too few people who inject drugs

  Harm reduction
  Roger Pebody | 09 July 2013

  An expansion of methadone maintenance and needle exchange programmes in Malaysia, a conservative Muslim country not previously noted for its liberal policies on drug use, has already averted around 3000 HIV infections and ...

• Fibroscan accurately predicts liver decompensation and death in HIV/HCV co-infected people

  Hepatitis C symptoms and diagnosis
  Liz Highleyman | 08 July 2013

  The non-invasive transient elastometry method of estimating liver damage may be a better way to predict which people co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C will progress to decompensated liver cirrhosis and death, researchers ...

• Studies look at bone changes during second-line therapy, fractures, and HIV- and HCV-related bone loss

  Bone and joint problems
  Liz Highleyman | 08 July 2013

  People with HIV experience less bone loss if they switch to a NRTI-sparing second-line regimen containing raltegravir, researchers reported last week at the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and ...

• Strategies to detect and treat MSM with acute infection may be a powerful tool to control HIV epidemics

  HIV prevention policy
  Roger Pebody | 06 July 2013

  The detection and control of acute (very recent) HIV infection may be a powerful HIV prevention measure in HIV epidemics in men who have sex with men (MSM), Eugène Kroon of the ...

• Long-acting GSK1265744 and TMC278-LA appear safe and practical in early study

  New and experimental HIV treatments
  Liz Highleyman | 05 July 2013

  A combination of antiretroviral drugs in long-acting nanosuspension formulations achieved adequate blood levels and appeared safe in HIV-negative study volunteers, offering the potential for a maintenance or PrEP option that could be taken once ...