People on ARVs take more sexual risks - study

People who have HIV and Aids and who are on anti-retroviral treatment (ART) tend to take greater sexual risks than those who are positive but who are not on treatment.

That's according to a recent study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) into perceptions and behavioural risk relating to people who are HIV-positive.

The study's findings indicate that HIV-positive people on treatment tend to practise safe sex less frequently compared to those who are not on treatment.

They appear not to view the disease as a threat.

The study was conducted by Vuyiswa Mathambo, a research manager in the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development research programme.

The research was conducted by sampling a group of 104 HIV-positive men and women who had been receiving ART for more than six months and 111 HIV-positive men and women who were not receiving ART at the time of the study.

Most of those surveyed were women aged 26 to 30, unmarried, with a secondary level qualification and unemployed.

People in both groups were asked about their perceptions of the impact of HIV and Aids on the frequency with which they practised safe sex.

The report is published in the HSRC Review.

In terms of the statistics, more people who were in the treatment group viewed Aids as a disease that was no longer life-threatening and reported practising safe sex less often since starting treatment.

Of those interviewed, 84 percent of those in the treatment group said Aids was no longer a threat compared to 76 percent in the non-treatment group.

Sixty-three percent of those in the treatment group practised safe sex compared to 51 percent of those in the non-treatment group.

Mathambo writes that the study's findings showed a need to communicate appropriate HIV-prevention messages to those on treatment as it was still important to practise safe sex.

"ART is known to reduce viral loads, Aids-related illnesses and death and to improve the quality of life of those taking this treatment but concerns have been raised about the perceptions of risk as well as the behaviour of those receiving ART...

"While acknowledging the difficulty of linking risk perception and sexual practices, it was notable that some respondents had sought treatment for STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in both groups in the past two to three months," she says.

Mathambo adds that the study site was located within a hospital founded on a Catholic ethos, meaning that condoms may not have been as readily available.

Meanwhile, a comprehensive study by the Institute of Security Studies says that the politicisation of HIV and Aids has impacted on corruption and accountability.

The study, A Lethal Cocktail by Collette Schulz-Herzenberg, explores the impact of corruption on HIV and Aids prevention and treatment efforts in South Africa.

"It (politicisation) appears to relate indirectly to instances of abuse and corruption on the part of public officials and other individuals by affording a degree of protection."

Online tool developed to fight HIV spread

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are using a new Web-based software program to help fight the spread of HIV.

The study, led by Joseph Konstan, a professor in computer science and engineering, and B. R. Simon Rosser, a professor in the School of Public Health, are embarking on a clinical trial to test a software program that aims to reduce risk-taking behaviour associated with the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Konstan and Rosser's research team have been working for more than five years to create computer programs that assess risks undertaken by men seeking sex with other men through online venues. The team is now testing an online intervention program designed to reduce sexual risk-taking and the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

The software program asks users questions about issues such as body image, self esteem, sexual health and risk-taking behaviours.

Then, the program offers information about HIV/AIDS related stories.

"The goal of this research is to create a genuine online experience that promotes healthier sexual behaviour and encourages people to take fewer risks in sexual encounters outside of cyberspace," Konstan said.

The team's work has become a multi-phased, interdisciplinary project, called the Men's Internet Study (MINTS).

Rosser said it is crucial to use the Internet for disease prevention, because their research shows that seeking sex is the most popular use for the Internet among high-risk populations, such as men who have sex with men.

"If we don't do (HIV prevention outreach) right or in a way that's most responsive, we're going to have a new HIV epidemic. There's enormous urgency in addressing gaps in HIV prevention," he added.

In addition to hopes for HIV prevention, MINTS researchers also hope their online prevention model can be used for other public health purposes.

"The importance of the MINTS Internet study is not just addressing HIV," Rosser said, noting that the online prevention model could be adapted for things like cancer prevention, substance abuse interventions, and obesity prevention.

The researchers hope that the trials would show that the Web-based program is effective in the prevention of risk-related behaviour leading to sexually transmitted infections.

India stops further trials of HIV vaccine

New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) Human trials of a US-produced HIV/AIDS vaccine have been halted in India after it was found to induce poor immune responses.



The vaccine, developed by the US-based Targeted Genetics Corporation, uses the adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a vector to deliver an AIDS vaccine against subtype C, the dominant HIV subtype in India, Scidev.net reported.



India's National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) tested the vaccine on 30 volunteers and announced its decision in November.



'The vaccine met safety criteria, but did not induce immune responses in a sufficient number of the volunteers to meet the criteria for advancement. At present there are no plans to test it further,' Pat Fast, executive director of medical affairs at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), told SciDev.Net.



Fast said the vaccine showed a 20 percent immune response in the phase I trials - IAVI generally looks for 60 percent immune response before moving on to phase II. The vaccine has shown a similar response in trials in Belgium and Germany.



The halt comes at a time when animal studies of AAV are suggesting that the virus may pose a risk to human health.



A study, led by the University of Pennsylvania and published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), reports that AAV affects the ability of a crucial group of immune cells - CD8 cells, a type of T cell - to proliferate in vaccinated mice.



CD8 cells play a key role in the immune response to HIV infection, killing the infected cells.



'I am relieved that the trial is halted in India. Although our work centred on mice we cannot rule out a similar impairment in human vaccine recipients,' said Hildegund Ertl, professor at the university's Wistar Institute and one of the authors of the JCI study.



In July 2007, a study published in the journal Science showed links between a disabled AAV vector and tumour growth in mice. It concluded that further research into AAV is needed to determine its long-term safety in humans.



However, Fast points out there are fundamental differences between the immune responses of mice and humans, particularly with regards to HIV. Additionally, the mice received a very high dose of the vaccine - which is known to impair immune response.



India's hopes for a HIV vaccine now rest on an ongoing trial at the Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC) in Chennai, on a modified vaccinia Ankara virus, one of the pox viruses, as a vector.