Viremic – Cases in HIV

Eileen welcomes Dr. Joel Blankson to review the case of 28-year-old man who is an elite controller. They discuss elite control characteristics, monitoring, and treatment, while also touching upon patient education and shared ART decision-making.

References Cited:

• Hatano H, Yukl SA, Ferre AL, et al. Prospective antiretroviral treatment of asymptomatic, HIV-1 infected controllers. PLoS Pathog. 2013;9(10):e1003691. Epub 201...

How to treat pharyngeal gonorrhea in a 32-year-old gay man with HIV who has a documented cephalosporin allergy? Chris presents this case to guest Dr. Marguerite (Margie) Urban, director of the NYSDOH CEI Sexual Health Center of Excellence and longtime member of the Adult HIV Guidelines Committee of Clinical Guidelines Program. They explore options for treatment and consider the role of gepotidacin and zoliflodacin, two new...

Eileen presents the case of a 32-yr-old woman newly diagnosed with HIV-2 and invites guest Dr. Sanjiv Shah to discuss HIV-2 epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Listen as they explore the difficulties in diagnosing HIV-2, the complexity of treatment, including in pregnant women, and resources available to clinicians.

Reference Cited: 

• Peruski AH, Wesolowski LG, Delaney KP, et al. Trends in HIV-2 diagnoses ...

Dr. Paul Sax, author of an annual “Really Rapid Review of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI),” joins host Eileen Scully to review CROI 2026 abstracts of particular interest to clinicians taking care of patients with HIV.

CROI 2026 abstracts:
Abstracts are cited within the transcript text and those cited are listed below in numerical order, with the abstract number, authors, and title fo...

With guest Dr. Asa Radix, Chris reviews the case of a 32-year-old transgender woman who was diagnosed with HIV testing while receiving gender-affirming care. With a viral load of 82,000 and CD4 count of 365, she had no resistance mutations and no other known major medical conditions. Asa walks Chris through the approach to ART and gender-affirming HIV and primary care for this patient.

References Cited:

• Braun HM, Candela...

A 33-year-old man with HIV presents with a flu-like syndrome and a disseminated vesicular rash after sexual contact with a new partner. Differential diagnosis includes mpox, syphilis, other STIs, HSV and disseminated VZV. Listen as Eileen and her guest, Dr. Shauna Gunaratne work through the mpox diagnosis, and discuss the 2022 mpox outbreak, along with evidence-based recommendations for testing, treatment, and prevention.

R...

Chris presents the case of a 42-yr-old gay man at high risk of anal cancer to guest Dr. Bruce Hirsch, and they work through the best course for screening and prevention of a disease with high rates of morbidity and mortality that disproportionately affects people with HIV. Listen as Chris and Bruce talk about who to vaccinate and when, who and when to screen, and what screening entails, while acknowledging the difficulties...

The case of a 28-year-old diagnosed with HIV when she became pregnant prompts Eileen and guest Dr. Jean Anderson to explore many of the challenges of HIV care in pregnancy: managing a new diagnosis, disclosure, stigma, partner involvement, antiretroviral therapy, perinatal transmission prevention, breastfeeding, harm reduction, and postpartum care. Their wide-ranging discussion opens with Jean’s perspective on care of wome...

Like many in HIV, Chris is also a PrEP provider. In this episode, he presents a case to Dr. Rona Vail to work through the best approach to PrEP for a young, gay Black man. They work through the issues of oral vs injectable PrEP, dosing schedules for oral PrEP, the studies that support each approach, and this patient’s eligibility for each to determine the best recommendations. They end by discussing barriers to PrEP and th...

After 3 years on injectable CAB/RPV, a patient develops viremia, with a viral load of ~1,300 copies/mL. Failure of injectable CAB/RPV occurs in 1% to 2%, despite adherence. What factors have been associated with CAB/RPV failure? Can regimen failure be predicted or prevented? Listen as Chris and Eileen discuss the data, their advice to patients considering a switch to injectable CAB/RPV, and their response when failure occu...

A 32-year-old man with well-controlled HIV, seen after a recent relationship split and sexual activity with new partners, is screened and diagnosed with syphilis. Eileen discusses this case with guest Dr. Matthew Hamill, who reviews his approach to STI screening and risk reduction, emphasizing an approach that normalizes screening. Matthew then reviews syphilis testing, diagnosis, and staging, including neurosyphilis asses...

A 54-year-old woman with longstanding HIV and obesity is stable on ART, but concerned that it is causing weight gain. How best to address this growing concern? Listen as Chris and Eileen decipher the evidence related to weight gain and ART and weigh the best strategies for addressing this increasingly common and social media inflected concern for patients with HIV and their care providers?

References Cited:

• Abelm...

A 62-year-old patient with HIV for ~40 yrs presents on the life-saving TRIO regimen after a beloved care provider retires. Will a switch improve his quality of life? Eileen and Chris suspect that a change to a once-a-day regimen with fewer pills will maintain his viral suppression and make life easier, but the TRIO regimen inspires dedication in many long-term patients. Would he be open to a switch? Would it confer other b...

Subspecialists request simplified ART for a 56-year-old woman with a long ART history, who is taking a DOAC, has evolving renal function, and some drug resistance. Which factors to prioritize? Eileen and Chris have some, but not a complete medical history. Listen as they work through the information they do have, consider 7 questions key in making an ART switch, and evaluate the available options.

References and Resources ...

How to formulate an effective ART regimen acceptable to 56-year-old man, with unsuppressed HIV, 20+ yr. ART history, extensive drug resistance, and adherence challenges? Listen as Eileen and Chris interpret resistance testing results, discuss barriers to treatment and adherence for this patient, and evaluate the possibility of using one of the novel agents—fostemsavir, ibalizumab, and lenacapavir. What would you do?

Referen...

Healthy 48-year-old man with HIV for 15 years, stable viral suppression, looking to optimize health—diet, exercise, immune-boosting supplements, safest HIV and HTN meds. Listen as Chris and Eileen discuss their approach to giving patients the good news about their health, health maintenance, supplement use, and whether to stay the course or switch ART regimens in patients who are doing well.

Resources:

• NIH Office...

New COVID-19 vaccine policy, proviral DNA testing, then the case of a woman with 10+ years viral suppression, CKD, and CVD, identified as a statin candidate after a significant cardiac event. With no family history of CVD, her risks included exposure to older ARVs and smoking 1 to 3 cigarettes/day. Listen as Drs. Scully and Hoffmann delve into non-infectious comorbidities associated with HIV, risk factors, and adjusted CVD...

After brief mention of an HIV vaccine, the hosts turn to the challenges of treating cryptococcal meningitis in a 46-year-old woman with profound immune suppression after being off ART for 6-12 months. Emphasizing the high potential for morbidity and mortality, Chris and Eileen focus on the complexities of cryptococcal meningitis medical management, including the role of immune constitution, timing of ART initiation, and th...