HIV and ID Observations

February 27th, 2011

CROI 2011 Starts Today

With a fresh 4 inches of snow on the ground in Boston, the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) starts today. Pocket program is available here (PDF format).  Based on a (very) quick perusal, we can expect the following: Progress (lots of it) in prevention, with more from CAPRISA and iPrEx and the whole “treatment […]

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February 14th, 2011

Pspring Training Pseudomonads

A few ID/HIV issues to ponder as we welcome back the most important sport in the universe: Interesting new Guidelines on UTIs from IDSA — especially their recommendations not to use fluoroquinolones for uncomplicated cystitis and to promote nitrofurantoin for 5 days to first-line for this indication. And welcome to fosfomycin — though this could eliminate one […]

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February 3rd, 2011

Disparities in HIV Diagnoses, and Interpreting CDC-ese

In anticipation of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (February 7), the CDC has issued a new report on the disparities in HIV diagnoses in the United States. During 2005–2008, blacks/African Americans accounted for 13.6% of the population in the 37 states and 50.3% of the 156,812 diagnoses of HIV infection during that period … HIV transmissions […]

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January 28th, 2011

Wow, That Was Fast: PrEP Guidelines Appear

With the ink barely dry on iPrEx — still tricky to type — along come “interim” guidelines from the CDC on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Based on the results [iPrEx], CDC and other U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) agencies have begun to develop PHS guidelines on the use of PrEP for MSM at high risk for HIV […]

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January 26th, 2011

Insurance Company Cheese Shop Redux

I had an interesting exchange with one of our nurses this week about a long-term patient of ours. The e-mails went something like this: Got a fax from —-‘s insurance that his Lipitor won’t be covered anymore.  They will cover simvastatin, lovastatin, and pravastatin.  Let me know what you want to do. Charlie He’s on darunavir, and […]

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January 20th, 2011

A New Antiretroviral Drug Class, and a Movie

In my email in-box today was a very odd press release, referring to this paper, just published in PLoS ONE.  With the subject line, “Koronis – Clinical Trial Results Demonstrate Promise for First Non-suppressive HIV Drug,” it included the following information: Recently published Phase 2a clinical trial results show that the frequency of specific, drug-induced mutations in the […]

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January 11th, 2011

Revised DHHS Guidelines, and Some Thoughts on Guidelines in General

As another major snow storm barrels in on us, you might have time over the next 24-48 hours to make some hot chocolate, throw some logs on the fire, and read the spanking-new 2011 Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) HIV Treatment Guidelines, just posted here on the AIDSinfo web site. (Disclosure: I’m on the […]

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January 4th, 2011

HIV Year in Review Posted on Journal Watch

Want to catch up quickly in HIV clinical care? Forgive the bias, but the best strategy may well be to read our “Year in Review 2010” summary over on Journal Watch: AIDS Clinical Care. Always interesting to speculate what we’ll be choosing next year — I wouldn’t be surprised if progress in eradication (i.e., cure!) starts moving […]

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December 22nd, 2010

Holiday Hafnias

Some items to consider in HIV/ID world as you dig into your salmonella-free holiday bird: Drug label change for stavudine (d4T):  The label no longer has recommendations for dose-reduction in case of peripheral neuropathy, and cites data more strongly linking d4T use to lipoatrophy.  The strategy of decreasing the dose to reduce d4T toxicity hasn’t made […]

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December 17th, 2010

Update on Berlin Patient II: Still Cured of HIV

First, who was Berlin Patient I? Second, over in the journal Blood is the latest update on Berlin Patient II, the guy apparently cured of HIV by bone marrow transplantation: We have previously reported the case of an HIV-infected patient in whom viral replication remained absent despite discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy after transplantation with CCR5Δ32/Δ32 stem cells…  In […]

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