The program modeled on HIV screening uses opt-out screening to simplify testing and avoid bias. Medscape Medical News…

Gilead Sciences said on Wednesday it has granted royalty-free licenses to six generic drug manufacturers to make and sell cheaper copycat versions of its HIV prevention... Reuters Health Information…

BackgroundIn the Netherlands, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been available since 2019. However, the extent of PrEP use prior to HIV diagnosis and development of PrEP-resistance-associated mutations (RAMs) is not known. AimWe assessed prior PrEP use and potential transmission of PrEP RAMs among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender persons (TGP) with a new HIV diagnosis in the Netherlands. MethodsData on prior PrEP use between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2022 were available from the Dutch national ATHENA cohort. We assessed proportion of prior PrEP use, detected PrEP associated RAMs and assessed potential onward transmission of RAMs between 2010 and 2022 using a maximum likelihood tree. ResultsData on prior PrEP use were available for 583/1,552 (36.3%) individuals, with 16% (94/583) reporting prior PrEP use. In 489 individuals reporting no prior PrEP use, 51.5% did not use PrEP due to: low HIV-risk perception (29%), no access (19.1%), personal preference (13.1%), and being unaware of PrEP (19.1%). For PrEP users, 13/94 (13.8%) harboured a M184V/I mutation, of whom two also harboured a K65R mutation. In people with a recent HIV infection, detection of PrEP RAMs increased from 0.23% (2/862) before 2019 to 4.11% (9/219) from 2019. We found no evidence of onward transmission of PrEP RAMs. ConclusionThe prevalence of PrEP-associated RAMs has increased since PrEP became available in the Netherlands. More widespread access to PrEP and retaining people in PrEP programmes when still at substantial risk is crucial to preventing new HIV infections. …

This report found that as of 2022, none of the 2025 U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy goals for improving quality of life among people with diagnosed HIV were met.

Background There are differences between males and females for most diseases both for exposure and course of illness, including outcome. These differences can be related to biological sex or gender i.e. socio-cultural factors that may impact exposure and healthcare access. Aim We aimed to quantify differences between males and females in infectious disease notifications in Europe and identify countries with these differences significantly different from the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) average. Methods Notifiable infectious disease surveillance data are reported by EU/EEA countries to ECDC. We retrieved surveillance data for 2012−2021. Using a cut-off median of annual disability-adjusted life years above 1 per 100,000 population, we included 16 infectious diseases. We calculated median male proportion and interquartile range by disease, year, country and age group and used boxplots to identify outliers. Results For campylobacteriosis, acute hepatitis B, Legionnaires’ disease, malaria and HIV and AIDS, all countries had male proportion above 50%. Most countries had a male proportion below 50% for pertussis (25/28 countries), STEC infection (21/28 countries) and Chlamydia trachomatis infection (16/24 countries). Chlamydia trachomatis infection and listeriosis showed the greatest dispersion of male proportion across age groups. Most outliers were countries reporting few cases. Conclusion We observed important differences in male proportion across infectious disease notifications in EU/EEA countries. For some diseases with high male proportions in all countries, such as HIV and hepatitis B, behaviours play a role in disease transmission. Screening offered to specific populations may explain differences across countries for example for C. trachomatis infection. …

The newest stem cell recipient to test negative for HIV after cancer treatment had a donor with a single — rather than double — gene mutation that is opening the donor pool in renewed cure efforts. Medscape Medical News…

BackgroundRecent migration trends have shown a notable entry of Latin American asylum seekers to Madrid, Spain. AimTo characterise the profile of asylum-seeking Latin American migrants who are living with HIV in Spain and to outline the barriers they face in accessing HIV treatment. MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted between 2022 and 2023 with a 6-month follow-up period. Latin American asylum seekers living with HIV were recruited mainly from non-governmental organisations and received care at an HIV clinic in a public hospital in Madrid. ResultsWe included 631 asylum seekers. The primary countries of origin were Colombia (30%), Venezuela (30%) and Peru (18%). The median age was 32 years (interquartile range (IQR): 28–37), and 553 (88%) were cis men of which 94% were men who have sex with men. Upon their arrival, 49% (n = 309) lacked social support, and 74% (n = 464) faced barriers when attempting to access the healthcare system. Upon entry in Europe, 500 (77%) participants were taking antiretroviral therapy (ART). At their first evaluation at the HIV clinic, only 386 (61%) had continued taking ART and 33% (n = 209) had detectable plasma HIV-1 RNA levels. Six months later, 99% took ART and 98% had achieved an undetectable viral load. ConclusionsLatin American asylum seekers living with HIV in Madrid, Spain encountered barriers to healthcare and to ART. One-third of these individuals presented detectable HIV viral load when assessed in the HIV clinic, highlighting this as an important public health issue. …

Read clinically focused news coverage of key developments from AIDS 2024 Medscape HIV/AIDS…

Patients at a high risk for HIV infection who received preexposure prophylactic injections with lenacapavir had 100% efficacy in a phase 3 clinical trial. Medscape Medical News…