Antiretroviral Therapy News

• The Changing Brain Signature of HIV Potent anti-HIV therapy has been accompanied by a shift in the profile of HIV-related brain abnormalities beyond the basal ganglia, frequently implicated in the pre-cART era, to limbic structures.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2021
• Many Health Plans Must Cover Full Cost of HIV Prevention Drugs Starting this month, most people with private insurance will no longer have to decide whether they can afford to protect themselves against HIV.
  Kaiser Health News, January 06, 2021
• Vaginal Microbiota Can Affect HIV PrEP Drug Metabolism Vaginal microbes associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV) metabolize drugs used in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at different rates, which could explain why PrEP is less effective in women than in men, new findings suggest.
  Reuters Health Information, December 25, 2020
• Drug Combo Injection Every 8 Weeks Safe, Effective in HIV: Study Cabotegravir plus rilpivirine given by injection every 8 weeks appeared to be a promising new therapeutic option for people living with HIV at the 48-week mark in the ATLAS-2M trial.
  Reuters Health Information, December 23, 2020
• HIV Generic Drug for Babies to Be Rolled Out in Africa in 2021: Aid Agencies A strawberry-flavoured tablet for children living with HIV will be rolled out in African countries in 2021, the first generic pediatric version of a key anti-retroviral available even for babies, aid agencies said on Tuesday, World AIDS Day.
  Reuters Health Information, December 01, 2020
• Many Title X Clinics in Southern US Refer Young Women Elsewhere for PrEP More than a third of Title X family planning clinics in the southern US don't provide any services related to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care, a recent study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, November 25, 2020
• IDSA Updates COVID Guidelines for Antibodies, Antivirals, Others Infectious disease experts critically review evidence for use of bamlanivimab, address new data on remdesivir and tocilizumab, and comment on new findings for the Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine.
  Medscape Medical News, November 23, 2020
• ANAC 2020 HIV PrEP Prescriptions Often Go Unfilled In communities most vulnerable to HIV, pre-exposure prophylaxis could fill the gap. But handing people a prescription isn't enough to make sure they are protected.
  Medscape Medical News, November 17, 2020
• ANAC 2020 Escalate HIV Adherence Strategies Amid COVID-19 As comprehensive HIV clinics move to telehealth, evidence suggests that virtual visits may not be enough for some patients.
  Medscape Medical News, November 12, 2020
• IDWeek 2020 Aging With HIV Adds to Comorbidity Burden Although the life expectancy of persons with HIV has approached that of noninfected persons, the higher burden of comorbidities for aging patients with HIV has remained largely the same.
  Medscape Medical News, November 06, 2020
• USCA 2020 HIV PrEP Referrals Lag for Black MSM, Trans Adults Despite Black and transgender adults being at highest risk for HIV in the US, state health departments struggle to refer them for HIV prevention services.
  Medscape Medical News, October 30, 2020
• IDWeek 2020 Shared Decision-Making Aids Choice of PrEP A patient-centered approach can help guide people at risk for HIV exposure to decide on the best choice of pre-exposure prophylaxis regimens, stifling the noise of direct-to-consumer advertising.
  Medscape Medical News, October 28, 2020
• USCA 2020 Holistic Care, Universal First-Line HIV ART Speed Care Clinicians at Boston Medical Center (BMC) are sending newly diagnosed patients home with first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) before they even see a physician.
  Medscape Medical News, October 28, 2020
• IDWeek 2020 TDF Preferred in PrEP for Blacks and Women, Studies Indicate "I think when we're comparing these two drugs overall, we have a clear benefit/risk, and we need to take both of these potential toxicities seriously," said a pharmacology researcher at ID Week2020.
  Medscape Medical News, October 27, 2020
• Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors Unlikely to Cause Birth Defects in HIV-Positive Pregnant Women HIV-positive pregnant women taking integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) don't seem to be at significantly greater risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, researchers say.
  Reuters Health Information, October 23, 2020
• USCA 2020 HIV Testing Meets COVID-19, and the News Isn't All Bad Stay-at-home orders are not HIV risk-reduction orders. This is how Houston, Texas, is adjusting.
  Medscape Medical News, October 22, 2020
• HIV Drugs Prevent Type 2 Diabetes, May Be Path to New Therapy An analysis of five databases shows that the NRTIs used to treat HIV and hepatitis B infection are able to prevent diabetes by blocking inflammasone activation; discovery may pave way for new therapeutics.
  Medscape Medical News, October 22, 2020
• HIV Glasgow 2020 Four-Week, 8-Week CAB/RPV Injections Safe, Effective in Women Both the 8-week and 4-week treatment groups of women with HIV receiving cabotegravir and rilpivirine reported increased treatment satisfaction, and more than 90% achieved HIV-1 RNA below 50 copies/mL.
  Medscape Medical News, October 15, 2020
• HIV Glasgow 2020 Heterosexual Men Likely to Have Unmet HIV Treatment Needs Among those with HIV, both women and men who have sex with women reported more side effects with antiretroviral therapy and more difficulty talking to providers about other health issues.
  Medscape Medical News, October 13, 2020
• HIV Glasgow 2020 Being HIV Positive Increases Risk of Death From COVID-19 In a cohort of 115 patients, HIV-positive status was associated with a 63% increased risk of day 28 mortality following hospitalization for COVID-19.
  Medscape Medical News, October 13, 2020
• HIV Glasgow 2020 Switch to Integrase Inhibitor Regimen Safe and Effective Virologic suppression was comparable and bone mineral density and renal function levels improved compared with a standard protease inhibitor-based regimen.
  Medscape Medical News, October 13, 2020