HIV & AIDS

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US Government Gives Top Rating to PrEP and Self-testing HIV Kits

LGBTI advocates have welcomed new US government recommendations on PrEP and HIV testing. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) finalized its rating for PrEP, giving it an ‘A’ rating. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a proven HIV preventative treatment. The USPSTF also gave an ‘A’ rating to routine, voluntary HIV screening for people aged 15 to 65, all pregnant women, and people at high risk of acquiring HIV. The Affordable Care Act requires private insurers to cover preventive services recommended by the USPSTF with a grade of A or B with no cost-sharing. LGBTI advocacy group, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said the rating will […]

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Trump Administration Restricts HIV Testing and Research with New Policy

On Wednesday (5 June), the Trump Administration implemented a new policy ending research done by government scientists using fetal tissue. This severely limits research done on HIV. According to the Washington Post, the Administration also canceled a university’s multi-million dollar laboratory contract. The university used fetal tissue in testing new HIV treatments. ‘Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration,’ the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement. The tissue used in such research comes from elective abortions. Many scientists and researchers say there are no other alternative approaches […]

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AIDS Drugs Prevent Sexual Transmission of HIV in Gay Men, Study Finds

A European study of nearly 1,000 gay male couples who had sex without condoms — where one partner had HIV and was taking antiretroviral drugs to suppress it — has found the treatment can prevent sexual transmission of the virus. After eight years of follow-up of the so-called serodifferent couples, the study found no cases at all of HIV transmission within couples. The study proves, the researchers said, that using antiretroviral therapy to suppress the AIDS virus to undetectable levels also means it cannot be passed on via sex, the researchers said. “Our findings provide conclusive evidence for gay men […]

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Scientists Develop All-in-one Approach that ‘Kicks and Kills’ HIV

Scientists have developed an all-in-one immunotherapy approach in a bid to ‘cure’ HIV. University of Pittsburgh researchers say they have developed a way to ‘kick’ HIV cells hiding in the immune system. And not only does it kick it out of hiding, the approach also kills it. No clinical trials have taken place yet. However, researchers say this is an exciting step to one day developing a vaccine. New all-in-one approach that ‘kicks and kills’ HIV (Photo: rawpixel | Unsplash) Robbie Mailliard, assistant professor of infectious diseases and microbiology, said it was ‘promising’. ‘A lot of scientists are trying to develop […]

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Doctors Achieve First ever HIV Positive Organ Donation

For the first time, doctors transplanted an organ from an HIV positive donor to an HIV positive recipient. Surgeons at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, a research university in Baltimore, Maryland, undertook the medical breakthrough. They transplanted a kidney from Nina Martinez, 35, to an anonymous recipient. With the successful operation on Monday (25 March), from which both patients are recovering, the recipient is free of kidney dialysis for the first time in a year. ‘Society perceives me and people like me as people who bring death,’ Martinez, who acquired an HIV positive status due to a blood transfusion as an infant, told The Washington Post before the surgery. […]

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Controversial PrEP Drug with Less Potential Side Effects Coming Soon

A new drug to prevent HIV could hit markets very soon. The results of the world’s biggest ever HIV prevention studies revealed the drug, Descovy, was as good as Truvada when it came to preventing HIV. Truvada and generic versions of it are used around the world as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). For two years, pharmaceutical giant Gilead has conducted the DISCOVER trial. The trial measured the efficacy of Descovy as a potential new PrEP drug. The study conducted across 50 sites in the United States, enrolled 5,387 cis men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans women at risk […]

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HIV-preventing PrEP Drugs Aren’t Reaching Black Gay Men

The uptake of HIV-preventing PrEP drugs by gay and bisexual men faces a huge racial disparity in the US, experts have warned. The news comes from research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which was presented at an HIV conference on Friday (March 8). PrEP use faces ‘huge disparity’ between ethnicities The research presented by the CDC’s Dr Teresa Finlayson found that between 2014 and 2017 there was a 500% increase in the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis among gay an bisexual men “who are at substantial risk for HIV infection.” However, the surge in use has not been uniform across ethnicities. […]

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35 Percent of ‘High-risk’ Gay and Bisexual Men Take PrEP in US

35 percent of gay and bisexual men in the US who are considered at “high risk” of contracting HIV took PrEP in 2017, according to new research. PrEP – or pre-exposure prophylaxis – is taken by people who do not have HIV, but who may be at risk of contracting the infection. The medication significantly reduces a person’s chances of getting HIV. The new research was presented in Seattle this week at the 2019 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, an annual HIV/AIDS conference, according to NBC News. The research – which was based on 8,000 interviews across 20 American cities […]

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Allowing Insurers to Dictate Therapies Harms People Living with HIV

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J When Herbert* moved to San Francisco, he left friends, family, and his doctor behind. He lost access to the combination of HIV medications that had kept him healthy and prevented him from transmitting the virus to others. He was relieved when he found a provider who was able to kick-start his HIV treatment using a highly potent, durable combination of drugs to fight back against the virus. That treatment was an emergency intervention that would not otherwise be first-line, and served as a “bridge” to the preferred longer-term therapy that his doctor would prescribe based on lab results and […]

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10% of HIV Cases in Gay/bi Men Linked to Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Infection

One in ten new cases of HIV in gay and bisexual men are linked to gonorrhea and chlamydiainfection. That’s the conclusion of a modelling study highlighted by the NCSD (National Coalition of STD Directors) in the US. The journal, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, published the research this week. Both sexually transmitted infections can increase the risk of HIV transmission taking place: a fact known for some time. However, with rates of both gonorrhea and chlamydia rising in the US, health experts are concerned how this may impact public health advances in tackling HIV. Between 2013-2017, the US saw a 22% increase in chlamydia. Gonorrhea diagnosis shot up by […]

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