HIV

HIV-positive individuals with end-stage kidney disease may now have a larger pool of kidneys available to them, with recent study results from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showing that kidneys from HIV-positive deceased donors can be used in addition to those from HIV-negative donors.

Having health insurance, a higher level of education, and more money were associated with a greater likelihood of caregivers disclosing their HIV status in the community, either positive or negative, while being male and living in a rural location indicated a lesser likelihood, reports AIDS Research and Therapy.

Writing in Nature, scientists found the antibodies fell into 2 distinct groups, targeting different regions of the viral spike. Thus, they say, the battle against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) could be opened on separate fronts, much like the approach Ho and others have studied in HIV and some forms of cancer.

Stigma perpetuated in a health care setting has been linked to greater odds of poor outcomes in the HIV continuum of care for antiretroviral treatment adherence and reduced viral suppression among persons living with HIV in Florida.

To effectively end the HIV epidemic in the United States, combination strategies should be tailored according to need, backed by evidence-based interventions, and scaled according to location, report study results in The Lancet HIV.

A pair of late-breaking abstracts presented during AIDS 2020, this year’s virtual meeting of the International AIDS Society, detailed the effects that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has had on trends in at-risk sexual behaviors and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, both in the United States and in Australia, due to shelter-in-place orders and social distancing.

The study examined the association of having a consistent HIV health care provider with related clinical outcomes, with an emphasis on a long-term physician-patient relationship.

A recent analysis conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS found donor governments spent $7.8 billion for HIV in 2019, a decrease of $165 million from the previous year. This number is similar to that spent a decade ago, despite a 25% increase of individuals now living with HIV in regions receiving the aid.

Patients with HIV who have been heavily treated but are failing their current regimen have few treatment options and are at risk of progressing to AIDS and death.

Previously associated with elite controller status, having an inherent low viral reservoir is now possibly linked to individuals with chronic HIV infection who initiate treatment with antiretrovirals more than 6 months after becoming infected.

Between January and July 2020, The American Journal of Managed Care®’s (AJMC®) most-read stories ranged from breaking COVID-19 news to revisions of blood donation guidance.

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.