Multicentre service evaluation of injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine delivery and outcomes across 12 UK clinics (SHARE LAI-net).

INTRODUCTION: Long-acting injectable cabotegravir + rilpivirine (CAB + RPV LAI) was approved for use in virally suppressed adults in the England and Wales national health service in November 2021. We describe a service evaluation of delivery processes and outcomes in 12 clinics. METHODS: Centres populated a database using information from local policies and clinical records. Services were asked to describe approval processes, clinic pathways, and adherence to national guidelines. Additional data were collected on reasons for regimen choice, treatment discontinuations, and management of viraemia. RESULTS: In total, 518 adults from 12 clinics were approved for CAB + RPV LAI between February 2022 and December 2023. Of the 518 people approved for CAB + RPV LAI, 423 received at least one injection. Median duration on CAB + RPV was 7.5 months (interquartile range 3.7-11.3). In total, 97% of injections were administered within the ±7-day window. Virological failure occurred in 0.7%, and 6% discontinued CAB + RPV. CONCLUSION: In this large UK-based cohort, robust approval processes and clinic protocols facilitated on-time injections and low rates of both discontinuation and virological failure.

Compassionate use of long-acting cabotegravir plus rilpivirine for people living with HIV-1 in need of parenteral antiretroviral therapy.

OBJECTIVES: Physicians could request compassionate use of oral and long-acting (LA) cabotegravir + rilpivirine for people living with HIV-1 under a single-patient request programme supported by ViiV Healthcare and Janssen. Outcomes are reported. METHODS: Eligibility criteria included need for parenteral therapy, no primary resistance mutations to cabotegravir or rilpivirine, and established retention in care. Demographic, efficacy, and safety data were obtained from standardized programme applications and quarterly clinical updates. Individuals received a loading dose of LA cabotegravir 600 mg + rilpivirine 900 mg, followed by LA maintenance doses of 400 mg/600 mg every 4 weeks; some received lead-in oral cabotegravir and rilpivirine. RESULTS: Through July 2020, 35 people living with HIV-1 had data available. The most frequent reason for compassionate use request was chronic non-adherence due to psychological conditions (n = 15). Of 35 people living with HIV-1, 28 had detectable viremia (median viral load 60 300 copies/mL) and seven were virologically suppressed at programme entry; 16/28 and 6/7 achieved or maintained virological suppression at data cutoff, respectively. Seven people living with HIV-1 discontinued for incomplete virological response, six with detectable viremia at initiation; six and four had new reverse transcriptase and integrase mutations at discontinuation, respectively. Six non-fatal serious adverse events were reported, two considered possibly treatment related. Four deaths were reported; none were treatment related. One individual reported two pregnancies and continued LA dosing. CONCLUSIONS: Most people living with HIV-1 had advanced disease and achieved (16/28) or maintained (6/7) virological suppression with LA therapy. Cabotegravir LA + rilpivirine LA as compassionate use provided a valuable treatment option for individuals with adherence issues with oral therapy and advanced disease.

Delivering outpatient virtual clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic: early evaluation of clinicians' experiences.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has put health systems across the world under significant pressure. In March 2020, a national directive was issued by the National Health Service (NHS) England instructing trusts to scale back face-to-face outpatient appointments, and rapidly implement virtual clinics. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team of change managers, analysts and clinicians were assembled to evaluate initial implementation of virtual clinics at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. In-depth interviews were conducted with clinicians who have delivered virtual clinics during the pandemic. An inductive thematic approach was used to analyse clinicians' early experiences and identify enablers for longer term sustainability. RESULTS: Ninety-five clinicians from specialist services across the trust were interviewed between April and May 2020 to reflect on their experiences of delivering virtual clinics during Wave I COVID-19. Key reflections include the perceived benefits of virtual consultations to patients and clinicians; the limitations of virtual consultations compared with face-to-face consultations; and the key enablers that would optimise and sustain the delivery of virtual pathways longer term. CONCLUSIONS: In response to the pandemic, outpatient services across the trust were rapidly redesigned and virtual clinics implemented. As a result, services have been able to sustain some level of service delivery. However, clinicians have identified challenges in delivering this model of care and highlighted enablers needed to sustaining the delivery of virtual clinics longer term, such as patient access to diagnostic tests and investigations closer to home.

Clinical features and novel presentations of human monkeypox in a central London centre during the 2022 outbreak: descriptive case series.

OBJECTIVE: To characterise the clinical features of monkeypox infection in humans. DESIGN: Descriptive case series. SETTING: A regional high consequences infectious disease centre with associated primary and secondary care referrals, and affiliated sexual health centres in south London between May and July 2022. PARTICIPANTS: 197 patients with polymerase chain reaction confirmed monkeypox infection. RESULTS: The median age of participants was 38 years. All 197 participants were men, and 196 identified as gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men. All presented with mucocutaneous lesions, most commonly on the genitals (n=111 participants, 56.3%) or in the perianal area (n=82, 41.6%). 170 (86.3%) participants reported systemic illness. The most common systemic symptoms were fever (n=122, 61.9%), lymphadenopathy (114, 57.9%), and myalgia (n=62, 31.5%). 102/166 (61.5%) developed systemic features before the onset of mucocutaneous manifestations and 64 (38.5%) after (n=4 unknown). 27 (13.7%) presented exclusively with mucocutaneous manifestations without systemic features. 71 (36.0%) reported rectal pain, 33 (16.8%) sore throat, and 31 (15.7%) penile oedema. 27 (13.7%) had oral lesions and 9 (4.6%) had tonsillar signs. 70/195 (35.9%) participants had concomitant HIV infection. 56 (31.5%) of those screened for sexually transmitted infections had a concomitant sexually transmitted infection. Overall, 20 (10.2%) participants were admitted to hospital for the management of symptoms, most commonly rectal pain and penile swelling. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm the ongoing unprecedented community transmission of monkeypox virus among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men seen in the UK and many other non-endemic countries. A variable temporal association was observed between mucocutaneous and systemic features, suggesting a new clinical course to the disease. New clinical presentations of monkeypox infection were identified, including rectal pain and penile oedema. These presentations should be included in public health messaging to aid early diagnosis and reduce onward transmission.

Electrocardiographic and biochemical adverse effects of sodium stibogluconate during treatment of cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis among returned travellers.

Use of parenteral pentavalent antimonials to treat leishmaniasis is associated with a range of cardiological, biochemical and haematological adverse effects. The most serious of these is the development of ventricular tachyarrhythmias associated with prolongation of the electrocardiographic rate-corrected QT interval (QTc). Whereas some studies have reported that serious cardiological and biochemical adverse effects are common and often require treatment interruption or discontinuation, others have reported the drugs to be well tolerated. We conducted a detailed retrospective analysis of adverse events among British returned travellers (n=65) with New World cutaneous or mucosal leishmaniasis who received i.v. sodium stibogluconate (SbV) for >or=21 days. The mean+/-SEM QTc progressively increased from 389+/-3.1 msec to 404+/-2.9 msec during 3 weeks of treatment and the QTc reached the threshold for potential cardiac toxicity among 6 (10%) patients during the third week of treatment. Marked QTc prolongation and ventricular tachyarrhythmias occurred in one elderly patient with hypokalaemia and pre-existing cardiovascular morbidity. Although increased serum concentrations of amylase and hepatic transaminases were observed among 67% and 85% of patients respectively, none developed clinical pancreatitis or hepatitis and treatment modification was not required. SbV can be used safely in this population with adequate monitoring and the need for treatment interruption is uncommon. Identification of factors before and during treatment that may increase the risk of QTc prolongation and arrhythmias is important.

Determinants of HIV drug resistance mutations in plasma virus after treatment interruption.

This study examines the utility of resistance testing during treatment interruption, making comparisons with the current IAS guidelines. A total of 188/1279 tests (14%) were performed during treatment interruption; 69/188 tests (36.7%) demonstrated key mutations. Time off therapy and the total number of previous drugs were both significantly associated with the presence of mutations. We conclude that resistance testing is of value up to 3 months after treatment interruption, and may convey some benefit up to 12 months.

Raltegravir-induced Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) syndrome - implications for clinical practice and patient safety.

This case report describes two severe antiretroviral drug adverse reactions that occurred in the same patient. A 55-year-old HIV-positive African woman received a single epidural triamcinolone injection for pain relief of postherpetic neuralgia. Forty-one days later, she developed severe iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome due to the drug-drug interaction between triamcinolone and her boosted protease inhibitor therapy. The patient's antiretroviral regimen was thus changed to replace her protease inhibitor with the integrase inhibitor raltegravir. Shortly after commencing the drug, the patient developed a severe adverse drug reaction manifesting as Drug Reaction (or Rash) with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) syndrome. First described in 1996, this hypersensitivity syndrome presents with severe skin reaction as well as fever, rash, lymphadenopathy and internal organ involvement with marked eosinophilia. Clinicians should be aware of raltegravir-induced DRESS syndrome as well as the potential for drug-drug interactions due to protease inhibitor-based therapy.

HIV status does not influence outcome in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma treated with chemotherapy using doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era.

PURPOSE: The prognosis of HIV-infected patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era approaches that of the general population when they are treated with the same protocols. We analyzed the outcome of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) treated with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) in the HAART era according to HIV serostatus to establish whether this also holds true for HL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1997 to 2010, 224 patients newly diagnosed with HL, of whom 93 were HIV positive, were consecutively treated with ABVD chemotherapy. HIV-positive patients had more high-risk disease according to the International Prognostic Score (IPS) than HIV-negative patients (IPS≥3: 68% v 26%, respectively; P<.001). Forty-seven HIV-positive patients had a CD4 count less than 200/µL, and 92 patients received HAART during chemotherapy. RESULTS: The complete response rate was 74% for HIV-positive patients and 79% for HIV-negative patients (P=not significant). After a median follow-up of 60 months (range, 8 to 174 months), 23 patients (16 HIV-negative and seven HIV-positive patients) have experienced relapse at a median time of 6 months (range, 1 to 106 months). Five-year event-free survival (EFS) was 59% (95% CI, 47% to 70%) for HIV-positive patients and 66% (95% CI, 57% to 74%) for HIV-negative patients (P=not significant). Five-year overall survival (OS) was 81% (95% CI, 69% to 89%) and 88% (95% CI, 80% to 93%) for HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients, respectively (P=not significant). HIV status did not predict OS or EFS on multivariate analysis including IPS and HIV status. CONCLUSION: This mature study demonstrates that HIV-positive patients with HL have more extensive disease with more adverse prognostic factors than HIV-negative patients, but when treated with ABVD, HIV infection does not adversely affect OS or EFS.

HIV type-1 drug resistance in antiretroviral treatment-naive adults infected with non-B subtype virus in the United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing prevalence of non-B subtype HIV type-1 (HIV-1) infections in Europe, reflecting patterns of migration. We examined the characteristics of HIV-1 drug resistance in antiretroviral treatment (ART)-naive individuals migrating to the UK. METHODS: Resistance tests reported to the UK HIV Drug Resistance Database between 2001 and 2006 were included. Demographic data were obtained via linkage to national databases. Resistance was defined as ≥ 1 drug resistance mutation. Non-B HIV-1 subtype was used as a surrogate marker of infection acquired outside the UK. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between demographics and the prevalence of resistance. RESULTS: Overall, 196/4,291 (4.6%) samples with non-B subtype showed resistance compared with 745/6,435 (11.6%) samples for subtype B. Among non-B subtypes, the prevalence of resistance decreased over time (6.0% in 2001-2003 to 3.2% in 2006) and was independently associated with later calendar year of sampling (P=0.001). Resistance was confined mainly to one ART class (85%); non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance was more common in subtype C (47%) compared with non-B non-C subtypes (29%; P=0.02). M184V was more common in non-B subtypes (non-B 30% versus B 5%; P<0.001) and T215 variants were more common in subtype B (non-B 10% versus B 49%; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In ART-naive individuals living in the UK, but who are likely to have acquired HIV-1 abroad, we observed a downward trend in resistance over time, which is surprising in light of ART roll-out in resource-limited settings. Reassuringly, resistance was mainly confined to one drug class; however, patterns of resistance differed by subtype, with some evidence of possible undisclosed prior therapy in non-B subtypes.