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1. NEWS
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**Efavirenz more durable than nevirapine, but CNS toxicity underestimated

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2042

The ongoing debate about the relative merits of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors efavirenz and nevirapine is likely to be further inflamed by analyses from two of the UK’s largest clinic cohorts, one showing that efavirenz is significantly more durable than nevirapine, the other that long-term efavirenz CNS toxicity is higher than previously detected. The findings were presented at last week’s Ninth Annual Conference of the British HIV Association in Manchester.

**Avoid Zerit, Trizivir in first-line treatment, new UK guidelines recommend

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2040

2003 BHIVA draft treatment guidelines will advise against the use of d4T and of Trizivir in first-line therapy, Dr Duncan Churchill told the Ninth Annual Conference of the British HIV Association on Saturday in a preview of new British treatment guidelines.

**Fisting, drug use, syphilis; risk factors for hepatitis C transmission in HIV-positive gay men

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2043

There has been a recent increase in the incidence of hepatitis C (HCV) among HIV-positive gay men in London. Studies from three of London’s leading HIV clinics presented at the 9th Conference of the British HIV Association in Manchester last weekend have highlighted the contribution other sexually transmitted infections, non-injection recreational drug use and specific sex acts such as fisting are having on hepatitis C transmission among HIV-positive gay men in the capital.

**HIV-positive women in the UK report high levels of sexual abstinence and psychological distress

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2044

Increased life expectancy with the advent of antiretroviral therapies should increase the opportunity for HIV-positive women to develop sexual relationships. In spite of the availability of HAART, sexual and relationship difficulties appear to be unchanged.

**GSK cuts price of HIV drugs to poorest countries

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2039

Pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has announced that it is halving the price of some of the drugs in its anti-HIV portfolio for 63 nations, including all African nations.

**Gout and HIV: another symptom of lipodystrophy

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2036

People taking the protease inhibitor saquinavir boosted by ritonavir are at risk of developing gout, particularly if they have body fat changes caused by HIV treatments, according to research presented to the 9th annual conference of the British HIV Association.

**Being older and having an STI increases chances of being HIV seminal super-shedder

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2038

A small number of “seminal super-shedders” who have disproportionately high HIV viral loads in their semen may be particularly likely to transmit HIV during unprotected sex, according to research presented to the 2003 conference of the British HIV Association last week in Manchester.

**AIDS deaths down, but new causes of death at largest UK HIV clinic

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2037

Despite a dramatic decline in AIDS-related deaths due to highly active antiretroviral therapy, deaths are still occuring in people with undetectable viral loads at the UK’s largest HIV clinic laregly due to liver disease, suicide, or cancer, according to research presented to the 2003 conference of the British HIV Association in Manchester last week.

**Medicines Control Council blocks generic anti-HIV drugs imports from Swaziland into South Africa

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2030

The high cost of antiretroviral drugs sold in their own country has forced possibly thousands of HIV positive South Africans to import lower cost generics from Swazi Pharm, a company based in neighbouring Swaziland. Recently, however, South Africa’s Medicines Control Council (MCC) put an abrupt halt to the practice, leaving many patients whose health had stabilized on generic antiretroviral medications, stranded without treatment. Yet many doctors and even South Africa’s Treatment Action Campaign support the MCC action.

**International Day of Action supports fight for HIV drugs in South Africa

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2035

Activist groups all over the world are planning demonstrations today in support of South African peoples’ demands for antiretroviral treatment, led by the Treatment Action Campaign.

**HIV and SARS: HIV co-discoverer speculates on impact

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2032

One of the discoverers of HIV has suggested that people with suppressed immune systems, including people with HIV, may be more vulnerable to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

**Fat loss on HIV therapy averages 13% a year, reports Australian group

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2034

Australian researchers have reported in detail on the natural history of body fat and metabolic changes in people commencing antiretroviral therapy. Their findings challenge the notion that body fat changes could be linked to immune reconstitution, and show a strong association between lipoatrophy (fat loss) and cholesterol levels, both at baseline and after six months of therapy.

**American HIV-positive women have high prevalence of other chronic viral infections

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2033

American HIV-positive women, and those at high risk of HIV, are also likely to be infected with other chronic viral infections which can cause long-term health problems, according to research published in the May 1st 2003 edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

2. BOOKSHOP
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To find out more about NAM's range of publications on HIV - including free resources - visit NAM's online bookshop at
http://www.aidsmap.com/shopcart/asp/home.asp

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"New at aidsmap.com" is edited by Keith Alcorn and produced by NAM Publications, the UK's leading provider of information on HIV and AIDS. Visit our website at
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Copyright NAM Publications 2003. All rights reserved.
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