HIV and noncommunicable disease comorbidities in the era of antiretroviral therapy: a vital agenda for research in low- and middle-income country settings.

In this special 2014 issue of JAIDS, international investigator teams review a host of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that are often reported among people living and aging with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. With the longer lifespans that antiretroviral therapy programs have made possible, NCDs are occurring due to a mix of chronic immune activation, medication side effects, coinfections, and the aging process itself. Cancer; cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases; metabolic, body, and bone disorders; gastrointestinal, hepatic, and nutritional aspects; mental, neurological, and substance use disorders; and renal and genitourinary diseases are discussed.

HIV and aging: state of knowledge and areas of critical need for research. A report to the NIH Office of AIDS Research by the HIV and Aging Working Group.

HIV risk behaviors, susceptibility to HIV acquisition, progression of disease after infection, and response to antiretroviral therapy all vary by age. In those living with HIV, current effective treatment has increased the median life expectancy to >70 years of age. Biologic, medical, individual, social, and societal issues change as one ages with HIV infection, but there has been only a small amount of research in this field.

Late postnatal transmission of HIV-1 and associated factors.

Background: The present study was undertaken to determine the risk and timing of late postnatal transmission (LPT) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).

Methods: Breast-fed infants previously enrolled in 2 trials of antiretroviral prophylaxis were monitored in Malawi. Kaplan-Meier and proportional hazard models assessed cumulative incidence and association of factors with LPT.

Nevirapine and zidovudine at birth to reduce perinatal transmission of HIV in an African setting: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: Antenatal counseling and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing are not universal in Africa; thus, women often present in labor with unknown HIV status without receiving the HIVNET 012 nevirapine (NVP) regimen (a single oral dose of NVP to the mother at the start of labor and to the infant within 72 hours of birth).

Objective: To determine risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV when either standard use of NVP alone or in combination with zidovudine (ZDV) was administered to infants of women tested at delivery.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial conducted between April 1, 2000, and March 15, 2003, at 6 clinics in Blantyre, Malawi, Africa.

Short postexposure prophylaxis in newborn babies to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1: NVAZ randomised clinical trial.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, most women present late for delivery with unknown HIV status, which limits the use of intrapartum nevirapine to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. We aimed to determine whether post-exposure prophylaxis of nevirapine plus zidovudine given to babies only reduced transmission of HIV more than did a regimen of nevirapine alone.

Methods: We randomly assigned 1119 babies of Malawian women with HIV-1 who presented late (ie, within 2 h of expected delivery) to either nevirapine alone or nevirapine and zidovudine.

Antenatal vitamin A supplementation increases birth weight and decreases anemia among infants born to human immunodeficiency virus-infected women in Malawi.

Vitamin A is essential for immunity and growth. A controlled clinical that involved 697 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected pregnant women was conducted to determine whether vitamin A prevents anemia, low birth weight, growth failure, HIV transmission, and mortality. Women received daily doses of iron and folate, either alone or combined with vitamin A (3 mg retinol equivalent), from 18-28 weeks' gestation until delivery.