AIDS Reader

(AUDIO) In a brief podcast, the director of the University of North Carolina infectious diseases center ponders the implications of new HIV strains that lead to AIDS symptoms significantly faster than in the past. To him, the response is obvious. What troubles him is that not everyone seems to sense the urgency

(AUDIO) The past year has been revolutionary for HIV-positive patients, both in medical care and in policy. And more is in store for the coming year, according to Dr. Michael Horberg of Kaiser Permanente. Listen as the immediate past president of the HIV Medicine Association briefly reviews events of 2013 and forecasts 2014.

(AUDIO) Now that guidelines mandate testing all adults for HIV status, what are the best ways to convey the results of this important but often sensitive test? Listen as the co-director of Emory University's Center for AIDS Research offers insights for effective communication on this topic.

(AUDIO) HIV-positive status is hardly a death sentence today, yet too many patients in the US do not complete the continuum of care from diagnosis to completion of antiretroviral therapy. AIDS specialist Katerina Chrstopoulos MD examines the barriers along the cascade of care, and suggests solutions.

(AUDIO) Antiviral drugs have reduced intrauterine transmission of HIV dramatically. But what are the effects on the pregnancy itself? Here an infectious diseases expert discusses the risks and the benefits.

(AUDIO) The HIV Medicine Association has released a document that identifies the key characteristics of a medical provider qualified to manage the long-term care of patients infected with HIV. Here the chair of the organization describes the qualifications and tells why they are important.

(AUDIO) For older as well as young patients, clinicians should be sure to test regularly for HIV as the CDC advises, says a researcher who tells in this interview how suspicions about the origin of AIDS and the involvement of government may discourage older people from being tested.

(AUDIO) Correctional institutions offer an excellent opportunity to discover and treat HIV infection, which is usually contracted before incarceration. How can physicians assure that care is just as good after these patients are released into the community?

Studies in Africa have shown that a new strain of the HIV virus leads to more rapid progression than previous strains, and other research suggests that in general HIV is becoming more aggressive. What does this mean for control of transmission?  

(AUDIO) US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for HIV screening may come into line with CDC guidelines thanks to a reanalysis of recent outcomes data. Here clinical epidemiologist Roger Chou MD, who conducted the analysis, describes the new evidence and the implications.

Data from an inner-city AIDS treatment clinic in Baltimore suggest that inequities in HIV/AIDS treatment may be undergoing a necessary correction. In this podcast, an author of the study explains what this may mean for people in treatment elsewhere.

At an "exciting" time in HIV treatment, the Affordable Care Act offers the prospect of immediate treatment for newly diagnosed HIV. In this podcast, the author of a new report on the topic discusses how the Act will affect your patients' care.

For two HIV-positive patients, treatments with bone marrow transplants for cancer have achieved eradication of the virus from their blood cells. Learn in this podcast what this portends for the future.

In this podcast, the chair of the International Antiviral Society USA tells why it now advises immediate antiretroviral treatment for everyone diagnosed with HIV infection.

Far too many HIV-positive patients get that bad news after their very first HIV test, nationwide data show. Hear a CDC expert tell why primary care doctors are key to improving HIV testing rates and saving lives.

For many HIV-positive women, seeing children grow to adulthood has many levels of meaning. In this podcast, a psychologist who has studied many such Moms and their kids has insights for their doctors.

HIV and AIDS are becoming more common among people over 50, for many reasons. Providing adequate treatment can be a challenge. New guidelines are here to help.

Whether Mom or infant takes the drugs, antiretrovirals during the first 6 months protect breast-fed infants against contracting HIV. In this interview, the lead author of the CDC-led study discusses the implications.

There's no need to abandon abacavir as an option for AIDS treatment fearing adverse effects. This podcast features a new guideline that shows how to use easily ordered genetic tests to judge who can take the drug safely.

More than half of people with HIV infection in the United States develop head and neck lesions. Common among these is enlargement of the parotid gland, which causes disfigurement and therefore distress. This review discusses the evidence for radiation treatment as the best option, as well as the dangers of choosing the wrong treatment for this benign comorbidity of HIV-positive status.

#mainLogin {width : 700px;background: url(http://imaging.cmpmedica.com/all/gradient-grey-bg2.png) repeat-x bottom;border : 1px solid #cccccc;}#mainLogin h1 {font-size: 1.6em;color: rgb(255, 255, 255);background-color: rgb(20, 72, 146);padding : 5px;text-align:left;}.largeText {font-size : 1.4em;}#mainLogin ul {list-style-type: disc;list-style-position: outside;padding-left : 20px;}#mainLogin label {color:#666666;}#passwordLink {font-size : 12px;}#login {color:white;background-color:#144892;}td.left, td.right, .alert {padding : 12px;}td.right {border-left : 1px solid #cccccc;}

A Roster of HIV/AIDS-Related Resources

How likely is it that an HIV patient's infection will become less severe? A bioinformatics researcher at Drexel University has developed a competition on Kaggle that asks participants to find the markers in an HIV sequence that could predict a change in severity of infection.

In 2006, the CDC recommended “opt-out” routine HIV testing in all health care encounters for persons 13 to 64 years of age. While this recommendation has garnered some support, concerns about the feasibility of such routine testing in a busy office without disrupting patient care has persisted. We report the results of a pilot study to determine the feasibility of routine testing in a busy urban clinic.

A 30-year-old white man with HIV infection since September 2004 presented to his infectious disease physician in January 2007 to restart his antiretroviral therapy. Three months earlier, he had discontinued all of his antiretroviral medications because of his loss of health insurance. He remained asymptomatic during this period, with the exception of some mild oral candidiasis. At the time of restarting his antiretroviral therapy, his CD4+ cell count was 264/µL and test results were positive for syphilis (rapid plasma reagent [RPR] titer of 1:128, confirmed with a fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test).

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate is extensively used for treatment of HIV infection. In addition, tenofovir has recently obtained FDA approval for treatment of hepatitis B, and it can therefore be assumed that this drug will be increasingly used in non–HIV-infected persons as well. Although the risk for nephrotoxicity with this agent is low, its widespread use will no doubt lead to more episodes of renal impairment in patients worldwide. It is important to identify those patients for whom tenofovir should not be used or, at the least, identify those patients, both HIV-infected and non–HIV-infected, for whom renal function should be more closely monitored during tenofovir use.

More Listings

Anal cancer has become one of the most common non–AIDS-defining tumors in HIV-infected persons.1,2 The incidence of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) is also markedly increased in HIV-positive men,3 particularly those who have sex with men (MSM), despite the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy.4