Monthly Archives: February 2015
CROI 2015: Findings on PEPFAR abstinence and faithfulness results bring no surprise
SEATTLE, WA – A review of surveys in 22 countries where the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief spent about $1.3 billion to urge populations to abstain from sex until marriage and stay faithful to one partner showed no evidence the messages had any impact on behavior or HIV risks, findings from a study presented […]
CROI 2015: Trial results boost evidence early ART plus IPT preserves health
SEATTLE, WA – Results from the French-sponsored Temprano clinical trial in Cote d’lvoire presented here Wednesday show that immediate HIV treatment and six months of isoniazid preventive therapy dramatically and independently decrease the risk of severe illness, especially tuberculosis, in persons with HIV infection. The study, conducted in nine health centers in Abidjan from March 2008 […]
CROI 2015: Trial to evaluate the use of health navigators to link HIV/TB patients to care and treatment fails to show positive results
SEATTLE, WA –Patients randomized to the support of a health navigator were not more likely than those who received standard of care to complete tuberculosis treatment or begin antiretroviral therapy within three months of HIV diagnosis, according to the results of a randomized trial presented here today. Ingrid Bassett from Massachusetts General hospital reported on […]
CROI 2015: Ambassador Birx talks about the tyranny of averages, actionable data, and “skeptical optimism”
SEATTLE WASHINGTON – When Ambassador Deborah Birx comes to CROI, she’s returning to her roots, she told a hall full of scientists here today. She got her start in the science of tackling HIV, and as leader of the U.S. Military Research Program led efforts to find biomedical answers to the global pandemic. That work […]
CROI 2015: Direct transmission of X-DR TB is dominant in South Africa
SEATTLE, WA — The majority of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis cases in South Africa are due to transmission in this high HIV prevalence setting, and not the result of inadequate treatment, study results presented here today showed. Sarita Shah from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared the results and noted South Africa has […]
CROI 2015: Amid challenges facing HIV-infected children, “Breather” study offers teenagers hope for a break
Study shows teenagers who took weekend breaks from anti-retroviral treatment fared as well as those whose treatment stayed continuous SEATTLE, WA – Some three years after the call for an “AIDS-free generation” set out a vision of a world in which no child is born with the virus, and thanks to timely diagnosis and treatment, […]
CROI 2015: Breastfeeding women in Africa with HIV go undiagnosed
SEATTLE, WA – Findings from household surveys across three African countries presented here Tuesday showed large numbers of HIV-infected women remaining undiagnosed while breastfeeding their infants despite some level of participation in antenatal and HIV testing services. Médecins Sans Frontières physician David Maman presented the findings, from Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. The household surveys, conducted between […]
CROI 2015: Study shows “Near elimination of HIV transmission” in a demonstration of PrEP as a bridge to treatment
SEATTLE, WA — What if, in couples among whom one partner is infected with HIV, and the other is not, the protective benefits of antiretroviral drugs could be used to maximum advantage? That would mean, eventually that the infected partner would enjoy the full benefits of treatment, including a sufficient suppression of virus to lower risks […]
CROI 2015: PrEP, microbicide findings show divergent paths of prevention responses
Results of PROUD, Ipergay studies among European and Canadian men further talk of maximizing use, while FACTS 001 findings underscore failures to find an HIV protection measure African women can use SEATTLE, WA — Presentations on two studies this morning highlighted the promise of antiretroviral drugs as pre-exposure prophylaxis against acquiring HIV (commonly known as PrEP), giving numbers […]