HIV & AIDS

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Unequal HIV Prevention Pill Use Puts Minority Men at Higher Risk

Fewer minority men who are at risk for HIV take a prevention pill or discuss it with their doctors, U.S. researchers say. Awareness of a pill for “preexposure prophylaxis,” or PrEP, is high for all groups of men who have sex with men. But lower proportions of black and Hispanic men, compared with white men, have actually gotten prescriptions for the drug, which is 99 percent effective at preventing HIV transmission, the study team found. Based on interviews, researchers found the disparities emerge at the point of having a discussion about PrEP with a healthcare provider. This suggests doctors can […]

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Yearly HIV Infections in San Francisco Drop to 197

Every year, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) publishes a comprehensive report on HIV incidence and prevalence in the city, showing HIV trends to guide the public health response. Continuing a downward trend since the peak of the HIV epidemic in the 1990s, the most recent report with 2018 data shares a historic milestone reached by the city: Fewer than 200 HIV diagnoses occurred in San Francisco. A total of 197 people were diagnosed with HIV last year in San Francisco. This is a 13% decline from 227 diagnoses made in 2017, and a 62% decline from 523 infections ten […]

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What do people think of long-acting HIV meds?

Over the years, HIV has evolved into a chronic condition necessitating life-long medication. Now, researchers are studying the efficacy and acceptability of long-acting HIV medications that may keep thevirus under control for a month or longer. Can long-acting therapies provide an alternative to daily dosing? And, what do people who stand to benefit from this way of dosing think about the possibility of not having to take daily oral medications? “HIV has been part of my life for 33 or 34 years, and medication for almost 20,” said Efrén Solanas, a long-term survivor in the Bay Area. “I’ve been taking […]

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There’s No Scientific Evidence a ‘Gay Gene’ Exists

Publication of the largest-ever study of the roles of genes in homosexual behavior is fanning the debate over whether being gay is due to genes or environment.  First reported at a genetics conference in 2018, the study found five genetic variants associated with having a same-sex sexual partner (SN: 10/20/18). But those variants, called SNPs, don’t predict people’s sexual behavior, researchers report in the Aug. 30 Science.  “There is no ‘gay gene’ that determines whether someone has same-sex partners,” says Andrea Ganna, a geneticist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the University of Helsinki.  Family studies have suggested that genetics account […]

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Islatravir: A potential PrEP & HIV drug now being tested

There’s a new antiretroviral, from a new class of medication, currently being tested for both PrEP and HIV treatment. Named islatravir (formerly MK-8591), this Merck drug is showing promise as part of a novel drug delivery system and because of its long half-life, great potency and high barrier for resistance. Two presentations at the IAS 2019 conference in July shared Phase 2 study data on islatravir. Randolph Matthews, MD, PhD shared research of islatravir delivered through an under-the-skin implant, to test drug delivery at concentrations needed for the prevention of HIV. Professor Jean-Michel Molina, from Paris Diderot University, shared results from a […]

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FDA Backs Gilead’s HIV Prevention Drug Descovy for Use as PrEP

An FDA advisory panel on Wednesday voted in favor of Gilead Sciences Inc’s combination drug to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV infection in men and transgender women who have sex with men. The treatment, Descovy, is a combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide, and is already approved to treat chronic HIV. When asked to assess the efficacy of Descovy for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of HIV in men and transgender women who have sex with men, a patient population that forms the largest component of the PrEP market, the panel voted 16-2 in favor. Related NBC OUT Generic HIV […]

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Undetectable = Untransmittable: An Encouragement to Treat HIV and Stigma Buster

In 1985, I was working in an STD clinic in Nashville, Tennessee, and was one of two HIV counselors doing pre-test and post-test counseling for people most likely getting the very first HIV test of their lives. There were NO anti-HIV medications available at that time, and the only ounce of hope you could impart to these newly infected people was that there appeared to be more HIV-positive (POZ) people not yet ill  than there were POZ persons who were having symptoms.  In 1985, untreated POZ people most likely had VERY high HIV viral loads (high amounts of active HIV virus in the […]

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U.N. Wants More Urgency in AIDS Fight as Gains and Funding Fade

The global fight against AIDS is stalling due to lower investment, marginalized communities missing vital health services, and new HIV infections rising in some parts, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. More than half of all new HIV infections in 2018 were among sex workers, drug users, men who have sex with men, transgender people, prisoners and the sexual partners of these groups, according to a report by UNAIDS. Many of those populations did not get access to infection prevention services, it said. Progress in some countries has been “impressive,” the U.N. body’s report said, but others are seeing rising […]

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New Policies to Improve PrEP Access

As pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) gains acceptance, medical experts and policymakers are finding new ways to make this effective HIV prevention tool accessible to more people who could benefit. Last month the California Senate passed a bill that will allow pharmacists to provide PrEP and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) without a prescription. And in June, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that health care providers offer PrEP to people at risk of acquiring HIV, paving the way for broader insurance coverage. PrEP at the Pharmacy SB 159, co-authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), […]

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Man Serving 30 Years for Failing to Disclose his HIV Status Released

A man serving 30 years for not disclosing his HIV status to sexual partners has been released 25 years earlier. Former college wrestler Michael ‘Tiger Mandingo’ Johnson left Boonville’s prison, Missouri, yesterday (9 July). In 2013, Johnson was the protagonist of what many defined a racially charged trial. His case was also one of the most relevant in the ongoing discussion about the criminalization of HIV transmission. Criminalizing transmission ‘I feel great,’ Johnson told BuzzFeed as he left Boonville Correctional Center. ‘Leaving prison is such a great feeling.’ Police arrested Johnson, a black man, for ‘recklessly’ transmitting HIV to two men and exposing four […]

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