HIV WEEKLY 13 May 2010

Posted by admin on May 13th, 2010 | Categorized as General News

In this issue

Late diagnosis

Starting HIV treatment at this time – rather than waiting until later – reduces your risk of becoming ill because of HIV. It also reduces your risk of developing some other serious illnesses as well – for example heart, kidney and liver disease, and some cancers.

But many people with HIV are diagnosed when their CD4 cell count is already low. Late diagnosis of HIV is the main reason underlying much of the HIV-related illness and death still seen in the UK today.

Now US researchers have found that, at the time of diagnosis, over half of all patients in the US have a CD4 cell count below the recommended threshold for starting HIV treatment.

Black people were especially likely to have low CD4 cell counts at the time of diagnosis.

But even if your CD4 cell count is below 350 at the time of your diagnosis, it’s good to know that HIV treatment can still be very effective.

HIV-positive adolescents and pregnancy

Thanks to improvements in treatment and care, many children who were infected with HIV at birth are now adolescents or young adults.

British researchers have found a high rate of unplanned pregnancies in this group of patients.

A quarter of the pregnancies were terminated. In 39% of cases, HIV status had not been disclosed to their sexual partners.

HYPNet, the HIV in Young People Network, and the Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA) have published draft guidance about the provision of pregnancy and sexual health support for HIV-positive adolescents.

It covers topics such as:

preventing the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections;
contraception;
symptoms and treatment of sexually transmitted infections;
vaccinations;
HIV disclosure;
post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP);
conception options and fertility issues;
pregnancy and avoiding mother-to-child transmission;
options if there is an unplanned pregnancy;
sexual exploitation and sexual violence;
sexual difficulties;
psychological support for negotiating safe sex,
self-assertion, bullying and other issues.

The draft is on HYPNet’s website and out to consultation until 28^th May 2010. HYPNet and CHIVA would welcome comments.

HIV and TB

Preventing TB

Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) is the biggest single cause of death amongst people with HIV, and in the UK it’s one of the most common AIDS-defining illnesses.

A vaccine against TB has been available since the mid-20th century, but it doesn’t always work. Research is currently underway to find a more effective vaccine against the infection.

Some people are infected with a form of TB that isn’t currently causing illness, but could do so in the future. This is called latent TB, and nine months of treatment with the anti-TB drug isoniazid can clear the infection in many cases. However, this can cause side-effects, and many people find this treatment difficult to take properly.

Now researchers are testing an experimental vaccine that works against TB (a therapeutic vaccine) that could reduce the duration of isoniazid therapy to just one month.

The study is being conducted in South Africa and the results are expected at the end of this year.

Recognising TB

Research from New York City shows that some progress has been made combating the TB epidemic.

TB emerged as a major public health problem in the city in the early 1990s. Most of the patients with the infection were HIV-positive.

The introduction of effective HIV treatment in 1996 was accompanied by a fall in the proportion of TB patients who were also HIV-positive. By 2005, only 22% of those with TB also had HIV.

The risk of HIV-positive patients dying fell considerably once powerful HIV treatment became available.

The proportion of drug-resistant TB cases also fell.

There were also changes in the demographics of TB patients. The percentage of patients diagnosed with the infection who were born outside the US increased. In the UK, many patients with TB are migrants from countries with a high prevalence of TB.

For more information on HIV and TB, including treatment for each condition, you may find our information booklet HIV & TB useful. It is available to download as a PDF from our website, or copies can be ordered from our online bookshop .

Translated resources

New translations of our HIV information resources are now available on aidsmap.com.

You can download popular resources like the basics and our patient information booklets in ten languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, Polish, Italian, Dutch, Romanian and Turkish.

Translations of our news coverage is also available in Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian.

“I feel like me again”, by Matthew

“I found out in November last year that I was HIV-positive. It was a total shock. I was visiting family for dinner and was literally walking through the front door when the phone rang.

I think I already knew what she was trying to tell me, albeit that she didn’t want to tell me on the phone…”

Read Matthew’s story on our mini website namlife.org.

HIV Treatment Update – free to people with HIV

HIV Treatment Update is NAM’s regular newsletter, bringing you the latest HIV news and developments.

Recent editions have included features on insurance, clinical trials, life expectancy, crystal meth, HIV services after the election, smoking, exercise and treatment guidelines, as well as regular updates on news and conferences around the world. An archive is available on our website.

HIV Treatment Update is available free to people living with HIV, or subscriptions can be bought.

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