[Viva] Fwd: aidsmap news: News from the 6th International AIDS Society conference, 25 July 2011

[Margarite Sanchez]

Update from the IAS conference. Many of the articles are relevant to women's
sexual and reproductive health issues.
Also interesting to me is the study showing that treating Herpes (HSV) slows
HIV disease progression. I have been on acyclovir or now famvir, for years
and just might be part of why I am doing so well.
Margarite


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <aidsmapnews at nam.org.uk>
Date: Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 6:27 AM
Subject: aidsmap news: News from the 6th International AIDS Society
conference, 25 July 2011
To: margaritesanchez at gmail.com



   - News from IAS 2011 <#131617b74c8dad0f_item2020051>
   - Other recent news headlines <#131617b74c8dad0f_item2020049>
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    News from IAS 2011

*What's next for HIV prevention? Paying people to be healthy*

Researchers are investigating the impact of offering financial incentives to
people who are at risk of acquiring or passing on HIV, the International
AIDS Society conference in Rome heard last week.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/2018580/>

*Infant prophylaxis during breastfeeding reduces risk of HIV infection by
71%*

Extended use of nevirapine or zidovudine and nevirapine in infants can
reduce the risks of HIV transmission through breastmilk by over 70%, Charles
van der Horst reported in a late breaker session at the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/2020289/>

*Another NRTI-sparing regimen does well in treatment-naive patients*

A nucleoside-sparing regimen based on raltegravir and ritonavir-boosted
darunavir is as safe and effective as a traditional nucleoside-based HIV
treatment combination, according to the results of a small US study
presented to the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1878963/>

*Treatment as prevention: what are the next steps?*

Turning treatment into a prevention tool that can end the HIV pandemic will
require not one, but a host of different improvements, in the delivery of
health care to achieve its full impact, and will not succeed without full
respect for the human rights of people with HIV, the conference heard.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1881842/>

*Gay men’s PrEP study final results: near 90% efficacy in men who took drug,
but adherence even lower than thought*

A completed series of investigations into the iPrEx study of tenofovir/FTC(*
Truvada*) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has found that the drug was 87%
efficacious in preventing HIV infection amongst those who had detectable
drug levels, though only 42% efficacious overall.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/2017063/>

*New NNRTI lersivirine matches efavirenz in phase 2 study*

Lersivirine, an investigational non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase
inhibitor (NNRTI), lowered HIV viral load about as well as efavirenz (*
Sustiva*, *Stocrin*) for people starting antiretroviral therapy for the
first time, researchers reported at the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/2017018/>

*HIV vaccine technologists edge nearer to effective designs*

A vaccine symposium held at the conference heard how technologists are
slowly developing HIV vaccines designed to overcome problems that had
prevented the generation of an effective vaccine in the past.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/2016705/>

*Hormonal contraceptive use increases women’s risk of acquiring and
transmitting HIV*

A two-year, seven-country study has concluded that women using hormonal
contraceptives, particularly injectable forms, are at a greater risk both of
acquiring HIV themselves and of passing it on to a male sexual partner.
Presenting the results to the conference, Renee Heffron of the University of
Washington said that strategies are needed to improve access to and uptake
of lower-dose contraceptives and non-hormonal methods – such as IUDs,
implants, patches or combination injectables.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1883604/>

*Task-shifting of HIV care to nurses: sucesses, but problems to watch out
for*

“A nurse-led service can deliver ART care as effectively as a doctor-driven
one, and even improves quality of care, but this pragmatic trial did not
result in increased access to ART,” said Lara Fairall of the University of
Cape Town. She was describing the results of the STRETCH study, a
cluster-based randomised controlled study of nurse-managed and initiated
antiretroviral therapy (ART) presented at conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1883436/>

*Once-daily elvitegravir matches raltegravir*

The experimental HIV integrase inhibitor elvitegravir works as well as
raltegravir (*Isentress*) for treatment-experienced people with extensive
drug resistance, and was well tolerated overall, according to data presented
at the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1883370/>

*HIV treatment in primary infection: 48 week course modestly delays CD4 drop
*

A 48-week course of antiretroviral treatment started within six months of
becoming infected modestly delays the need for lifelong treatment, reported
Dr Sarah Fidler of Imperial College, London, at the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1882958/>

*The roll-out of male circumcision: reduction in HIV prevalence, condom use
maintained*

The ongoing roll-out of male circumcision in Orange Farm, South Africa, has
succeeded in bringing the proportion of men who are circumcised from 16 to
49% in three years, delegates heard at the conference. Among men aged 15 to
49 who are circumcised, HIV prevalence is 55% lower.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1882837/>

*Cognitive impairment still common but ART reduces risk*

Cognitive impairment remains common amongst people with HIV and is linked to
more severe immune deficiency and absence of treatment, researchers reported
at the conference. However, antiretroviral drugs that penetrate the central
nervous system do not appear to improve overall outcomes.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1882961/>

*From 'what if' to 'what now': implementing the new prevention technologies*

Two consecutive sessions at the conference were devoted, now we have
convincing scientific data on the benefits of treatment as prevention and
PrEP, to putting these new prevention methods into practice.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1882473/>

*Maraviroc improves liver fibrosis in HIV/hepatitis C co-infected patients*

Treatment with maraviroc is associated with the regression of liver fibrosis
in HIV-positive patients co-infected with hepatitis C, a small randomised
study presented to the conference shows.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1882378/>

*Small study shows women on stable HIV therapy have very low levels of HIV
and high drug concentrations in genital fluids*

A study of paired samples collected from the blood and cervico-vaginal fluid
(CVF) of 20 women on stable antiretroviral therapy has found little evidence
that there are infectious quantities of cell-free virus in CVF in women on
stable therapy.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1881292/>

*Raltegravir combined with Kaletra associated with good preservation of bone
density over 96 weeks*

A two-drug antiretroviral combination comprising raltegravir and
ritonavir-boosted lopinavir has only a modest impact on bone mineral
density, a study presented to the conference shows.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1880895/>

*South Africa**’s PMTCT programme reduces mother-to-child transmission to
under 4%*

Nine years after the start of a national prevention of mother-to-child
transmission (PMTCT) programme, South Africa’s mother-to-child HIV
transmission rate is under 4% at four to eight weeks after birth, according
to South Africa’s first national PMTCT impact evaluation. Results from this
evaluation were presented at the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1880446/>

*Daily aciclovir slows HIV disease progression and reduces viral load*

Daily treatment with standard-dose aciclovir delays HIV disease progression
and lowers viral load in patients co-infected with herpes simplex virus-2
(HSV-2), results of a study presented to the conference show.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1880398/>

*Viral suppression reduces HIV risk despite more sex and ‘condom fatigue’ in
patients starting treatment in Cameroon *

Concerns that HIV treatment may lead to increased rates of unprotected sex
and a decline in condom use need to be considered in the context of the very
substantial reduction in the risk of HIV transmission when viral load is
fully suppressed, researchers from Cameroon reported at the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1880571/>

*Testing project using social networks in rural Tanzania effective in
identifying people with undiagnosed infection*

A pilot project in which people with HIV encouraged their friends and
neighbours to be tested for HIV succeeded in recruiting people with a very
high rate of undiagnosed HIV, Elizabeth Reddy of Duke University told the
conference. People who themselves had just tested for HIV also recruited
people for testing, but with a lower proportion of their contacts being
found positive.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1880476/>

*How best to deploy point-of-care CD4 cell testing in resource-limited
settings?*

Widespread introduction of point-of-care (POC) CD4 cell tests that don’t
require a laboratory technician but can be performed onsite by a nurse,
providing results in less than an hour – while the patient waits) is
expected in the next 12 to 24 months, said Dr Steven Reid of Imperial
College, London, during a session on advances in diagnostics at the
conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1880075/>

*Pre-exposure prophylaxis does work for women, two studies find*

Two studies of the use of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in
heterosexual people show that oral PrEP will protect women against HIV.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1879841/>

*HPTN 052: early treatment reduces serious illness by 40%*

Early treatment in the HPTN 052 study of treatment as prevention reduced
serious illness by around 40%, delegates at the conference heard – but the
effect was almost entirely accounted for by fewer cases of extrapulmonary
tuberculosis.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1879276/>

*Treatment is prevention: HPTN 052 study shows 96% reduction in transmission
when HIV-positive partner starts treatment early*

Results from a trial showing that antiretroviral treatment prevents HIV from
being passed onto uninfected partners received a standing ovation today at
the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1879665/>

*Bacterial vaginosis raises women's risk of transmitting HIV*

A man who is in a relationship with an HIV-positive woman has a three times
higher risk of acquiring HIV if his partner also has bacterial vaginosis,
Craig Cohen told the conference. Whereas it has been previously established
that bacterial vaginosis increases a woman’s risk of acquiring HIV, this is
the first time that it has been shown to increase her risk of transmission
to sexual partners.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1879356/>

*Marker of cardiovascular disease also associated with bone problems in
patients with HIV*

An important marker of sub-clinical cardiovascular risk is associated with
reduced bone mineral density in the hips of HIV-positive patients, according
to Italian research presented to the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1878759/>

*Doubt remains if HIV therapy increases the risk of fragility fractures*

The relationship between HIV therapy and fracture risk is far from
straightforward, US research presented to the conference suggests.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1878712/>

*The research agenda for antiretroviral prevention – now it gets complex*

We now know that starting antiretroviral therapy early, pre-exposure
prophylaxis (PrEP) and vaginal microbicides can all have an impact on HIV
transmission, Victor de Gruttola told a satellite session at the conference.
But researchers now need to do more than establish efficacy, he said.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1878184/>

*Antiretroviral prevention methods 'not in competition' with each other*

Antiretroviral prevention methods are not in competition, and policy makers
and providers need to start to thinking about how antiretrovirals,
pre-exposure prophylaxis and microbicides will be provided as part of a
combination prevention package – and who will benefit most from each method,
delegates heard at a satellite meeting on the opening day of the conference.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1877846/>

*Rome** IAS conference is 'landmark moment' for HIV science, say experts*

The Sixth International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis,
Treatment and Prevention opened on Sunday night in Rome amid great
excitement, with scientific leaders proclaiming that the conference will be
a landmark moment in the history of HIV research.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1877981/>
 Other recent news headlines

*Life expectancy for people with HIV in Africa may be comparable to general
population if they are on treatment*

Life expectancy for HIV-positive adults starting antiretroviral treatment
(ART) in Uganda is comparable to life expectancy for all Ugandan adults.
This was reported by Edward J Mills and colleagues in a prospective cohort
study of over 22,000 adults who started ART between 2000 and 2009, published
in the *Annals of Internal Medicine*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1878715/>

*Microbicide could be highly cost-effective in South African context*

A tenofovir-gel vaginal microbicide with the same efficacy as that seen in
the CAPRISA 004 trial could be cost-effective in the context of the South
African HIV epidemic even if only one-in-four sexually active women used it.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1875741/>

*Concurrent partnerships in men do not explain HIV incidence in women:
number of partners does*

A study of HIV incidence amongst women in part of KwaZulu-Natal, South
Africa, failed to find any evidence that HIV incidence in women was
associated with overlapping, or concurrent, relationships in their male
partners.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1875734/>

*Zambian study shows importance of early HIV test and fast ART for pregnant
women*

Starting ART at least 13 weeks before giving birth provides the greatest
benefits in prevention of mother-to-child transmission, Carla J Chibwesha
and colleagues reported in a retrospective cohort analysis of pregnant
HIV-infected women attending public antenatal care clinics in Lusaka, Zambia
published in the advance online edition of the *Journal of Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndromes*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1875590/>

*Viral load monitoring of ART patients linked to lower death rate on
treatment in southern Africa*

After three years on ART patients enrolled in four scale-up programmes with
routine viral load monitoring in South Africa had a fifty percent lower
death rate than patients in two public sector programmes in Malawi and
Zambia where monitoring is based on CD4 cell counts, Olivia Keiser and
colleagues from the International Epidemiological Databases to Evaluate AIDS
in Southern Africa (IeDEA-SA) collaboration reported in a comparative study
published in the advance online edition of *AIDS*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1870995/>

*Two major studies show that HIV drugs prevent infection*

Two large studies of pre-exposure prophylaxis – use of antiretroviral drugs
by uninfected people to prevent HIV infection – have shown that taking
tenofovir or tenofovir plus emtricitabine (*Truvada*) can cut the risk of
HIV infection through sexual transmission by between 62% and 78% in
male-female couples. Results from both the Partners study and the TDF2 study
were released today.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1870585/>

*Abacavir matches tenofovir in Canadian patients with high viral load*

The abacavir/3TC nucleoside combination is as potent as tenofovir/FTC,
Canadian investigators report in the online edition of the *Journal of
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes*. The study involved patients starting
HIV therapy for the first time.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1865874/>

*Triple ART reduces maternal death, premature and still birth, Mozambique /
Malawi study shows*

Women in Malawi and Mozambique on triple ART for three months or longer
before giving birth were thirteen times less likely to die than women with
no treatment, Maria Cristina Marazzi and colleagues reported in a
retrospective cohort study of over 3000 women in the 31 Drug Resource
Enhancement Against AIDS and Malnutrition (DREAM) Centres published in the
advance online edition of *AIDS*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1869310/>

*Urgent need for guidance on management of heart disease risk in
HIV-positive children*

The majority of HIV-positive children who develop high cholesterol still
have elevated cholesterol two years later, US investigators report in the
online edition of the *Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1864692/>

*Pre-existing immune deficiency main cause of AIDS-defining cancers in
patients starting HIV therapy*

New research has underlined the importance of the timely initiation of
antiretroviral therapy. In a paper published in the online edition of *AIDS*,
investigators from the European CASCADE collaboration showed that the risk
of AIDS-defining cancers in patients starting HIV therapy was associated
with severe immune deficiency in the preceding year.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1865503/>

*Couple-based counselling reduces HIV risk behaviour in drug-using couples*

Couple-based risk counselling reduces rates of unprotected sex in
HIV-negative drug-using couples, investigators from New York report in the
online edition of the *Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1864218/>

*Confirmatory viral load reduces HIV treatment switches fourfold in
6-country African study*

Targeted viral load testing to confirm treatment failure reduced unnecessary
treatment regimen switches four-fold compared to clinical-immunological
criteria alone (viral load <1000 copies/ml 12.4% and 46.9%, p<0.001,
respectively) among 250 patients in six African countries according to Kim
C.E. Sigaloff and colleagues in a cross sectional analysis of a multicentre
prospective observational study published in the advance online edition of
the *Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1861839/>

*3TC has limited impact on HBV for hepatitis B / HIV-coinfected in South
African trial*

The inclusion of 3TC in antiretroviral therapy had few additional benefits
for South African HIV-positive patients co-infected with hepatitis B, South
African investigators report in the online edition of *AIDS*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1859781/>

*Risk factors for HIV vary between African cities, need tailored responses*

A comparative study in three large cities in southern Africa has found big
differences in risk factors for acquisition of HIV infection, emphasising
the importance of locally tailored HIV prevention strategies and up-to-date
information on local risk factors.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1859601/>

*Mobile phone support helps patients with HIV stop smoking *

A mobile phone counselling service can help people with HIV to stop smoking
– at least in the short-term, US investigators report in the online edition
of *Nicotine & Tobacco Research*.

Read more >> <http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1856595/>
    About NAM
 Latest conference news

You can read all our coverage of the International AIDS Society
conference<http://www.aidsmap.com/ias2011>(IAS 2011) online.

As well as our news
reporting<http://www.aidsmap.com/ias2011/News-from-the-conference/page/1827120/>,
you can also read our summary
bulletins<http://www.aidsmap.com/ias2011/Bulletins/page/1827114/>from
the conference, which are in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and
Russian.

In addition, NAM's Executive Director Caspar Thomson posted several reports
from the conference on the NAM blog <http://www.aidsmap.com/nam-blog>.

Visit www.aidsmap.com/ias2011.
 South African AIDS Conference

*HIV & AIDS treatment in practice* (HATiP) is NAM's email bulletin for
people working in resource-limited settings. You can sign up to receive it
free of charge at www.aidsmap.com/bulletins.

The two most recent editions of HATIP reported on the 5th South African AIDS
Conference.

It includes:

   - South Africa's new political commitment to HIV treatment and
prevention<http://www.aidsmap.com/South-African-AIDS-Conference-Special-Issue/page/1856373/>
   .
   - Progress towards an AIDS-free
generation<http://www.aidsmap.com/South-Africa-is-moving-towards-an-AIDS-free-generation-and-improving-survival-in-children-living-with-HIV/page/1856369/>
   .
   - Treatment in children and
adolescents<http://www.aidsmap.com/Treatment-in-children-and-adolescents/page/1856371/>
   .
   - HIV & TB in practice: progress on IPT roll-out in South
Africa<http://www.aidsmap.com/HIV-and-TB-in-Practice-Progress-on-IPT-roll-out-in-South-Africa/page/1878809/>
   .
   - What will it take to put millions more South Africans onto ARV
therapy?<http://www.aidsmap.com/What-will-it-take-to-put-millions-more-South-Africans-onto-antiretroviral-therapy/page/1878811/>
   - Task shifting among health care workers: lessons from pilot
programmes<http://www.aidsmap.com/Access-to-HIV-services-can-be-increased-by-task-shifting-but-only-with-support-and-encouragement/page/1878812/>
   .
   - Task shifting to lay personnel: new
research<http://www.aidsmap.com/Task-shifting-to-lay-personnel/page/1878810/>
   .

 Preventing HIV

We've launched an extensive free online resource, *Preventing
HIV*<http://www.aidsmap.com/resources/Preventing-HIV/page/1412415/>
.

In it we examine the available evidence on many aspects of HIV prevention,
with references to the original research.

Subjects covered include condoms and
lubricants<http://www.aidsmap.com/Condoms-and-lubricants/page/1065704/>,
PEP <http://www.aidsmap.com/Post-exposure-prophylaxis/page/1061795/>,
PrEP<http://www.aidsmap.com/Pre-exposure-prophylaxis/page/1065825/>,
microbicides <http://www.aidsmap.com/Microbicides/page/1065777/> and HIV
treatment as prevention<http://www.aidsmap.com/HIV-treatment-as-prevention/page/1270646/>
.

We would love you to share it with your networks – we want it to be useful
to as many people as possible.

Read the content online
>><http://www.aidsmap.com/resources/Preventing-HIV/page/1412415/>
 HIV Treatment Update

Our regular publication *HIV Treatment Update* recently reported on research
on new cures for hepatitis C.

This feature is now freely available on our
website<http://www.aidsmap.com/Were-getting-there-towards-a-comprehensive-hepatitis-C-cure/page/1760113/>
.

If you would like to subscribe to *HIV Treatment
Update*<http://www.aidsmap.com/htu>,
please contact us on 020 7840 0050 or by email at info at nam.org.uk.
Subscription is free for people directly affected by HIV and paid
subscriptions are also available.
 They did it!

Divya and Raj were two of the 25,000 people who ran the British 10K London
Run, and they did it to raise funds for NAM and the vital work we do.

Raj has written a blogpost about his race, which you can read on our
website<http://www.aidsmap.com/Divya-and-Rajs-10K-for-NAM/page/1869197/>
.

We're very grateful to them; if you're inspired to reward their efforts with
a donation, you can sponsor Divya and Raj and read more about their training
here<http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=RajeshandDivyaRai&faId=119661&isTeam=false>.

 Youth Chances

NAM attended the launch of Youth Chances, a new project run by The Metro
Centre in south London, aiming to improve the lives of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and questioning young people in England.

NAM worked with the Youth Chances team to develop a
website<http://www.youthchances.org/>and a logo for them and you
can read more about it in our blog, where you can also see photographs of
the launch event<http://www.aidsmap.com/Youth-Chances-design-and-development/page/1863194/>.


"*NAM has supported Youth Chances creatively, practically and
sensitively...[with] care and attention to our project needs." *
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