New hiv treatments and vaccine trials on the horizon

Bruce Ward can pinpoint exactly when he became infected with HIV: the New Yorker was vacationing in Hawaii in early 1984 when he came down with the flu-like symptoms associated with exposure

to the virus. This was still a couple months before medical experts would announce that they had discovered the cause of AIDS, a virus initially labeled as HTLV-III. Two years later, he

took an HIV test and learned that he was positive for HIV. Ward, now 63, considers himself one of the lucky ones: “I always managed to stay one step ahead of the virus,” he recalls. In 1988,

he started taking AZT, the first antiviral drug approved to treat HIV. Other, similar drugs followed, which he would go on for a couple years before developing resistance to the medication.

(Because the HIV virus mutates rapidly, it easily becomes resistant to medications.) In 1997, when a breakthrough three-drug cocktail of antiviral medications became available, he started

on that.  “What people don’t realize is what a big deal that was — everything changed almost overnight,” he says. “I had lost over 90 friends to the virus, but after that, it was no longer a

death sentence.” His feelings are echoed by Alan Taege, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. While a positive HIV diagnosis is not something to be taken lightly,

medical advances over the last quarter century have made living with the virus manageable.  “If a 25-year-old walks into my office now with an HIV diagnosis, I tell them that if they take

their medication every day, and take care of themselves, they can expect to live a full life,” he says. Recently, Taege saw a patient in his mid-70s who just returned from an

around-the-world trip with his life partner. “He looked at me and said, ‘I was diagnosed with HIV in 1987, and I never thought I’d be alive to do this,’ ” Taege recalls.  Here are four

important things to learn about HIV today, ranging from the latest in treatments and breakthroughs in vaccine research to how the virus impacts older adults.  1. LONGER-ACTING, SIMPLER

THERAPIES The advent of triple-drug therapy for HIV in the mid-1990s was a game changer when it came to management and treatment of the disease. But it required taking multiple pills several

times a day, often with severe side effects.  Today, there are 11 combination-pill options on the market that include an entire regimen in a single pill. But adherence to this can still be

difficult for some patients, especially those who are homeless or struggle with substance abuse or mental health disorders, Taege says. This past January, the Food and Drug Administration

approved a new treatment, Cabenuva, which contains two different types of HIV drugs: cabotegravir and rilpivirine. It’s given as an injectable once a month.