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This article discusses the use of a two-drug antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen for treatment-naive individuals living with HIV. The authors highlight the hesitation among clinicians to prescribe this regimen, despite its efficacy and potential benefits. The study conducted at a university hospital in Rome, Italy, analyzed the outcomes of patients who met the criteria for initiating a two-drug regimen with lamivudine/dolutegravir. The results showed that the two-drug regimen was well-tolerated and had comparable virological efficacy to a three-drug regimen. Additionally, the two-drug regimen had a lower rate of treatment discontinuation and a higher probability of maintaining the first-line regimen. The authors emphasize the importance of bridging the gap between guidelines and clinical practice to increase the prescription rate of the two-drug regimen. [Extracted from the article]

Background: this study aimed to determine the proportion of people living with HIV (PLWH) with anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in a large sample from a single HIV referral center in Rome, Italy; the time-frame included both the first and the second wave of the Italian COVID-19 pandemic; Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study on stored cryopreserved samples from 1 March 2020 to 30 November 2020. Total antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were preliminarily tested using a chemiluminescent immunoassay. Positive results were re-tested with an ELISA assay as an IgG confirmatory test; Results: overall, 1389 samples were analyzed from 1106 PLWH: 69% males, median age 53 years, 94% on antiretroviral treatment, 93% with HIV-RNA < 50 copies/mL, median CD4 cell count 610 cell/µL. Our analysis revealed a total of n = 8 patients who tested IgG positive during the study period. Seroprevalence was equal to 0% in the first months (March–June); this started to increase in July and reached a maximum rate of 1.59% in October 2020. The overall seroprevalence was 0.72% (8/1106, 95% CI 0.37–1.42). Conclusion: our findings from this setting show a low IgG SARS-CoV-2 prevalence among PLWH as compared to data available from the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]