Planned Parenthood Announces First-Ever 'Test Fest'

Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan (PPMSM) announced it will offer free chlamydia testing and condoms at the inaugural Test Fest on Saturday, September 14, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Old Town Marquee, 319 E. Grand River, Lansing, Mich. Lori Lamerand, president and chief executive officer of PPMSM, stated that the event aims to destigmatize testing and eliminate barriers to testing. The event will be the culmination of summer programming that provided medically accurate sexual information, leadership education, and civic engagement training for teens.

CDC reports that chlamydia is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States. Ingham County chlamydia diagnoses increased from 1,562 cases in 2007 to 1,917 cases in 2011. Although antibiotics could treat chlamydia, many people do not know they are infected because it usually has no symptoms. Barrier methods, like condoms and dental dams, are effective in preventing chlamydia transmission.

The Test Fest will feature a performance by Lansing singer/songwriter Jen Sygit and carnival-like games. Event partners include Gateway Community Services and the Sparrow Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program. The partners would welcome participation from other organizations and businesses. Contact Amber Arb at (734) 926-5610 or amber.arb@ppmchoice.org for more information or to donate prizes.

Adding Blood Pressure Drug to Standard Antibiotics Speeds up TB Treatment

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Md., have discovered that verapamil, a drug normally used to treat high blood pressure, accelerates TB treatment time when added to the antibiotic regimen. Since treatment interruption creates drug resistance, the researchers believe a shorter treatment time will improve treatment adherence and prevent resistant strains.

According to Shasank Gupta, Ph.D., lead study investigator and immunologist, verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, functions as an efflux pump inhibitor, making bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics and destruction by immune cell macrophages. It is not known exactly how the drug works but another study showed that increased efflux pump action helped TB drug tolerance and reduced the effectiveness of antibiotics.

From January to November 2012, the researchers conducted a study in which TB-infected mice were treated with daily doses of isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide for two months followed by daily isoniazid and rifampin for four months. For six months, half of the mice received daily doses of verapamil, equivalent to the minimum dose for humans. The mice receiving verapamil were cured in four months compared to the normal six months. Verapamil increased the destruction of TB bacteria 10-fold after two months. After four months, half of the lung tissue samples from the mice receiving verapamil had zero bacteria, while samples from those mice treated with the standard antibiotics only were still positive for TB.

Clinical trials will begin in India later this year for a safety study to determine the minimum effective dose of verapamil necessary as add-on therapy for TB.

The full report, “Acceleration of Tuberculosis Treatment by Adjunctive Therapy with Verapamil as an Efflux Inhibitor,” was published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (doi:10.1164/rccm.201304-0650OC).

In South Africa, a Clinic Focuses on Prostitutes to Fight HIV

A clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, is trying to combat one of the highest rates of HIV in the world by targeting one of the highest infected professions—prostitutes. Some researchers estimate that approximately 60 percent of the countries’ prostitutes are HIV positive. Many other health providers don’t want to deal with the chaotic lives of sex workers, said Maria Sibanyoni, a nurse, and added that to successfully implement HIV prevention strategies, some members of the community can’t be ignored.

While South Africa has made HIV treatment available to millions in the country, nearly 400,000 new infections occur each year. To combat this problem, the University of the Witwatersrand founded clinics specifically for prostitutes. It’s hard for many of these women to get health care elsewhere, explained Sibanyoni, who runs the project. “You know, because people have got their own beliefs about sex workers.”

Research has shown people who have at least one STD are more susceptible to becoming infected with HIV. The clinics aim to treat prostitutes for STDs, give them condoms and education regarding safe sex, and get them started on antiviral drugs. Clinic staff reach out to prostitutes by meeting them in brothels, at truck stops, and in the streets. Sibanyoni stresses that by treating them for other STDs, they lower the risk of spreading HIV to their clients and vice versa. "By providing these services, we are trying to control the spread of HIV," she said.

One woman, who was recently treated for an STD, said she felt comfortable at the clinic because the staff seems to understand her. She said it’s difficult for most of “the ladies” to go to public health clinics because they feel looked down on due to their profession. But her experience with the new clinic was good. “They gave me good treatment, and I was fine,” she says. “I really appreciate that.”

One Filipino Gets HIV Every 90 Minutes–AIDS Council

The Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) data reported that one Filipino is infected with HIV every 1.5 hours. According to Dr. Ferchito Avelino, PNAC executive director, the country was experiencing a “fast and furious” epidemic. Since 1984, the council has recorded 14,474 HIV cases. In May, PNAC reported 415 cases, which was the highest monthly number of new diagnoses until the July report of 449 cases.

The council attributed the majority of new infections (95 percent) to male-to-male contact and the rest to injecting drug users or female sex workers. Most of the cases were from the National Capital Region, Cebu, Davao, and Angeles City in Pampanga. J.V.R.

Prasada Rao, the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, stated that the Philippines was one of nine countries where HIV infection was increasing. He suggested that the government spend more funds focusing on the sector of population responsible for transmission. Rao noted that condoms still provided the best HIV protection.

Planned Parenthood Receives Federal Grant to Expand HIV Testing and Prevention Programs in Memphis

For the next three years, Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region (PPGMR) will receive $265,000 per year from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enhance PPGMR’s HIV prevention programming and integrate HIV prevention into PPGMR family planning services. According to PPGMR Chief Executive Officer Ashley Coffield, chief goals of PPGMR HIV prevention programming were to de-stigmatize HIV testing and regular condom use and to make both a normal part of life for sexually active people.

Prior to this grant, PPGMR provided free HIV testing and prevention counseling daily at PPGMR’s clinic at 2430 Poplar Avenue and weekly at three community sites. The HHS grant would allow PPGMR to expand free weekly testing to additional sites throughout the community and offer Spanish-language prevention counseling and free HIV testing for Spanish-speaking clients. The grant also would fund year-round promotion of PPGMR’s condom distribution program, Free Condoms Memphis, which gives away condoms at more than 50 locations in Shelby County, including churches, barbershops, nail salons, and nightclubs.

Early Course of HIV Therapy May Give Infants a Break from Drugs

A new study showed that giving immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) to HIV-infected infants for a limited time protected their immune systems and delayed lifelong treatment. Infants who began ART must be treated for life, but long-term ART increased the risk of drug resistance and toxicity. The researchers determined they could stop treatment for a limited time and spare the children some of the toxicity from ART.

Mark Cotton, a professor at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University and co-leader of the study, and colleagues reviewed five years of follow-up data from 377 HIV-infected infants. At 6–12 weeks, the infants were selected randomly to begin short-term ART for 40 weeks or 96 weeks, or to wait until showing signs of illness or a weakened immune system before receiving ART.

Infants in the delayed treatment group started lifelong treatment 20 weeks after the beginning of the study. Infants who received the early 40 weeks of ART delayed restarting ART for an average of 33 weeks, while those who completed the early 96 weeks of ART delayed restarting for an average of 70 weeks. At the end of the trial, approximately 20 percent of infants given 40 weeks of early ART and one-third who received 96 weeks of initial ART were well enough to avoid restarting lifelong treatment. The delayed group had a significantly higher number of deaths and hospital admissions and higher healthcare costs than the groups that received immediate temporary ART.

Study co-leader Dr. Avy Violari of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa commented that early treatment followed by a break was definitely better and more cost-effective than delaying ART, but the researchers did not know whether a longer initial treatment period or early continuous treatment would be more effective.

The full report, “Early Time-Limited Antiretroviral Therapy Versus Deferred Therapy in South African Infants Infected with HIV: Results from the Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral (CHER) Randomised Trial,” was published online in the Lancet (2013; doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61409-9).

Infection Risk at New Brunswick Hospital Affects Nearly 2,500 Women

A Canadian hospital sent letters recently to nearly 2,500 colposcopy patients to notify them that they might be at risk for HIV and other infections. The Miramichi Regional Hospital in New Brunswick informed women who underwent colposcopy treatments at its facilities between May 1999 and May 2013 that they should be tested for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C because staff did not always apply sterilization measures on forceps used during the procedures.

A colposcopy is a procedure used to examine a vagina and cervix in response to abnormal Pap test results. If a healthcare provider notes a problem, they will take a biopsy of tissue, using forceps, for further testing.

According to officials, staff sterilized medical instruments thoroughly every night, but if the clinic had an abundance of patients during a day, staff sometimes instead would clean forceps with a high-level disinfection process, which “destroys 99.99 percent of blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.” Dr. Gordon Dow, an infectious disease specialist at the hospital, emphasized, however, that the risk of infection is "very, very small," and said a review of medical literature could find no cases where high-level disinfection caused the transmission of any of the viral infections.

An employee identified the problem in May 2013 and the hospital changed procedures immediately. John McGarry, president of Horizon Health Network, said they waited three months to disclose the findings so they could assess the risk and receive advice from experts. "Again, while I firmly believe that disclosing this information is the right thing to do, I cannot underscore strongly enough that the risk of infection to any of our patients is extremely low," he said, and added "I, on behalf of everyone at Horizon, apologize for this error and the resulting apprehension this news may cause our patients."