HIV and ID Observations

As we await either the start of the baseball playoffs (or Spring Training), here is some ID/HIV content to consider, in no particular order:

1. Could adenovirus infection be the cause of obesity?  That would be the media take, especially from this highly-esteemed research journal, The New York Daily News. (Warning:  kind of ugly photo in link.)  But if you read the actual paper, the scientists appropriately note that the study just demonstrated an association with childhood obesity, not causation.  Still — did you know that animal models show that adenovirus 36 infection increases body fat?  I did not.
2. Remember ceftobiprole?  The “Fifth Generation” anti-MRSA cephalosporin approved for use in Europe, Canada, Hong Kong, etc and heading to the USA? Well you can take Canada, Switzerland and soon several other countries (Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan) off that list, as the drug is being pulled due to concerns raised by the FDA in their review.  By contrast, it does look like ceftaroline (reminds me of Caroline, less so Carolyn) is on the way. My reason for optimism this time is the uninimously favorable vote from an FDA Advisory Committee meeting; here are the slides from the meeting last month.
3. This MMWR paper on the prevalence of HIV among gay men in the USA got lots of attention, and appropriately so.  The reason?  “New CDC analysis finds 1 in 5 gay and bisexual men in a study of 21 major U.S. cities is infected with HIV, and nearly half (44 percent) are unaware; young men and men of color are least likely to know their status.” Important take-home message:  In the effort to expand general HIV screening strategies, we can’t forget that there’s a critical role for targeted testing as well.   Some would argue this is more important.
4. One of the most widely-cited papers in all of HIV medicine in the late 1990s/early 2000s was this one, which showed that you needed to take 95% of HIV medications for the best shot at  suppressing the virus.  (I must have some fifty copies of this study in various slide sets scattered around my hard drive.)  We’ve known for some time that the adherence bar isn’t set this high with today’s better regimens, but could one ever imagine that someone could take as little as 40% of their meds without much risk of viral rebound, provided it’s been preceded by long term virologic suppression?   Not that I’m suggesting this as an actual strategy, but this should be quite reassuring for our successfully treated patients who think they can never miss a dose.
5. Easily one of the un-funniest pranks I’ve heard about, maybe ever. Oh, what will kids think of next.

Enjoy your watercress salad!