STI Podcast

Previously we reported on the Rise of Syphilis world wide. Today we focus on the devastating effects of syphilis on parents and their children. Hand in hand with an increase in syphilis incidence in adults the rates of congenital syphilis are rising and missed opportunities to test and treat birthing parents, their partners and babies are preventable contributing factors. Congenital syphilis is caused by Treponema pallidum transmission to the foetus during pregnancy and birth, resulting in diverse clinical presentations. Congenital syphilis in a foetus may be associated with a full-term, seemingly healthy infant, but it can also cause multi-organ dysfunction, prematurity, and/or stillbirth. Routine screening and early treatment of pregnant people affected by syphilis is the hallmark of effective intervention to decrease infant morbidity and mortality.

Host: Ass Prof/Dr Fabiola Martin, Canberra Sexual Health Centre and Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Guests:

- Professor Clare Nourse, Member of the Order of Australia, a paediatric infection specialist at the Queensland Children’s Hospital and clinical professor of paediatrics at the University of Queensland
- Dr Justin Penner, Consultant in paediatric infectious diseases at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, UK and Honorary Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London

Continuing on the search for innovative strategies to shape the future of HIV cure research in the second part of this series, Dr Jillian Lau discusses how anti–PD1 immunotherapies and carefully designed treatment interruption studies are helping clinicians and scientists to better understand pathways to durable HIV remission. Dr Ming Lee then breaks down the results of the RIO study, highlighting the promising potential of broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs) in sustaining viral control without ongoing therapy. Together, they offer a forward-looking perspective on the scientific breakthroughs moving us closer to an HIV cure.

Listen to part 1 of this podcast:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/world-aids-day-pt-1-progress-towards-an-hiv-cure/id356342980?i=1000739054089&uo=4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/73LY8Eie8EQ7I5FKF6F0SM

Web: https://stibmj.podbean.com/e/world-aids-day-pt-1-progress-towards-an-hiv-cure/ 

Links:

Sustained HIV-1 remission after heterozygous CCR5Δ32 stem cell transplantation

Host: Dr Ming Lee, Sexual Health Specialist, Canberra Sexual Health Centre, ACT, Australia; Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London, London, UK
 
Guests: 
- Professor Christian Gaebler, Professor, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Professor Beatriz Mothe, Group Leader and Senior Research Scientist, IrsiCaixa, Barcelona, Spain
- Dr Jillian Lau, Infectious Disease Physician and Post doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia

In the first of this two-part series, we explore the latest advances in the search for an HIV cure. Professor Christian Gaebler shares insights from the remarkable case of the second Berlin patient —an individual cured of HIV following a stem cell transplant—and reflects on what similar cases mean for the future of curative strategies. We’re also joined by Professor Beatriz Mothe, who discusses the promise of therapeutic vaccines and their role in long-term HIV remission, and the results of the AELIX003 study. 

Links:

Sustained HIV-1 remission after heterozygous CCR5Δ32 stem cell transplantation

Host: Dr Ming Lee, Sexual Health Specialist, Canberra Sexual Health Centre, ACT, Australia; Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London, London, UK
 
Guests: 
- Professor Christian Gaebler, Professor, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Professor Beatriz Mothe, Group Leader and Senior Research Scientist, IrsiCaixa, Barcelona, Spain
- Dr Jillian Lau, Infectious Disease Physician and Post doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia

Over the last decade we have seen an exponential surge in research and peer reviewed publications about the sexual health of trans and gender diverse people. We now know that sexually transmitted infections are highly prevalent in this key population and there is an urgent need for concentrated efforts made by patient advocates, health care providers, public health policy developers and governments to improve health and prevent harm in this underserved population. Today we discuss with Prof Jade Ghosn, his team's latest publication in STI BMJ titled: "Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and retention in care in a group of transgender women at high risk of HIV: a French cohort of follow-up" and with Alisha Goburdhun, her team's work in supporting and advocating for trans clients at Accpetess-T.

 

Host: Ass Prof/Dr Fabiola Martin, Sexual health Specialist, Canberra Sexual Health Centre, Australian National University ‌

Guests: Alisha Goburdhun, Heath Mediator at Acceptess-T, Paris, France

Prof Jade Ghosn, Infectious Diseases Specialist at the Sexual Health Clinic in Bichat University Hospital in Paris, France

Most people requiring HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are offered a daily or event driven oral tablet which contains two HIV antiretroviral drugs combined. Oral medication, however, may not be a feasible and/or effective PrEP option for some. FDA has approved two long-acting injectable HIV anti-viral drugs: Cabotegravir, an HIV integrase inhibitor (2 monthly injections) and Lenacapavir an HIV capsid inhibitor (6 monthly injections) as safe and efficacious HIV PrEP. Today we will discuss the efficacy of and access to long-acting HIV PrEP with Prof Sinead Delany-Moretlwe and Dr Claire Dewsnap.

 

STI has published extensively on the topic, here are a few examples of recent articles:

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and retention in care in a group of transgender women at high risk of HIV: a French cohort of follow-up

Association between HIV risk perception, knowledge of biomedical prevention and sexual behaviour among sub-Saharan African immigrants living in a precarious situation in France

Preferences for pre-exposure prophylaxis service package among men who have sex with men in Australia: a discrete choice experiment

Estimating the number of people who could benefit from HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in England and the unmet need

Regression-based risk scores using sociodemographic and sexual behaviour data do not predict asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections among HIV PrEP users

 

Host: Ass Prof/Dr Fabiola Martin, Sexual Health Specialist, Associate Professor at Australian National University

Guests: Prof Sinead Delany-Moretlwe, Professor of Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Dr Claire Dewsnap, President of the British HIV Association for HIV & Sexual Health (BASHH) and Consultant in Genitourinary Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospital, Sheffield, UK