HIV

Being on an antiretroviral treatment (ART) regimen of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine may lower the risk of HIV-positive individuals contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

These findings highlighted that adherence to drugs is not the sole issue to address in patients with comorbidities also serving as vital factors in designing managed care plans.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care news included CMS proposing rules for value-based contracting in Medicaid; claims data highlighting racial disparities in COVID-19 effects; an interview with Anthony Fauci, MD, on the progress made against HIV.

Individuals who self-report a problem with drugs, especially opioids, are more likely to have uncontrolled HIV, to not be adherent to antiretroviral therapy, and to engage less in primary care for their infection but more in risky behaviors, including sharing needles and having multiple concurrent sexual partners.

To mark the 25th anniversary of The American Journal of Managed Care®, we spoke with Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Fauci has been at NIAID for 36 years, and he gave a keynote address at the 6th International AIDS Conference in San Francisco in 1990. Here he speaks on progress that has been made in the fight against HIV and AIDS, from AZT to Truvada to undetectable viral loads; why there is no cure just yet; and how the first tumultuous years of the AIDS crisis shaped research for decades to come.

As I recall the early days of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, what stands out most is its profound human cost and the courage of those who helped our society transcend it. We are in the midst of a time in which the human toll of COVID-19 and the enormity of the path ahead are clear.

References: Humility and Hope: Evolution of the HIV Pandemic, From ART to Today’s Cancer Cures

The connections between cancer and HIV/AIDS became clear relatively early in the HIV/AIDS pandemic and continue to this day. Not only were opportunistic infections present in a majority of HIV-infected patients who met the initial diagnostic criteria for AIDS, but several cancer types were far more prevalent as well. While there is still much to understand before HIV is fully conquered, we have already learned a great deal about the pathobiology of this virus that has helped advanced immune-oncological technologies and led to the development of increasingly effective gene therapy delivery systems.

To mark the 25th anniversary of The American Journal of Managed Care®, each issue in 2020 will include a special feature: an interview with a thought leader in the world of health care and medicine. The July issue features a conversation with Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Despite the CDC’s recommendation, which has been in effect since 1998, study results show that just half of HIV-positive individuals choose to get tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the 12 months following the receipt of their diagnosis.

Known as a gene therapy pioneer, Zaia has spent almost 40 years at City of Hope, in Duarte, California. He was first drawn by the promise of studying cytomegalovirus. Over the decades, his groundbreaking research has encompassed HIV/AIDS, cellular gene transfer therapy, immunotherapy, bispecific antibodies, and now hyperimmune globulin for workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Despite initiating antiretroviral therapy, overall and comorbidity-free–associated survival remain below that of the population without HIV.

Study results show a 4% mortality rate among HIV-positive patients who have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) compared with approximately 17% of patients who also have COVID-19 but are HIV-negative.

When used correctly, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective more than 90% of the time, saving upward of $400,000 per averted HIV transmission.

Of the 1.8 million youth living with HIV around the world, the United States is home to 2000, and many were infected perinatally.

There was a 6% increase from 2005 to 2014 in new HIV diagnoses among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, according to the CDC and study results published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, and 1 in 6 is estimated to test positive for the disease at some point in his lifetime.

The life expectancy of a person living with HIV is approaching that of the general, seronegative population. However, changes to the bacterial environment of the intestinal tract combined with age-associated noncommunicable diseases can lead to chronic inflammation and higher rates of death.

Close to 40 million individuals are infected with HIV globally. A new study describes how some have a higher risk for a first venous thromboembolism that is 2 to 10 times above that of the general population.

Schistosomiasis is the world’s second deadliest parasitic disease, and it can be linked to contaminated freshwater, with a majority of infections resulting from 3 types of bacteria: Schistosoma mansoni, S haematobium, or S japonicum. It is also a proposed factor for increasing the risk of HIV-1 infection in women.

Persons 50 years and older accounted for 3.6 million individuals living with HIV in 2013, and this number almost doubled to an estimated 6.7 million by 2017. Not all, however, are on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Washington is home to 2 pertinent developments in the arrival of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to the United States: the first US case of the virus was reported in the state on January 21 and the first major US city to report deaths as a result was Seattle.

Among the principal reasons for recommending initiating antiretroviral treatment (ART) among pregnant patients who are HIV positive is to prevent transmission of the virus to their unborn children. This number was estimated at 1.3 million pregnant women, as of 2018.

Close to 6 million individuals die every year as a direct result of sepsis infection, with a majority of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. The HIV-positive population in sub-Saharan Africa is disproportionately affected by this opportunistic infection.

The CDC recommends regular testing for bacterial sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among all sexually active gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Chief among these STDs are gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and hepatitis C.