HIV Testing Blog

HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is commonly used among health care workers and other individuals who believe they have recently been exposed to HIV. PEP can actually prevent HIV infection in some individuals, but according to a report in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, even when PEP fails to prevent the infection it may still have beneficial effects.

The report involved a 38-year old gay man who reported having unprotected anal sex with multiple partners in the previous 48 hours. The patient was treated with Truvada as post-exposure prophylaxis. During his treatment the patient reported more episodes of risky sex, causing his treatment to be extended. During his treatment the patient was repeatedly tested for HIV. He received a couple negative HIV results, but after repeated exposures the patient tested HIV-positive.

The patient received three viral load tests shortly after his positive HIV test result. The viral load turned out to be extremely low, and his CD4 count was high. These results were out of the ordinary for someone with an acute HIV infection, and the patient had no HIV seroconversion symptoms. Several more tests were performed on the patient and all of them returned similar findings.

The authors of the article report that the patient’s HIV infection was weaker than usual, and that this result was most likely due to the antiretroviral therapy he was receiving.

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Scientists at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNCCH) have opened up many possibilities into treatment of HIV by decoding the entire structure of the HIV genome. Until now, only small portions of the genome could be studied; however, by using their own technology they were able to view the genome aerially. They discovered that the HIV genome is gigantic, consisting of two strands containing ten-thousand blocks each.

According to Kevin Weeks, the professor who led the study, the HIV genome is loaded with RNA structures that control the virus’ behavior. The genomes for hepatitis C, polio, and influenza are also RNA programmed, so by using the same technology we may gain a better insight into these diseases and also vice-versa.

New anti-viral drugs that result from this discovery most likely won’t be available for another couple years; however, this new insight may lead HIV/AIDS researchers to explore possibilities that weren’t considered before.

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By 2030, an estimated 50 million people with HIV/AIDS will need newer treatments to keep them alive, according an all-party parliamentary report due out this week. To prevent millions of AIDS deaths in poor countries, pharmaceutical firms holding patents on HIV/AIDS drugs should release these drugs’ patent rights, Mike Foster, Britain’s international development minister, is expected to say.

Under the proposal, drug companies could put their HIV/AIDS drugs into a “patent pool,” and generic-drug makers would be permitted to make cheaper copies and combination pills for patients in poor nations. Unitaid, an international drug-buying entity set by up several donor countries including the United Kingdom, is trying to create the pool. However, drug firms regard patents as the means of recouping the massive costs of drug research and development.

Three million HIV/AIDS patients in poor countries now receive subsidized treatment, but that is just one-third of those in need. Drug resistance is a growing threat in both the developing and developed nations, and the newer treatments are expensive. Cheap, generic copies of these newer drugs cannot easily be made by generic-drug makers in places such as India and China, which now have tighter intellectual property-rights rules.

“The pharmaceutical industry has an opportunity to act now to help prevent future human catastrophe,” said Foster. “It is time for them to state their clear commitments to make HIV medicines affordable to those who need them most.”

“We are sitting on a treatment time bomb,” said Member of Parliament David Barrow, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on AIDS. “We cannot sleepwalk into a situation where we can only afford to treat a tiny proportion of those infected.”

For the complete article, please refer to http://www.aegis.com/todaysnews/du.asp