Antiretrovirals Archives - Infectious Disease Advisor

HIV/AIDS

Awareness, Use of PrEP Increasing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men

July 16, 2019

There has been a recent increase in the awareness and use of HIV PrEP among MSM.

Urinary tract infections in men are often the result of an obstruction — for example, a urinary stone or enlarged prostate — or from a catheter used during a medical procedure. This CT scan of the abdomen of an elderly man shows a calculus in the kidney, which has caused swelling of the renal cavities and has blocked the ureter that links the kidney to the bladder.

HIV/AIDS

Stone Formation in an HIV Patient Two Years After Stopping Ritonavir

By

Cassandra Pardini, PharmD

July 15, 2019

A recently published report describes the case of a 33-year-old female patient with HIV who experienced ritonavir-induced nephrolithiasis 2 years after discontinuing the medication.

HIV/AIDS

FDA Eliminates REMS for Truvada, PrEP Generics

By

Diana Ernst, RPh

July 10, 2019

In 2012, the FDA established the Truvada REMS for PrEP which required manufacturers to provide training materials, now that is no longer needed.

In the United States, 2 self-testing options are available: the Home Access HIV-1 Test System and the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test. With the Home Access HIV-1 Test System, the user anonymously sends a blood sample collected via a finger prick to a specially licensed laboratory10 and then calls the lab to obtain the results. The test has a sensitivity and specificity >99.9%. If the initial screening test indicates HIV positivity, confirmatory testing is automatically performed on the blood sample, negating the need for additional testing.10 With the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test, users collect oral fluid by swabbing their upper and lower gums and then inserting the swab into a vial containing a developer solution.11 Results can be read in 20 to 40 minutes. The test has a sensitivity of 92%, which means 1 in 12 users may receive a false-negative result, and a specificity of 99.8%. A positive result requires confirmatory testing in the healthcare setting.11

HIV/AIDS

Novel HIV-1 Inhibitor Shows Promise for Future Treatment of HIV in Women

By

Natasha Priya Dyal, MD

June 25, 2019

Avirulins may provide a valuable chemical foundation for the development of the next generation of prophylactic medications for HIV-1 in women, according to results of a study presented at American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Microbe 2019 held from June 20-24, 2019, in San Francisco, California. Although much progress has been made in decreasing the risk…

HIV/AIDS

Cardiac Abnormalities in Children With HIV From HIV-Related Heart Disease

By

Bradley van Paridon

June 24, 2019

Despite ART, children with HIV have a high incidence of cardiac abnormalities, with only a minority of cases being transient in nature.

HIV/AIDS

Bictegravir/Emtricitabine/Tenofovir alafenamide Approved to Treat Pediatric Patients With HIV

By

Diana Ernst, RPh

June 21, 2019

The pediatric approval was based on data from an open label, single arm trial that evaluated the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of Biktarvy in virologically suppressed children (6 to <12 years old; n=50) and adolescents (12 to <18 years old; n=50).

HIV/AIDS

USPSTF: Grade A Recommendation for PrEP in Persons at High Risk of Acquiring HIV

By

Sweta Gupta

June 20, 2019

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has updated its 2013 recommendations on HIV screening and has assigned a Grade A for a new recommendation to offer pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all persons at high risk for HIV infection. The recommendation was published in Journal of the American Medical Association.1 In addition, as in 2013,…

HIV/AIDS

Efavirenz Dose Reduction Improves Lipid Profile in Adults With HIV-1

By

Infectious Disease Advisor Contributing Writer

June 18, 2019

The association of lowered efavirenz dosage and reduction in LDL and total cholesterol, makes it a possible approach for treatment of patients with metabolic or cardiovascular comorbidities.