May 26, 2011

• HIV Treatment & Complications
• HIV News & Views

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

Rilpivirine (Edurant) Approved: The Antiretroviral Dating Game Just Got More Interesting
The HIV antiretroviral family just welcomed its first new member in three years: rilpivirine (Edurant), an NNRTI indicated for use in treatment-naive patients. We talked with Cal Cohen, M.D., about what makes this drug unique, what adverse events and other concerns to watch out for, and how this drug is likely to factor into the "what to start with" equation.


Major New Study Yields Another Win for Early Antiretroviral Therapy -- and "Treatment as Prevention"
The HPTN Study 052 has found that HIV-infected patients who initiate antiretroviral therapy reduce their risk of transmitting HIV to their uninfected partner by 96%. What does this mean for the future of treatment -- and prevention? Paul Sax, M.D., considers the ramifications of this landmark study, and raises some questions about the research that have yet to be answered.


More Headlines on HIV Treatment & Complications:

• Fair Pricing Coalition Expresses Dismay at the Price of Merck's Newly Approved Hepatitis C Drug (From the Fair Pricing Coalition)
• The 2011 Hepatitis C Treatment Pipeline Report (From Treatment Action Group)
• Lipid, Lipoprotein Profiles Suggest Lopinavir/Ritonavir May Pose Lower Cardiovascular Risk Than Believed (From AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses)
• Anal Pap Screening of HIV-Infected Men Reveals Half Have Abnormal Cells (From HIVandHepatitis)
• Study Ties Atazanavir to Greater Kidney Stone Risk (From aidsmap.com)
• Rate of HIV Treatment Failure Higher Among Children Than Adults, Study Finds (From the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

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Doctors: Tell the FDA: PrEP is "No Magic Pill"
Gilead Sciences Inc. is prematurely pushing to gain FDA approval to market Truvada as an HIV prevention pill -- despite a low 44% effectiveness rate. According to a paper published by the American Journal of Public Health, more study is needed to ensure patient safety and the public's health. Sign on NOW to an e-letter urging the FDA NOT to consider approval of Truvada as PrEP until further studies are completed.

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Dear Uncle Sam: Why Won't You Pay More for Your Own Citizens' HIV Treatment?
A recent New York Times op-ed piece did something very rare: It focused on the challenges faced by people within the U.S. in getting access to the HIV treatment they need. Elizabeth Lombino hails the thoughtful op-ed and shares the concerns it raises: "If our nation continues to treat people living with HIV/AIDS in this way, we will no doubt repeat the mistakes of the epidemic early on."


Wanna Get Intimate? Sign Here, Please.
"For Tracy Johnson, 22 and HIV positive, romance often begins at a karaoke bar," Housing Works reports. "He's at ease until it's time for the first kiss -- that's when he leans in, pulls out the document and asks the object of his affection to sign, indicating he's shared that he has HIV. That piece of paper, he believes, could save him from years behind bars if a partner ever alleges that he didn't disclose his status."


Change Is Coming: A Primer for U.S. HIV/AIDS Service Organizations
"Between today and 2014 there will be a total transformation of how HIV/AIDS prevention and care is provided in America. Are you ready?" Paul Kawata, Executive Director of the National Minority AIDS Council, asks. In this recent message to the HIV/AIDS community, he outlines the changes on the horizon and offers advice on how HIV/AIDS service organizations can prepare.


More Headlines on HIV Treatment & Complications:

• Two Ohio HIV/AIDS Organizations Merge to Survive in Economy (From TheBody.com's News Digest)
• Progress on Global HIV Treatment Access Is "Fragile," Says Medecins sans Frontieres Report (From aidsmap.com)
• In Kenya, Outrage Over U.S. Group's "Cash for Contraception" Offer to HIV-Positive Women (From PlusNews)
• Utah AIDS Drug Assistance Program Closing to New Applicants (From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

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This Positive Life Video Series: An Interview with Efrain Carrasquillo
In 1990, Efrain Carrasquillo, then 25 years old, believed that HIV was not a heterosexual man's issue. Then he tested positive. For five years, he only disclosed to his immediate family, refused to date and lived in silence about his diagnosis. But once he found the courage to disclose to others, his life completely turned around -- as his loving wife and children can attest.


Professor Poz: Not Your Everyday HIV/AIDS Researcher
"One of the first things you notice about Francisco Ibáñez-Carrasco, 47, is the multicoloured fish tattoo on his neck. In his early twenties, getting inked was his way of side-stepping a boring, conventional life," Jennifer McPhee writes for CATIE. "Inspiring the next generation of HIV researchers at the [Canadian] national training program Universities Without Walls, he tells up-and-coming scientists that they probably won't get rich studying HIV, but they'll never be bored."


Brooke Davidoff: I Don't Have Time to Be Sick
"I'm supposed to go every 3 months to a doctor for labs. My last doctor appointment was all the way back in October, and it's currently May. ... Full-time work, part-time mom and wife = NO free time." Blogger Brooke Davidoff has been so busy lately that she can't even ensure she gets the basic HIV care she needs. How can an overworked, HIV-positive mom find the time to care for herself?

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HIV Treatment Reduces Sexual Transmission Risk to Partner by 96%, Study Finds
Newly released results from a major clinical trial could reignite support for a "test and treat" approach to HIV prevention, in which everyone living in a given area is aggressively tested for HIV, and those who are diagnosed are urged to immediately start taking HIV antiretrovirals so as to greatly reduce the risk of unknowingly transmitting the virus to others.


Q&A: Errol Fields on Young, Black, Gay Men and Perceptions of HIV Risk
Recently, a U.S. study found that young, black men who have sex with men (MSM) prefer "masculine" men as partners, and believe that such partners are less likely to have HIV. Some members of the media and the LGBT community have used those results to make sweeping generalizations about black MSM. We sat down with the lead author of the study, Errol Fields, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., to address these misconceptions regarding masculinity and HIV risk.


Sexual Transmission of HCV Among MSM: Assessing the Dangers
Research shows that hepatitis C (HCV) may be transmitted sexually, especially among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM). This article from the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange examines the evidence that HCV can be transmitted sexually and explores why HIV-infected MSM appear to be at higher risk.


More Headlines on HIV/STD Transmission:

• Baton Rouge, La., Has Second Highest HIV/AIDS Rate in the U.S. (From TheBody.com's News Digest)
• Mead Over: Still No Reason to Stall Male Circumcision, Forget the HIV Vaccine or Throw Away Your Condoms (From the Center for Global Development)
• Teens Often Willing to Accept Free or Low-Cost Rapid HIV Testing (From TheBody.com's HIV/AIDS News Digest)
• Antibodies Found to Help Protect Monkeys From SIV, Potentially Opening New Avenue in Vaccine Development (From the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

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