Initiating Long Covid RECOVERy.

The NIH's RECOVER Initiative aims to ease the suffering of those living with Long Covid.

Vaginal Bacteria and Proinflammatory Host Immune Mediators as Biomarkers of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Acquisition Risk Among African Women.

Background: Few investigations have assessed contributions of both vaginal bacteria and proinflammatory immune mediators to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition risk in a prospective cohort.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study of African women who participated in a randomized placebo-controlled trial of daily oral versus vaginal tenofovir-based preexposure prophylaxis for HIV infection. Vaginal concentrations of 23 bacterial taxa and 16 immune mediators were measured.

Uptake and Persistence of Safer Conception Strategies Among South African Women Planning for Pregnancy.

Safer conception strategies can minimize HIV acquisition during periconception periods among women living in HIV-endemic areas. We examined uptake and predictors of persistent use of the same safer conception strategy among a cohort of HIV-uninfected South African women ages 18-35 years planning for pregnancy with a partner living with HIV or of unknown HIV-serostatus. The safer conception strategies we evaluated included oral PrEP, condomless sex limited to peak fertility, and waiting for a better time to have a child (until, for example, the risks of HIV acquisition are reduced and/or the individual is prepared to care for a child); persistence was defined as using the same safer conception strategy from the first visit through 9 months follow-up.

Urgent Need to Understand and Prevent Gonococcal Infection: From the Laboratory to Real-World Context.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is widespread globally. Primary prevention is unsuccessful and antimicrobial resistance threatens optimal management. There is no specific vaccine and natural infection studies show that N gonorrhoeae can avoid and suppress immune responses.

Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Plus Azithromycin to Prevent Malaria and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Pregnant Women With HIV (PREMISE): A Randomized, Double-Masked, Placebo-Controlled, Phase IIB Clinical Trial.

Background: This trial tested the effectiveness of a novel regimen to prevent malaria and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among pregnant women with HIV in Cameroon. Our hypothesis was that the addition of azithromycin (AZ) to standard daily trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) prophylaxis would reduce malaria and STI infection rates at delivery.

Methods: Pregnant women with HIV at gestational age <28 weeks were randomized to adjunctive monthly oral AZ 1 g daily or placebo for 3 days and both groups received daily standard oral TMP-SMX through delivery.

Attitudes Toward Menstrual Suppression Among Cyclic and Continuous Contraceptive Vaginal Ring Users in Kenya.

Objective: Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) are developmental dual-purpose options that would provide women with a contraceptive as well as a prevention modality aimed at sexually transmitted infections. The contraceptive vaginal ring (CVR) has many properties that makes it an ideal MPT candidate. The objective of this study is to understand women's attitudes towards menstrual suppression, a potential side effect of using a CVR, and how to address these attitudes for MPT vaginal rings in development.

Interrupted SAr-Alkylation Dearomatization.

Dearomatizations provide powerful synthetic routes to rapidly assemble substituted carbocycles and heterocycles found in a plethora of bioactive molecules. Harnessing the advantages of dearomatization typically requires vigorous reagents because of the difficulty in disrupting the stable aromatic core. A relatively mild dearomatization strategy is described that employs lithiated nitriles or isocyanides in a simple SAr-type addition to form σ-complexes that are trapped by alkylation.

HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis With Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Among Cisgender Women.

Importance: Emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (F/TDF) for HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective in cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM) when adherence is high (>4 doses/week). Real-world effectiveness and adherence with F/TDF for PrEP in cisgender women is less well characterized.

Objective: To characterize the effectiveness of F/TDF for PrEP and its relationship with adherence in cisgender women.

"Just the Stigma Associated with PrEP Makes You Feel Like It's HIV Itself": Exploring PrEP Stigma, Skepticism, and Medical Mistrust Among Black Cisgender Women in Urban and Rural Counties in the U.S. Deep South.

Despite its effectiveness in HIV prevention, PrEP use among Black women is suboptimal. Notably in the Deep South, Black women have the lowest PrEP uptake rates among all US regions. To increase PrEP engagement, research suggests the implementation of structural and social interventions particular to the needs of Black women.

Genital Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Suppression With Valacyclovir Is Not Associated With Changes in Nugent Score or Absolute Abundance of Key Vaginal Bacteria.

Background: In women, genital herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection is associated with increased risk for recurrent bacterial vaginosis (BV), but causal relationships are unclear.

Methods: Women with a self-reported history of BV and HSV-2 seropositivity self-collected vaginal and anogenital swabs for 2 nonconsecutive 28-day periods, in the absence or presence of valacyclovir suppressive therapy (500 mg daily). HSV polymerase chain reaction was performed on anogenital swabs; vaginal swabs were used for assessment of BV by Nugent score and quantification of vaginal microbiota.