New Guidelines: Antiretroviral Therapy and Optimized Care for People with HIV

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week released updated Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents. DHHS panel member Paul Dalton provides a summary of the changes.

Earlier this month the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC) released guidelines for improving entry into and retention in care for people with HIV, as well as optimizing adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

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Study Shows How Interferon Fights HIV Along with HCV In Coinfected Patients

Interferon, a drug commonly used to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, is also active against HIV, and new research sheds further light on how it works, according to researcher published in the February 21, 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and described in a recent news article from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).

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CROI 2012: HIV Treatment May Reduce Mother-to-Child Hepatitis C Transmission

Effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV and maintaining a high CD4 T-cell count may decrease the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission from HIV/HCV coinfected mothers to their babies, according to study findings presented at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) this month in Seattle.

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Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections Opens Next Week in Seattle

The 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections -- better known as the Retrovirus conference or CROI -- will take place next week, March 5-8, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. HIVandHepatitis.com will be on site to provide breaking news, analysis, and video coverage.

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DHHS Guidelines Recommend ART for All HIV+, New Info on Older Patients and HIV/HCV Coinfection

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) this week released an updated version of its Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents. The DHHS panel now recommends that antiretroviral therapy (ART) should be offered to everyone diagnosed with HIV. Other highlights include new sections on aging with HIV and drug costs, more information on antiretroviral treatment as prevention, and recommendations for use of new hepatitis C protease inhibitors in HIV/HCV coinfected people.

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Interferon-Based Therapy Reduces Liver Fibrosis Progression in HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients

Interferon-based treatment for chronic hepatitis C helps slow liver disease progression among HIV/HCV coinfected patients as it does for people with hepatitis C alone, according to study findings reported in the January 2012 Journal of Hepatology.

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IAPAC Releases Guidelines for Improving Entry into and Retention in Care

Earlier this month the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC) released new guidelines for improving entry into and retention in care for people with HIV, as well as optimizing adherence to antiretroviral therapy. The recommendations were published in the March 5, 2012, advance online edition of Annals of Internal Medicine to coincide with the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) in Seattle.

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Combining HCV Med Boceprevir with Boosted HIV Protease Inhibitors Can Lower Drug Levels

HIV/HCV coinfected people who take the HCV protease inhibitor boceprevir (Victrelis) for hepatitis C treatment along with a ritonavir-boosted HIV protease inhibitor may experience drug-drug interactions that reduce concentrations of both drugs to ineffective levels, Merck warned this week.

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CROI 2012: HIV Positive People Need Ribavirin for Optimal Treatment of Acute Hepatitis C

HIV positive people acutely infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 2 or 3 benefit from receiving weight-based ribavirin in addition to pegylated interferon, according to study findings presented at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) this month in Seattle.

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European Study Does Not See Rapid Long-Term Liver Fibrosis in HIV/HCV Coinfected People

People who are already HIV positive when they acquire hepatitis C virus (HCV) may not experience unusually rapid liver disease progression over the long term, even though the fibrosis progression rate may appear high during the acute stage of infection, according to a European FibroScan study described in the February 15, 2012, issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

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Coverage of the 2012 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections

HIVandHepatitis.com's complete coverage of the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012), March 5-8, 2012.

Featuring new HIV drugs, HIV cure research, biomedical prevention, HIV-related conditions and complications, basic science, hepatitis C, and HIV/HCV coinfection.

Full listing by topic

HIVandHepatitis.com CROI 2012 section

3/16/12

Experts Issue Provisional Guidance on New Hepatitis C Drugs for HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients

HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) experts have issued preliminary recommendations for the use of the new HCV protease inhibitors boceprevir (Victrelis) and telaprevir (Incivek) for HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Though not yet FDA-approved for this group, studies to date show that the drugs improve the likelihood of a cure for coinfected as well as HCV monoinfected people.

[Editors' note (2/27/12): the preliminary recommendations have been temporarily withdrawn and removed from the Clinical Infectious Disease advance publication web section due to new data that may influence the guidance] 

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CROI 2012: Studies Look at Interactions Between New Hepatitis C Drugs and HIV Antiretrovirals

Drug-drug interactions between direct-acting antiviral agents for hepatitis C and some antiretroviral medications used to treat HIV are common, but are often modest and can be managed with dose adjustments when treating people with HIV/HCV coinfection, researchers reported at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) last week in Seattle.

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CDC Offers New HIV and Hepatitis Coinfection Fact Sheet

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have produced a new fact sheet providing information about viral hepatitis in people with HIV.

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CROI 2012: HIV/HCV Coinfection News from CROI 2012 [VIDEO]

Hepatitis C was a major topic at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) last week in Seattle. Liz Highleyman from HIVandHepatitis.com spoke with Douglas Dieterich and Kenneth Sherman about advances in the field, with a focus on HIV/HCV coinfected patients.

The attention this year was apt, since an estimated one-third of people with HIV are coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Dieterich and Mark Sulkowski presented the first data on sustained virological response (SVR) using the recently approved HCV protease inhibitors boceprevir (Victrelis) and telaprevir (Incivek) plus pegylated interferon/ribavirin in HIV/HCV coinfected patients.

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AASLD 2011: Upping Ribavirin Dose Does Not Increase Interferon Effectiveness in HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients

Starting hepatitis C treatment with a double dose of ribavirin plus erythropoietin to manage anemia did not lead to higher rates of sustained response to interferon-based therapy in HIV/HCV coinfected people, researchers reported at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Liver Meeting (AASLD 2011) this month in San Francisco.

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CROI 2012: Interactions between HCV Drug Daclatasvir and HIV Antiretrovirals Are Minimal or Manageable

The investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A inhibitor daclatasvir (formerly BMS-790052) showed no clinically relevant effects on blood levels of 3 classes of antiretroviral agents, and changes in daclatasvir levels can likely be overcome by dose adjustment, according to a data presented at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) in Seattle.

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AASLD 2011: Telaprevir Improves Hepatitis C Treatment Response for HIV/HCV Coinfected People

Adding the hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor telaprevir (Incivek) to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin increased virological response rates at 24 weeks for HIV/HCV coinfected patients, researchers reported at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Liver Meeting (AASLD 2011) this week in San Francisco.

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CROI 2012: Telaprevir and Boceprevir Improve Sustained Response Rates in HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients

Adding a first-generation HCV protease inhibitor to pegylated interferon/ribavirin dramatically increases the likelihood of 12-week sustained virological response among HIV/HCV coinfected people, researchers reported Tuesday at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) in Seattle.

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AASLD 2011: New NS5A Inhibitor PPI-461 Shows Promising Safety and Efficacy in Brief Study

Presidio's hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A inhibitor candidate PPI-461 demonstrated rapid and potent antiviral activity in a 3-day study, but resistance may be a problem, according to a study presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Liver Meeting (AASLD 2011) this week in San Francisco.

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