Food Insufficiency Is Associated with High-Risk Sexual Behavior among Women in Botswana and Swaziland

In a cross-sectional study, Sheri Weiser and colleagues found that food insufficiency was an important risk factor for increased sexual risk-taking in women in Botswana and Swaziland

Acyclovir for treating varicella in otherwise healthy children and adolescents: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Acyclovir has the potential to shorten the course of chickenpox which may result in reduced costs and morbidity. We conducted a systematic review of randomised controlled trials that evaluated acyclovir for the treatment of chickenpox in otherwise healthy children. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched. The reference lists of relevant articles were examined and primary authors and Glaxo Wellcome were contacted to identify additional trials. Two reviewers independently screened studies for inclusion, assessed study quality using the Jadad scale and allocation concealment, and extracted data. Continuous data were converted to a weighted mean difference (WMD). Overall estimates were not calculated due to differences in the age groups studied. RESULTS: Three studies were included. Methodological quality was 3 (n = 2) and 4 (n = 1) on the Jadad scale. Acyclovir was associated with a significant reduction in the number of days with fever, from -1.0 (95% CI -1.5,-0.5) to -1.3 (95% CI -2.0,-0.6). Results were inconsistent with respect to the number of days to no new lesions, the maximum number of lesions and relief of pruritis. There were no clinically important differences between acyclovir and placebo with respect to complications or adverse effects. CONCLUSION: Acyclovir appears to be effective in reducing the number of days with fever among otherwise healthy children with chickenpox. The results were inconsistent with respect to the number of days to no new lesions, the maximum number of lesions and the relief of itchiness. The clinical importance of acyclovir treatment in otherwise healthy children remains controversial

Antiviral activity, pharmacokinetics and safety of vicriviroc, an oral CCR5 antagonist, during 14-day monotherapy in HIV-infected adults.

International audienceObjective: To determine antiviral activity, pharmacokinetic properties, and safety of vicriviroc, an orally available CCR5 antagonist, as monotherapy in HIV-infected patients. Design and methods: An ascending, multiple dose, placebo-controlled study randomized within treatment group. Forty-eight HIV-infected individuals were enrolled sequentially to dose groups of vicriviroc: 10, 25 and 50 mg twice a day, and were randomly assigned within group to receive vicriviroc or placebo (16 total patients/group) for 14 days. Results: Significant reductions from baseline HIV RNA after 14 days were achieved in all active treatment groups. Suppression of viral RNA persisted 2-3 days beyond the end of treatment. Reductions of 1.0 log10 HIV RNA or greater were achieved in 45, 77 and 82% of patients in the three groups, respectively. Eighteen, 46 and 45% of subjects achieved declines of 1.5 log10 or greater in HIV RNA in the three groups, respectively. Vicriviroc was rapidly absorbed with a half-life of 28-33 h, supporting once-daily dosing. Pharmacokinetic parameters were dose linear; steady state was achieved by day 12. Two subjects experienced a transient detectable X4-tropic virus. Vicriviroc was well tolerated in all dose groups. The frequency of adverse events was similar in the vicriviroc and placebo groups: 72 and 62%, respectively. The most frequently reported adverse events included headache, pharyngitis, nausea and abdominal pain, which were not dose related. Conclusion: Whereas all doses were well tolerated and produced significant declines in plasma HIV RNA, total oral daily doses of 50 or 100 mg vicriviroc monotherapy for 14 days appeared to provide the most potent antiviral effect in this study