Antiviral drugs are of paramount importance in the accomplishment of the vision of zero new cases of COVID-19 globally, through sustainable retaliation against viral diseases. However, several challenges currently exist in Africa which include insufficient infrastructure, deteriorating health systems, and rising costs of healthcare delivery with concomitant rising inequity with regards to access to health services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic itself has stimulated an increased use of phytotherapy in Africa as a result of essential drug shortages that have been attributed to a plethora of contributing factors such as travel restrictions, reduced per capita income as well as increased expenditure on transport. As a result, the paucity of antiviral along with antiretroviral drugs used to combat COVID-19 as well as several other endemic viral diseases in Africa has created a worrisome state. This article therefore discusses and aims to underscore the causes, effects, and implications of antiviral and antiretroviral shortages amid COVID-19 in Africa.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.24926/iip.v12i4.4328 | DOI Listing |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
February 2025
U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Center for Infectious Disease Research, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
HIV-1 envelope broadly neutralizing antibodies represent a promising component of HIV-1 cure strategies. To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of combination monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in a rigorous nonhuman primate model, we tested different combinations of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) neutralizing mAbs in SIVmac251-infected rhesus macaques. Antiretroviral therapy-suppressed animals received anti-SIV mAbs targeting multiple Env epitopes spanning analytical treatment interruption (ATI) in 3 groups (n = 7 each): i) no mAb; ii) 4-mAb combination; and iii) 2-mAb combination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCien Saude Colet
January 2025
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo. Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455, 2º andar, sala 2216, Cerqueira Cesar. 01246-903 São Paulo SP Brasil.
Prophylaxis based on antiretrovirals, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis to HIV (PrEP), has the potential to protect the populations most vulnerable to infection, which renews optimism for controlling the HIV epidemic. Against this backdrop, the aim of this article is to analyze the perceptions, negotiations and tensions surrounding the use of PrEP by men who have sex with men (MSM). This is a qualitative cross-section of a multicenter study, analyzing semi-structured interviews with 18 users of specialized HIV/AIDS healthcare facilities in the city of São Paulo/SP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Faculty of Sciences and Technology (FAST), Laboratory of Biology and Molecular Typing in Microbiology (LBTMM), University of Abomey-Calavi, Atlantic, Benin.
Background: Antiretroviral treatment increases the risk of accumulation of resistance mutations that negatively impact the possibilities of future treatment. This study aimed to present the frequency of HIV-1 antiretroviral resistance mutations and the genetic diversity among children with virological failure in five pediatric care facilities in Benin.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from November 20, 2020, to November 30, 2022, in children under 15 years of age who failed ongoing antiretroviral treatment at five facilities care in Benin (VL > 3log10 on two consecutive realizations three months apart).
PLoS One
January 2025
CHIP, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Many HIV clinics with poor IT-infrastructure are unable to report data on individuals in care with HIV, on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and virologically suppressed (VS), with the aim of monitoring the HIV Continuum of Care to estimate efficacy of HIV treatment programmes. We developed an estimation-tool, ESTIHIV, and determined the minimal data required for a random sample, to produce representative estimates, with a specified level of precision, of people with HIV on ART and VS. For proof of concept, 8852 HIV positive persons from seven clinics in seven different countries, with a follow-up visit during 2017, were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Microbiol
January 2025
Midwifery Education Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Soebandi University, Jember, Indonesia.
Anaemia and thrombocytopenia are blood-related irregularities linked to an increased likelihood of disease progression, leading to death in people living with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (PLHIV). Severe clinical conditions associated with human immunodeficiency 1 (HIV-1) infection may be related to blood irregularities among PLHIV. The study aimed to examine the factors correlated with blood irregularities among PLHIV receiving antiretroviral treatment in West Papua.
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