‘Miracle' Aids drug ‘may give protection for a year'
A new drug hailed as a leap forward against the HIV/Aids epidemic may be able to protect people for twice as long as first thought, new research suggests.
Lenacapavir was named the 2024 scientific breakthrough of the year after trials showed a subcutaneous injection every six months provided total protection against catching the HIV virus.
Research published in the Lancet medical journal has now found the drug is safe and persists in the body for more than a year if injected deep into a patient's muscle.
The authors of the peer-reviewed paper said their findings 'show the potential for biomedical HIV prevention with a once-yearly dosing interval'.
After decades of trying, scientists are yet to come up with an effective vaccine against the HIV virus that causes Aids, and the infection still kills an average of one person each minute.
However there have been breakthroughs in protective anti-HIV treatments, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP), which stop people catching the virus.
Previous versions of PrEP have been short term, meaning people can still get infected if they forget to adhere to a daily dose of pills.
Long-lasting PrEP is considered more effective because people are less likely to forget to take it. It is also more discreet for patients worried about stigma, because they do not need to keep large quantities of medicine at home, or make frequent trips to a clinic.
A large clinical trial spanning South Africa and Uganda last year reported Lenacapavir injections provided total protection in young African women for six months at a time.
The results were so clear cut that researchers stopped the trial early and Winnie Byanyima, head of the United Nations Aids body, UNAIDS, described Lenacapavir as a 'miracle product'.
The new study by scientists at the Gilead Sciences' pharma giant behind Lenacapavir looked at the safety of giving 40 patients intramuscular injections and whether the drug stayed in their systems.
Researchers found that after 56 weeks, drug levels in the patients were still higher than those associated with HIV protection in the earlier trials.
The authors said their findings suggested a one-yearly injection would be just as effective as the six-monthly jab.
No clinically significant safety concerns were identified, the research said.
Lenacapavir had already been used as a treatment of last resort in a small number of patients infected with HIV and was last year estimated to cost patients more than $40,000 (£31,000) a year in countries including the United States, France, Norway and Australia.
The high price led to fears poorer countries would be unable to afford it.
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria in December said it would join forces with the American government's anti-HIV campaign to supply affordable doses of the drug.
The fund has said it will since roll out the jab with or without US help after Donald Trump put much of his country's international aid on pause.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
‘I was told I had months to live at 33 but now I'm 75 and living with the virus'
Jonathan Blake was just 33 years old when he became one of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed with HIV. Little did he know that after receiving what was then considered to be a 'death sentence', he would still be living a happy and healthy life at 75. His experiences in the 1980s, along with the LGBTQ+ community which he was a part of, have since inspired both film and TV projects, including the 2014 film Pride. The film sees British actor Dominic West play Jonathan in a retelling of his work as a member of the group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, Jonathan reflects on the moment he first received the harrowing news that he had contracted what was, in 1982, an unknown virus. He shared: 'I was told I had a virus. There is no cure. You have between three and nine months to live… I was winded and just kind of numbed by it.' He recalled the days leading up to his diagnosis and how he felt as though every single lymph node in his body had started to grow. After silently struggling with his mobility, Jonathan booked himself in with a GP. It was then that he was sent to hospital, where they did a biopsy and he was left waiting for a few long days. He shared: 'Two days later they came back, having done the biopsy, and they'd given me this news, that I had this virus, with three to nine months to live, and palliative care was available when the time comes. And then, after having been completely floored, they said that I could go home.' 'I mean, it was really frightening", he continued. "And I just decided that what was in front of me was actually so horrendous that I was going to take my own life, but I didn't know quite how I was going to do it…' The tragic diagnosis sent him, at just 33, into isolation. The lack of information around HIV at the time meant he feared passing the virus on to others through the air. 'I would forever go to the gay bars in the East End because I needed to be with people," he said. "But I would stand in the darkest corner and send out all the vibes to say 'don't come near me people' because what are you going to say? I felt like a modern-day leper because I just assumed that it was airborne. You know, it was never explained that the only way you can pass it on is by blood and fluids, none of that.' It was when he was at his very rock bottom that Jonathan found hope in a group of like-minded people where 'everyone was welcome'. With an interest in activism and politics he spotted a tiny advert in a magazine called Capital Gay in 1983 calling on people to join the Gays For a Nuclear-Free Future in a CND campaign. He said: 'I just thought, this is going to be my re-entry into society. I'm going to join that because what the little advert said was 'everybody welcome', and I just thought, 'well, that includes me.' This small decision changed the trajectory of Jonathan's life as it was here that he met late partner Nigel Young. Not only that but his work with LGSM created a legacy away from his diagnosis, for his work helping under-represented groups, which in this case was a Welsh mining town. Written by Stephen Beresford and directed by Matthew Warchus, the film Pride features a character based on Jonathan, played by Dominic West. The creation of the project helped him to reconnect with old friends and relive those spectacular years of activism while he was secretly fighting for his life. He recalls meeting the actor who would play him in the movie. It was the day before that he got the call asking him to meet the mystery actor and classic Jonathan, welcoming everyone he comes into contact with with open arms, thought "it's just enough time to make a lemon drizzle cake.' Jonathan said: 'So the next day arrives, the doorbell goes, I open the door, and this man thrusts out his hand and introduces himself as Matthew Weiler, the director. And over his shoulder I see McNulty from The Wire. And at that point I realised that it was Dom West. I was aware of him because I've watched The Wire and loved it.' Growing up in Birmingham before making the move to London later in his life, Jonathan knew from an early age he was gay. 'I already knew that I was attracted to men,' he explained. 'And I had already sussed out that that wasn't acceptable. 'You know, this wasn't something that you could just rush home and shout about as such. At an early age if I couldn't be found the headteacher would say 'if you go and look where Bert is, you'll find John'. He was the caretaker and I just followed him around. You know, pheromones, infatuation, what have you.' The stigma that came along with HIV in the 1980s was something that didn't help the problems he already faced as a homosexual man. During the first appearance of the virus, there was a widespread misconception that HIV and AIDS were solely diseases that affected gay men and it was this that fuelled fear and discrimination that still lives on to this day. 'People sort of carried this blame,' Jonathan said. 'They were blamed for their own illness. You've decided to explore this thing. You've decided to go out and have sex. You've done this to yourself. And the chief constable of Manchester, John Alderson at the time, talked about gay men who were 'living in this swirl of their own filth'. 'And what is really interesting is the way that suddenly there's been this huge focus on trans people. And the way that people talk about and dismiss the trans community is exactly the same language that was being used to attack gay men in the 60s and 70s. It's almost word for word.' It wasn't until 10 years ago that Jonathan finally started to feel a sense of freedom, at 65. He said: 'What was amazing was the turning point for me was 2015, because in 2015 they announced that on effective medication, you cannot pass the virus.' It was a powerful sentence to hear after years of questioning his own health and that of others. 'And so with it came the phrase, U = U. Undetectable equals untransmittable. And psychologically it was incredible.' Back in the 1980s, however, Jonathan famously refused to take part in the drug trials for HIV. He said: 'I was asked if I would be a part of a trial called the Convoy Trial. And they were basically trialling the very first drug that was used around HIV, which was called AZT. What nobody ever told us was that AZT was a failed chemotherapy drug… 'And so it would leave you open to opportunistic infections. That is exactly how the HIV virus works. I think one of the reasons that I'm here today is that I never touched AZT because all the people who touched AZT, if they didn't withdraw from that trial because they were so nauseous, basically died.' Thinking back to how far we'd come since the early days of this initially unknown virus, Jonathan recalled a time where two communities were forced to join together. He said: 'What was really fascinating was that in the late 80s, there was suddenly this influx of Black African women who came to drop-in centres. 'And it was really extraordinary because they were having to deal with the fact that they were mainly surrounded by white gay men. And mainly they came from Christian communities, where homosexuality was just forbidden. So suddenly they're having to deal with the fact that they've got this disease which basically 'homosexuals have'. And that, to me, is what stigma is all about.' Now he believes the way forward isthrough "raising awareness and sharing information. He said: "I think the difficulty is that there are still parts of the population that I still believe that it can't affect them. And what is amazing now is that we have this arsenal of medication.' The Terrence Higgins Trust works to support those with HIV, providing helpful resources and information for those interested in learning more about the virus or who are living with it themselves. The charity's mission is to end any new cases of HIV by 2030 and with the help of people like Jonathan Blake sharing their incredible stories, there's hope that this could be a reality. Living with HIV has opened up so many doors for Jonathan in a world that once felt so isolating to him. Alongside his part in Pride, he has been able to share insight for other documentary films, theatre performances, and written works, as well as attending talks. With endless amounts of stories to share, he is always keen to embrace , educate and connect with people through the virus that he was once told would be the end of it all.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Malnutrition in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp after US aid cuts
Hundreds of thousands of people are "slowly starving" in Kenyan refugee camps after US funding cuts reduced food rations to their lowest ever levels, a United Nations official has told the BBC. The impact is starkly visible at a hospital in the sprawling Kakuma camp in the north-west of the East African nation. It is home to roughly 300,000 refugees who have fled strife in countries across Africa and the Middle children fill a 30-bed ward at Kakuma's Amusait Hospital, staring blankly at visitors as they receive treatment for severe acute baby, Hellen, barely moves. Parts of her skin are wrinkled and peeling, leaving angry patches of red - the result of malnutrition, a medic tells the the aisle lies a nine-month-old baby, James, the eighth child of Agnes Awila, a refugee from northern Uganda. "The food is not enough, my children eat only once a day. If there's no food what do you feed them?" she Hellen and thousands of other refugees in Kakuma depend on the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) for vital sustenance. But the agency had to drastically reduce its aid operations in many countries after President Donald Trump announced sweeping cuts to US foreign aid programmes earlier this year, as part of his "America First" US had provided around 70% of the funding for the WFP's operations in Kenya. The WFP says that as a result of the cuts, the agency has had to slash the refugees' rations to 30% of the minimum recommended amount a person should eat to stay healthy."If we have a protracted situation where this is what we can manage, then basically we have a slowly starving population," says Felix Okech, the WFP's head of refugee operations in Kenya. Outside Kakuma's food distribution centre, the sun beats down on the dry, dusty ground and security officers manage queues of refugees. They are led into a holding centre and then a verification area. Aid workers scan the refugees' identity cards and take their fingerprints, before taking them to collect their Bililo Mami, a mother of two, has brought a jerrycan to collect cooking oil, along with sacks for lentils and rice."I am grateful to receive this little [food] but it is not enough," says the 51-year-old, who arrived in the camp 13 years ago from South Kivu, a region in conflict-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Ms Mami says the refugees used to "eat well" - three meals a day. But now that rations are at 30% of their usual amount, the food she has been given is not enough to last one month, let alone the two that she has been asked to stretch it has also been affected by another casualty of the cuts - cash transfers. Until this year, the UN was giving around $4m (£3m) in cash directly to refugees in Kenya's camps each month, intended to allow families to buy basic Mami, who is diabetic, used the cash to buy food, like vegetables, which were more appropriate for her diet than the cereals handed out at the distribution centre. Now, she is forced to eat whatever is also used the money to start a vegetable garden and rear chicken and ducks, which she sold to other refugees, at a market. But the discontinuation of the cash transfers, locally known as "bamba chakula", has meant that the market faces like Badaba Ibrahim, who is from the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, are no longer able to extend lines of credit to fellow refugees. The 42-year-old runs a retail shop in the local shopping centre. He says his customers, now unable to purchase food, at times camp at his shop all day, begging for help. "They will tell you, 'My children have not eaten for a full day,'" Mr Ibrahim in the Kakuma camp, 28-year-old Agnes Livio serves up food for her five young sons. They live in a cubicle, which is roughly 2m (6ft 6in) by 2m made from corrugated iron Livio serves the food on one large plate for all to share. It is the family's first meal of the day - at 1400. "We used to get porridge for breakfast but not anymore. So, the children have to wait until the afternoon to have their first meal," says Ms Livio, who fled from South at Amusait Hospital, medics are feeding a number of malnourished infants through tubes. Three toddlers and their mothers are being discharged - back to the community where food is scarce and conditions are the prospect of more funding is not very promising and unless things change over the next two months, the refugees are staring at starvation come August."It is a really dire situation," admits Mr Okeck."We do have some signals from some one or two donors about support with that cash component."But remember, the very kind and generous US has been providing over 70% - so if you're still missing 70%… those prospects are not good." You may also be interested in: 'My wife fears sex, I fear death' - impacts of the USAID freezeAfrica is important to Trump, despite aid cuts, envoy tells BBC]Nigeria and Kenya among nations running out of HIV drugs - WHOHow Trump locked out contraception in Africa Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Donald Trump fans fear dementia as 'catheter' spotted in his trousers
The US president was the subject of a viral tweet that asked "what's going on here?" after a strange lump was spotted in his trousers, with many claiming it was a catheter A peculiar bulge in Donald Trump's trousers has sparked wild online speculation that it might be linked to a severe form of dementia. The odd protrusion was noticed in the leg of his trousers during an appearance in the Rose Garden. One sharp-eyed Twitter user suggested, "Appears Trump is wearing a catheter," as they shared the viral images of Trump's leg that caused a stir on Monday night. Another speculated: "Foley catheter. Urinary incontinence is a symptom of late stage Prefrontal Temporal Dementia." This tweet quickly racked up over 7,000 likes, reports the Mirror US. Frontotemporal dementia is characterised by abnormal protein clumps within brain cells, thought to impair their function significantly. This condition can result in alterations to personality, behaviour, and communication abilities, including language and speech. Incontinence in individuals with this type of dementia may be due to a range of symptoms such as disinhibition, compulsive actions, distractibility, and reduced self-awareness. A Foley catheter is used to drain urine from the bladder into an external collection bag. The intrigue began with a tweet asking, "What's going on here?" accompanied by four zoomed-in photos of Trump from behind, highlighting the mysterious lump, which garnered over 17,000 likes. This comes shortly after another unusual bump was spotted on his leg at a recent UFC event. While some have outlandishly guessed the lump could be a brace, the circulating images seem to distinctly suggest the presence of a catheter. Social media is buzzing with conjecture over the state of President Trump's health, with claims circling around potential neurological issues. What are the Trump health fears theories? In one instance, a social media user posited the theory: "It's long been suspected he's had one or more brain events-if that's the case, the brace is likely for drop foot," adding further that "He's clearly wearing a catheter in the photo below, which also tracks, since bladder control often becomes unpredictable after neurological damage. Which would explain the fascination with Hannibal Lecter, the asylum rhetoric, and a slew of other bizarre behavior." During Trump's attendance at the UFC championship fight in New Jersey, some observers speculated whether he might have a catheter fitted. One observer stated emphatically: "Trump is absolutely wearing a Foley catheter. It's a tube inserted into the bladder to drain urine into a bag strapped to the leg. That line down his pants? Not a crease. It's tubing. Every step he takes sounds like the sloshing of a warm Capri Sun," alongside a picture that was shared. Comments continued with others indicating, "Leg braces. And it appeared as though he had a catheter in as well," yet the true nature of what appeared on Trump's leg remained unclear, possibly an unusual fold in his trousers. Meanwhile, individuals derided the speculation with remarks like "Wrinkles in his pants? Drrrr," while another simply disregarded the conversation, saying, "Wrinkles in the suite? Who tf cares?" What is the online speculation about Trump? Despite ongoing speculation about Trump's health, his physician, Captain Sean Barbabella, gave him a clean bill of health following his first annual physical, with no mention of any medical devices such as catheters or leg braces. In April, Trump underwent an exhaustive five-hour physical examination at Walter Reed in Bethesda, Maryland, where he was deemed to be in "excellent cognitive and physical health". The comprehensive check-up included blood work, a cardiac examination, ultrasounds, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), on which he scored a perfect 30 out of 30, according to Dr. Barbabella. Meanwhile, on Monday, Trump returned to the White House after a weekend retreat at Camp David in Maryland, where he was spotted inspecting a construction project on the White House lawn. Photos of the encounter went viral, with observers noting his unusual stance as he chatted with workers while standing on a wooden board laid across the grass.
