HIV and ID Observations

September 19th, 2012

It’s Time to Dump the HIV Western Blot

Hard to believe, but we have to get rid of the HIV Western blot — at least as our HIV confirmatory test. Here’s why (case adapted from several seen the past few years; I’m sure most of you have seen similar): 30-year-old man, high risk for HIV. He’s worried he might have become infected due to recent […]

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September 8th, 2012

People Fear EEE and West Nile, but not Influenza — Can Someone Explain Why?

OK, here’s a quick quiz — match the viral infection with the average annual US deaths: 1.  Eastern Equine Encephalitis A.  36,000, mostly in the elderly 2.  Influenza B.  < 10, mostly in the elderly I know, it was an easy one — 1 goes with B, and 2 with A. Here’s a good reference for more on […]

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August 28th, 2012

“Quad” Approved by FDA

We now have a third single-pill treatment available for HIV treatment, co-formulated tenofovir/emtricitabine/elvitegravir/cobicistat. From the FDA announcement: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Stribild (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), a new once-a-day combination pill to treat HIV-1 infection in adults who have never been treated for HIV infection. Stribild contains two previously approved HIV […]

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August 13th, 2012

A Poll: Clintons vs Bush

Got this email recently from a former colleague who now does mostly international work: Hey Paul — nice recap of the IAC conference. But I was wondering if you’d forgotten about someone very important when you wrote, “I can’t think of any major politicians who have done more for HIV than the Clintons.” Um, how about […]

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August 9th, 2012

New PrEP “Guidance” Released by CDC

The CDC issued its second “Interim Guidance” on the use of tenofovir/FTC as pre-exposure prophylaxis for prevention of HIV, this time for prevention of HIV in heterosexually active adults. The rationale? Since January 2011, data from studies of PrEP among heterosexual men and women have become available, and on July 16, 2012, the Food and Drug […]

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July 26th, 2012

Pigs are Flying: Written Consent No Longer Needed for an HIV Test in Massachusetts

Let the record show that as of July 26, 2012, a person in Massachusetts can legally get an HIV test without signing a written consent. Hooray. There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

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July 5th, 2012

Home HIV Test Big News — But Why? And What Impact Will It Have?

The recent FDA approval of a home HIV antibody test (OraQuick In-Home HIV Test) was covered just about everywhere. It’s an oral swab test, takes 20-40 minutes, and will be available over-the-counter. How big a news story was it? Several hundred sources featured it on the day of the announcement, and the total count is now well over a thousand […]

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June 29th, 2012

HIV Testing Roundup, and a Brief Rant

I’ve written so many times about HIV testing that a complete list of the headlines fills two full web pages. But since the last entry on the topic was more than a month ago, one might think I’ve lost interest in the topic. Never! Three items on the HIV Testing radar, two national, one local. First, for a classic […]

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June 20th, 2012

Abacavir Becomes the Latest Generic Antiretroviral Agent

Hot on the heels of generic nevirapine comes generic abacavir: On June 18, 2012, FDA granted approval for a generic formulation of abacavir tablets, 300 mg, manufactured by Mylan Pharmaceuticals, indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. FDA has determined that the generic formulation is bioequivalent and, therefore, therapeutically equivalent to the […]

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May 25th, 2012

Generic Nevirapine Now Available — But the Big One is Next Year

As I’m sure you’ve heard from your patients — as I did — lamivudine (3TC) is now available generically. Now comes news of the release of several generic formulations of nevirapine (NVP), an effective but always somewhat overshadowed medication. Since its approval way back when in 1996, there has always been a solid reason to pick […]

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