HIV-AIDS Science

Superinfection identified in 2 out of 8 patients with unexpected viral load increases (AEGiS 2)

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:45:45 GMT

Superinfection identified in 2 out of 8 patients with unexpected viral load increases

HIV Treat Bull - 2009 May-Jun;10(5/6): 03

Simon Collins, HIV i-Base

http://www.aegis.org/pubs/i-base/2009/IB2009-05-03.html

The rate and risk of reinfection with a second strain of HIV after primary infection are unclear with most instances reported as case studies. While reinfection clearly occurs, with viral load of the transmitting partner likely to be a significant risk factor, the clinical importance of a second infection, based on current limited data, appears largely related to acquisition of a resistant strain and its impact on reducing treatment options.

A pilot study by Doyle and colleagues at UCL looked for treatment-naive patients who were at risk of reinfection from sexual exposure, who experienced a significant viral load increase (>0.5 log) during routine viral load clinic monitoring. Eight patients were indentified (all sub-type B) and phylogenetic analyses were performed on the stored and most recent samples.

In two patients, early sequences formed separate clusters to late sequences, with no evidence of viral recombination, indicating a second infection.

One patient was reinfected 5 months after his initial diagnosis during acute infection, and experienced similar seroconversion symptoms at the time of viral load increase. He also acquired syphilis and herpes in the subsequent 6 months.

A second patient had been diagnosed HIV-positive 3 years earlier and experienced no symptoms and no other STIs at the time of superinfection. He controlled both the first infection and the superinfection without HAART, with a set-point viral load of 3.5 log₁₀ copies/mL and a stable CD4 count >1000 cells/mm³.

These two cases indicate that reinfection is unlikely to be a rare event and can occur both in the early and established disease, even in the presence of effective immune responses.

Comment

While the study conclusion is that targeted screening based upon sexual history and viral load can achieve a high detection rate and is important in the context of transmitted resistance, it is not appropriate to conclude that early HAART should be used as a public health measure between consenting HIV-positive adults who choose to use neither condoms nor treatment.

Ref: Doyle T et al. High-risk sexual behaviour and HIV-1 superinfection: an indication for early initiation of antiretroviral therapy? HIV Med. 2009 April; 10(Suppl 1):54 (abstract no. P150).

2009-05-10
IB2009-05-03

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Exploring the frontiers of retrovirology: International conference brings together leading human retrovirus researchers (AEGiS.org)

Fri, 15 May 2009 04:51:24 GMT

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BioMed Central - March 10, 2009

Exploring the frontiers of retrovirology: International conference brings together leading human retrovirus researchers

Today BioMed Central announces the launch of "Frontiers of Retrovirology", an international conference that will bring together leading human retrovirus researchers to review current progress and to chart future challenges.

HIV affects 33 million individuals worldwide. To date, 25 million have died from AIDS. In 2007 alone, 2.7 million persons became newly infected with HIV-1, and 2 million new AIDS deaths were registered. A quarter century after the discovery of the HIV-1 virus, a curative or a vaccine strategy for AIDS remains elusive.

At the conference, internationally renowned researchers will deliver cutting edge presentations and present their insights into the principles guiding the life cycle of endogenous retroelements, complex human retroviruses, and their pathogenic interactions with their hosts.

The event, supported by Agence nationale de recherches sur le sida et les hépatites virales, Institut Pasteur and Institut de Génétique Humaine is taking place between 21-23 September 2009 in Montpellier, France.

Speakers include:

Ben Berkhout, Universiteit Van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mauro Giacca, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy
Stephen Goff, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA
Rosemary Kiernan, Institut de Génétique Humaine, Montpellier, France
Andrew Lever, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Klaus Strebel, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA
Olivier Voinnet, Institut de Biologie Moleculaire des Plantes, Strasbourg, France

Media passes for the conference are available on request.

Notes to Editors:

1. BioMed Central (www.biomedcentral.com) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.

2. Retrovirology is a stringently peer-reviewed journal edited by Kuan-Teh Jeang (USA), Monsef Benkirane (France), Ben Berkhout (the Netherlands), Masahiro Fujii (Japan), Michael Lairmore (USA), Andrew Lever (UK), and Mark Wainberg (Canada) with the assistance of an internationally renowned Editorial Board. Read all the latest news from Retrovirology, on the Retrovirology blog.

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.

Copyright ©1980,2009. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.

Researcher to probe evolution of HIV-related dementia (AEGiS.org)

Wed, 06 May 2009 05:44:07 GMT

Researcher to probe evolution of HIV-related dementia

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel - May 5, 2009

Staff report

Thanks to the introduction of highly effective drugs, in the developed world an HIV or AIDS diagnosis is no longer the swift death sentence it once was. But although deaths rates have fallen drastically, there has been no corresponding decline in the rates of dementia associated with HIV.

Twenty-five to 30 percent of persons infected with HIV develop an aggressive Alzheimer's-like dementia even if they are taking anti-HIV drugs. Those figures are about the same as they were in the mid-1990s when highly active antiretroviral therapy, also known as HAART, was introduced.

For the full article, please go to: http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/sfl-fljjpsdementia0505jjpsmay05,0,6947091.story