March 21, 2012

• HIV Care Today
• HIV News & Views

• HIV/STD Transmission & Education
• The Patient Perspective: Featured on TheBody.com

CROI 2012 Really Rapid Review
Paul Sax, M.D., shares this quick and completely subjective (yet deeply informative) list of highlights from the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012), which took place earlier this month in Seattle, Wash.


State of ART at CROI: New Concepts and New Integrase Inhibitors
"HIV drugs in development may no longer command a lion's share of CROI as they once did, but sessions devoted to new antiretrovirals and promising paths for HIV treatment are still filled to bursting," reports Ben Young, M.D., Ph.D.


HIV Treatment Update From CROI 2012 (Video)
IFARA brings you this interview with Cal Cohen, M.D., and Richard Ellion, M.D., on noteworthy CROI presentations highlighting new research on HIV antiretrovirals in development, the treatment of HIV/HCV coinfection, and metabolic complications and malignancies in people with HIV.


Some Patients Develop Spontaneous Control of HIV After Short-Term HAART During Acute Infection
Case reports suggest that HAART initiated immediately after infection and continued for only one to two years may allow a small number of patients to maintain immunologic control of HIV infection for years after discontinuing treatment.


Breakthroughs in HIV/HCV-Coinfection Treatment Shine at CROI 2012
"Hepatitis C treatment for with HIV is the Wild West of drug discovery," writes Ben Young, M.D., Ph.D., from CROI 2012. "Unless one closely follows the major research conferences, it's easy for practicing clinicians to be bewildered and run over by the veritable stampede of clinical studies and findings."


More Headlines on HIV Care and Antiretroviral Therapy:

• Hepatitis C and the "Retooling" of HIV/ID Specialists (From "HIV Care Today" on TheBodyPRO.com)
• Psoriasis Linked to Protection From HIV-1 Progression (From Scientific American)
• HIV Speeds Lung Function Decline in Cohort of Smokers (From AIDSmeds)
• Controversy Regarding Strategic Treatment Interruptions in Young Children Who Start ART During Infancy (From aidsmap)
• Kaposi's Sarcoma in Africa: People With Low CD4 Counts Still at Risk Despite ART (From aidsmap)

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India Issues "Compulsory License" Legalizing Generic Drugs; Could Have Implications for HIV Treatment Access
India's Patent Office has set an important new precedent in generic drug access: This week, it said that a local generic drug maker could legally make and sell a generic form of a patented anti-cancer medication. The move could ultimately have a huge impact on generic HIV medication access as well.


When Will Male HIV/AIDS Leaders Make Women and Girls a Priority?
"We are drowning in a culture that seriously devalues women, and unfortunately, the HIV/AIDS movement is part of that same culture," our news editor Kellee Terrell writes. "I challenge male leaders to stop with the sappy pseudo-empowering rhetoric about how women and girls can overcome this epidemic and how our voices really do matter."


Aless Piper: Flaming Red's Social Media Toolkit
"I truly believe that there is absolutely no reason why someone who wants to be involved, should not be involved in some way," writes HIV/AIDS activist Aless Piper. "Likewise, I believe that there is absolutely no reason for [HIV/AIDS organizations] to not be present and accounted for on social media."


More News & Views Headlines:

• Photos: A Glimpse Inside CROI 2012 (On TheBody.com's Facebook Page)
• When HIV Privacy Goes Too Far: Massachusetts' HIV Testing Records (From Short White Coat)
• AIDS Advocacy Groups Ask Obama to Reconsider FY13 Budget Request for PEPFAR (From the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
• Massachusetts Senate Passes HIV Law Change Requiring Only Verbal Consent for Testing (From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• WHO Reports More Than 900,000 Lives Saved Because of HIV/TB Care and Prevention Guidelines, Releases Updated Version (From the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

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PrEP Grabs Spotlight at CROI 2012; Focus on Importance of Adherence
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains a promising avenue for HIV prevention, but ensuring adequate adherence is proving to be a particular challenge. Researchers with the FEM-PrEP study are among several to present data highlighting this challenge.


Update on HIV Vaccines and Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies (Video)
In this interview from IFARA, Dennis Burton, Ph.D., offers his sense of where we are today and where we're going in work around broadly neutralizing antibodies and HIV vaccines.


More Headlines on HIV/STD Transmission:

• HIV Superinfections May Happen as Often as First Infections (From HIVandHepatitis.com)
• South Africa: Circumcision Tied to Drop in Herpes, Too (From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Researchers May Have Spotted Evidence of Ongoing Animal-to-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transfer (From aidsmap)

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Join the "Write a Letter to HIV" Campaign
"I've decided to write a letter expressing my feelings about HIV and I'm asking YOU to join me," blogger Justin B. Terry-Smith writes. "If you're infected or affected by HIV, I'm asking that you write a letter and then videotape yourself reading the letter aloud. It helps sometimes to get your feelings out."


Jamar Rogers: The Story Behind the Voice
On Feb. 6, Jamar Rogers shared his HIV-positive status with millions of viewers as a prospective contestant on NBC's performance competition show The Voice. In this inspiring interview with POZIAM Radio, Jamar opens up about everything from his HIV diagnosis to being part of the show's cast.


Khafre Abif: The Power of Words
"Cornbread, Fish and Collard Greens: Prayers, Poems & Affirmation for People Living with HIV/AIDS has received submissions from Africa, America, Europe and South America. ... Share the campaign with your family, friends and your social network. All the tools are there."


B. Osten: The Day I Was Diagnosed With HIV
"Like many of my generation, the answer to HIV and AIDS was 'Don't ask. Don't tell.' I never thought the reality of it would hit so close to home," recalls blogger B. Osten. "Reflecting back, the telltale signs of the disease were in plain sight. I guess I just refused to see it."

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