Top in ID: Vaginal ring for HIV prevention; prosthetic joint infection therapy
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A vaginal ring that releases dapivirine for HIV prevention has been licensed for use in 11 sub-Saharan African countries, according to the Population Council.
The ring was authorized or approved for adults in Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
While daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis is more effective at preventing HIV, studies have found that many women prefer the dapivirine ring. It was the top story in infectious disease last week.
Another top story was about the FDA’s breakthrough therapy designation of Osteal’s VT-X7, a drug-device combination that delivers antibiotics to patients undergoing hip and knee replacement to prevent periprosthetic joint infection (PJI).
“Patients and providers desperately need a better option for treatment of PJI,” Osteal President and CEO David Thompson said in a press release. “This designation supports the potential for VT-X7 to transform PJI treatment and puts us on an accelerated pathway to addressing this need.”
Read these and more top stories in infectious disease below:
Vaginal ring for HIV prevention authorized in 11 African countries
The dapivirine vaginal ring, a long-acting form of HIV prevention, has been licensed for use in 11 sub-Saharan African nations, according to an international nonprofit organization. Read more.
Prosthetic joint infection therapy gets breakthrough designation from FDA
The FDA designated a drug-device combination for PJI in hip and knee replacement patients as a breakthrough therapy, which may accelerate its approval, the manufacturer said. Read more.
Bluetooth system an effective tool for health care worker COVID-19 contact tracing
A Bluetooth low-energy-based contact-tracing system successfully identified potential COVID-19 contacts, providing specific additional data including location, date and cumulative contact time, researchers found. Read more.
Routine lab monitoring for cefazolin, ceftriaxone in OPAT may be ‘excessive’
Few adverse events following outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy containing cefazolin and ceftriaxone were identified using routine laboratory monitoring, leading researchers to say the practice may be “excessive.” Read more.
Prevention is key: A guide to STI prophylaxis
In the United States, there were approximately 1.6 million cases of chlamydia, 710,000 cases of gonorrhea and 176,000 cases of syphilis reported in 2021, according to the CDC. Read more.