NIH Clinical Center (CC)’s Post

📢 NEW: HIV Clinical Guidelines Now Include Anal Cancer Screening Recommendations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Panel on the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV has released new recommendations to prevent anal cancer for people with HIV, the first U.S. federal guidelines on the topic. 📌The guidelines recommend high resolution anoscopy (HRA) as part of an anal cancer screening program for people with HIV. 🔗 To learn more, view the complete guidelines, offer feedback, or talk with a health information specialist who can answer questions, read the following update on the NIH OAR website: https://go.nih.gov/FqGqvva

Publication: HIV Knowledge and Information Access among Women Cancer Survivors in Nigeria This article emphasizes the "need to ensure HIV prevention among Nigerian women cancer survivors by improving access to health information. This study used a qualitative descriptive method to examine HIV knowledge and access to health information among women cancer survivors in Nigeria." I would like to thank Candi Nwakasi, PhD, MSPH for the opportunity to contribute to such vital research, as well as all of his mentorship. I encourage everyone to read this article in the Journal of Cancer Policy. The following is a link:

Study: A $42,250 Gilead drug could be made for $26 An HIV drug from Gilead that carries a list price of $42,250 for the first year of treatment could actually be made for as little as $26 to $40 per person per year, a new analysis finds. The drug, called lenacapavir, is approved for HIV treatment, but it drew considerable attention last month when late-stage results found that it prevented women from contracting HIV. If those results are confirmed in another study, the drug could also win approval for pre-exposure prophylaxis. Though that would represent a big advance, health groups have raised concerns that low- and middle-income countries wouldn't be able to access those benefits, given the high price tag on the drug. [Source above STAT commenting upon Ed Silverman] https://lnkd.in/gUY-FnDs

MHRP, through an international collaboration, just launched a new study (RV584) in Tanzania with National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) - Tanzania to test novel long-acting bispecific antibody alone and in combination with another potent monoclonal antibody (mAb) to evaluate how effective they are at reducing the amount of HIV in people living with HIV.   This study will not only help researchers understand how these drugs might be useful for preventing or treating HIV, but will also explore the safety of intramuscular injections of mAbs, which if found to be safe, would greatly expand the feasibility of using them to prevent and possibly treat HIV.   More here: bit.ly/3OXlQni

We are no longer Preventing Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT), we are now Eliminating Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (EMTCT). The outcome of doing due diligence in this regard is having HIV negative newborns. An Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) is carried out on newborns usually <=72hours postpartum using the DNA-PCR test for HIV method which is used to detect HIV's genetic material, called RNA. These tests can be used to detect very early infections before antibodies have been developed. Despite many challenges, there is a path to end AIDS. Success is only possible and we have keyed into the UNAID'S goal by 2030 to end HIV in Nigeria.

A multinational team led by Weill Cornell Medicine has developed a test to measure the persistence of HIV in viral strains found in Africa. This is a significant step forward in the search for an HIV cure that will benefit patients worldwide. "HIV cure research tends to focus on viral strains circulating in developed countries, but to achieve a cure that is globally applicable, we must study viral strains that are affecting other regions of the world," said Weill Cornell Medicine's Dr. Guinevere Lee. The study addresses a major gap in HIV research by focusing on strains in Africa, where women are disproportionately affected. The findings show that HIV strains circulating in Africa establish viral reservoirs in the human body. Although antiretroviral therapy can reduce the level of HIV in the blood to an undetectable level, these dormant reservoirs continue to survive. Researchers from Simon Fraser University, Canada; BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Canada; Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP), Uganda; University of Cape Town, South Africa; and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine also contributed to this study. Read the full study: https://bit.ly/3VPW5Yp

Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is highly prevalent across sub-Saharan Africa and is linked to a threefold increased prevalence of HIV. Can FGS be integrated into HIV/SRH and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) programmes and services? Isis Umbelino-Walker and colleagues explore this question in this article, which highlights their framework for the integrated implementation of FGS, HIV, and HPV/cervical cancer. #cervicalcancer #cervicalcancerawarenessmonth https://lnkd.in/ethe4aAy

The Neurotherapeutics journal discusses a key discovery into HIV's entry into the central nervous system. The researchers were successful in identifying the intact HIV proviral DNA from human cerebrospinal fluid. The importance of this breakthrough cannot be overstated as this full circle DNA material has been persistently challenging to locate in this part of the body due to its propensity for mutation. The discussion also underscores HIV's adept adaptation, which enables it to penetrate the formidable blood-brain barrier, a steep hurdle for neurotherapeutic drug development. This pivotal accomplishment undoubtedly opens up potential avenues for future research into antiretroviral therapy and its effects on neurological problems in individuals with HIV. For additional information on this post visit: https://lnkd.in/ej7ucrn5

The 95-95-95 strategy aims to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 (defined as a 90% reduction in HIV incidence in 2030 compared to 2015). In Cyprus, Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) account for more than half of all HIV diagnoses.  Our mathematical modelling study highlighted that if the HIV public health response in Cyprus remained the same, MSM could reach the 95-95-95 cascade of care target, but this would not be enough to achieve the 90% reduction in HIV incidence by 2030.