Participate in the AIDS.gov World AIDS Day Conference Call

AIDS.gov is hosting a conference call to provide Federal staff and grantees an update on the state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and a brief overview of the global epidemic.

Capacity is limited to the first 3,500 callers, and participants must register by November 15. A podcast and transcript will be available shortly after the call on the AIDS.gov Web site.

More information is available:

• Read the conference call announcement
• Visit AIDS.gov to register for the call

 

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Challenges and Approaches to Future HIV Research Outlined

“In a new article in Health Affairs, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. and Gregory K. Folkers, M.S., M.P.H., discuss the urgent imperative both to scale up proven tools of HIV treatment and prevention, and to develop bold new interventions—from curative therapies to vaccines and other new prevention modalities.  Dr. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health. Mr. Folkers is health scientist and chief of staff in the Immediate Office of the Director, NIAID.

“The authors note that only a fraction of people who need HIV treatment, prevention and related services is receiving them.  Even if access to scientifically proven HIV services were greatly improved by increased funding or improved efficiencies, slowing and ultimately ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic also will likely require major advances in two areas. First, curing a sizable proportion of those already infected with the virus such that lifelong therapy is not required; and, second, developing more powerful prevention tools to slow the rate of new infections. The authors assert that the scientific challenges related to these two goals are the most important issues in HIV/AIDS research today.”

More information is available:

• Read the press release
  
  
   

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Study of Investigational Integrase Inhibitor in Healthy Volunteers Indicates Safety

“S/GSK1349572 is a novel integrase inhibitor with potent in vitro anti-HIV activity, a different in vitro resistance profile than other integrase inhibitors, and a favorable preclinical safety and pharmacokinetics (PK).…In the single-dose study, 2 cohorts of 10 subjects (8 active, 2 placebo) received suspension doses of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg in an alternating panel design. In the multiple-dose study, 3 cohorts of 10 subjects (8 active, 2 placebo) received suspension doses of 10, 25 and 50 mg once daily for 10 days....S/GSK1349572 was well tolerated. Most adverse events (AEs) were mild, with few moderate AEs reported.…PK was linear over dosage range studied.…The half-life was approximately 15 hours.…The PK profile suggests once daily, low milligram doses will achieve therapeutic concentrations.”

More information is available:

• Read the study abstract
   

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Larger Foreskin Surface Area Linked to Increased Risk of HIV Infection in Men

“Male circumcision reduces HIV acquisition in men. We assessed whether foreskin surface area was associated with HIV acquisition prior to circumcision….In two randomized trials of male circumcision, the surface area of the foreskin was measured after surgery using standardized procedures. Nine hundred and sixty-five initially HIV-negative men were enrolled in a community cohort who subsequently enrolled in the male circumcision trials, provided 3920.8 person-years of observation prior to circumcision. We estimated HIV incidence per 100 person-years prior to circumcision, associated with foreskin surface area categorized into quartiles….Mean foreskin surface area was significantly higher among men who acquired HIV (43.3 cm2, standard error 2.1) compared with men who remained uninfected (36.8 cm, standard error 0.5, P = 0.01)….The risk of male HIV acquisition is increased among men with larger foreskin surface areas.”

More information is available:

• Read the study abstract
• Read the MedlinePlus article
  
   

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