Antiretroviral therapy (ART) using cabotegravir and rilpivirine injections monthly or every other month can be an effective HIV treatment option for people who have difficulty maintaining viral suppression on daily pills due to suboptimal adherence, according to studies presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024).

Co-morbidities – other health issues affecting people with HIV – continue to be an important focus of research in the HIV field. Here are some of the top stories on co-morbidities research presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024).

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could in theory stop the majority of HIV transmissions that still happen, and in some places, including England, is doing so. Yet worldwide, it is still only being used only by a minority of those who could benefit from it.

Men in sub-Saharan Africa are much more likely to have advanced HIV disease –including large numbers who have a low CD4 count despite taking treatment and being virally suppressed. It remains crucial to monitor CD4 count, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) study of 12 countries presented to the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections by Dr Dominik Stelzle in Denver earlier this month.

The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) took place this month. Researchers presented work on new and existing HIV treatment options. Here are some of the highlights.

En la 67.ª reunión de la Comisión de Narcóticos de las Naciones Unidas que se celebra en Viena, ONUSIDA ha solicitado la ampliación urgente de los servicios para prevenir nuevas infecciones por el VIH y la hepatitis viral entre las personas que consumen drogas. Dirigiéndose a los delegados en su mensaje en vídeo, la directora ejecutiva de ONUSIDA, Winnie Byanyima, elogió a algunos países por hacer progresos en la implementación de programas basados en pruebas, pero pidió una acción más audaz.

En la 67ª reunión de la Comisión de Estupefacientes de las Naciones Unidas que se celebra en Viena, ONUSIDA ha hecho un llamamiento para que se amplíen urgentemente los servicios de prevención de nuevas infecciones por el VIH y la hepatitis vírica entre los consumidores de drogas. Dirigiéndose a los delegados en su mensaje de vídeo, la Directora Ejecutiva de ONUSIDA, Winnie Byanyima, elogió a algunos países por los progresos realizados en la aplicación de programas basados en pruebas, pero hizo un llamamiento para que se tomen medidas más audaces.

Semaglutide, best known as a weight-loss medication, reduced liver fat build-up and appears to lower inflammation in people with HIV and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), according to study results presented last week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024).

Counselling about heart disease risk and statin use for women with HIV should highlight the similar levels of risk for men and women with HIV when communicating the results of the REPRIEVE study, one of the study’s investigators told the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver last week. Advice also needs to make women aware of how the symptoms of heart disease differ in women and men. [GLOSSARY]

Lifetime risk of acquiring HIV has decreased for Black gay and bisexual men in the US, from 1 in 2 from 2010 to 2014 to 1 in 3 from 2017 to 2021, according to data presented to the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) by researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week.

A number of presentations at last week’s Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) looked at whether HIV is starting to develop resistance to dolutegravir, one of the most widely used antiretrovirals in the world.

An longer-acting formulation of cabotegravir may offer an HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment option that could be administered once every four months, according to early study results presented last week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024).

Dolutegravir did not increase the risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy in a large international study, but mildly raised blood pressure was common in young women with HIV, Professor Risa Hoffman reported on behalf of the IMPAACT 2010 study team at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver last week.

Switching to an integrase inhibitor around the time of the menopause was associated with accelerated weight gain in women with HIV when compared to pre-menopausal women with HIV, a retrospective cohort study has found. The study, conducted in the United States, was presented last week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver by Dr Rebecca Abelman of University of California San Francisco.

A programme in rural Kenya and Uganda that has already demonstrated that a dynamic, person-centred HIV prevention intervention results in substantial increases in the numbers of people covered by PrEP or PEP, has now shown the added benefits of offering a choice between PrEP pills and PrEP injections.

An impressive 79% reduction in HIV incidence was seen between two directly comparable groups in a whole-population analysis from Australia, presented to the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) this week by Dr Nicholas Medland. People who have received hepatitis C treatment and who were not adherent to PrEP were particularly vulnerable to acquiring HIV within a few years of receiving their first PrEP prescription.

A small proportion of children who start HIV treatment within the first two days of life may achieve ongoing viral suppression after stopping antiretrovirals, according to study results presented yesterday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024). While these promising findings hold clues for HIV cure research, such early therapy is out of reach for many, and treatment interruption remains risky without careful monitoring.

Men with HIV in the US’s largest care provider for people with HIV were more likely to be diagnosed late with prostate cancer and less likely to undergo testing that may warn of an increased prostate cancer risk, the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver heard this week.

Three studies presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver this week showed that innovative service models can successfully deliver drug treatment for high blood pressure to people with HIV through HIV clinics or community health workers, and reduce blood pressure.

A demonstration project of oral PrEP for young women, conducted in six African countries with high HIV prevalence, achieved high levels of PrEP uptake and persistence, and good levels of adherence among its 3000 participants.