HIV/AIDS News and Research

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Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Fijiian seaweed shows potential to kill cancer cells, bacteria and the HIV virus

Researchers have discovered 10 new molecular structures with pharmaceutical potential in a species of red seaweed that lives in the shallow coral reef along the coastline of Fiji in the south Pacific Ocean.

12 Oct 2005

Tropical diseases such as sleeping sickness, schistosomiasis, river blindness, hookworm, elephantiasis, and blinding trachoma are being ignored

"The big three" infections AIDS, TB and malaria have caught the world's attention but other disabling and fatal infectious diseases in Africa are being ignored, say three eminent tropical disease researchers in the international health journal PLoS Medicine.

11 Oct 2005

Experimental HIV vaccine progresses in trials

A novel vaccine targeted to multiple HIV subtypes found worldwide has moved into the second phase of clinical testing, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced today.

11 Oct 2005

New way to measure the impact of AIDS on the living brain

A new University of California - Los Angeles/University of Pittsburgh imaging study for the first time shows the selective pattern of destruction inflicted by AIDS on brain regions that control motor, language and sensory functions. High-resolution 3-D color scans created from magnetic resonance images (MRI) vividly illustrate the damage.

10 Oct 2005

New report identifies over 40 infectious agents that pose significant human health problems in the United States or abroad

Vaccines have helped eradicate and tame some of history's worst infectious diseases, but there are many more diseases out there that vaccines can help overcome. The challenges society needs to confront to unlock the future promise of vaccines against the plagues of the 21st century are the focus of a new report by the American Academy of Microbiology.

9 Oct 2005

Community-level intervention program successfully delayed sexual debut and increased the use of condoms

A community-level intervention program aimed at young adolescents delays early intercourse, increases condom use and reduces the type of risky sexual behavior that can result in sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, a Yale researcher reports in AIDS.

4 Oct 2005

Body's own defenses may cause HIV-related dementia

Publishing in the Sept. 2005 issue of the Journal of Virology, the researchers show that HIV in the temporal lobe mutates at a rate 100 times faster than in other parts of the body, triggering white blood cells to continually swarm to attack the infection. The associated overcrowding and inflammation appear to cause the dementia.

3 Oct 2005

Compounds secreted by frog skin are potent blockers of HIV infection

The findings could lead to topical treatments for preventing HIV transmission, and they reinforce the value of preserving the Earth's biodiversity.

3 Oct 2005

Training for health workers improves the quality of tuberculosis care and control without requiring extra staff

Tuberculosis is a growing problem in lower and middle income countries, including South Africa. The World Health Organization estimates that about two thirds of people with tuberculosis are never diagnosed and so cannot benefit from treatment, leaving the epidemic unchecked despite global treatment programmes.

3 Oct 2005

Risk of acquiring HIV rises during pregnancy

The risk of acquiring HIV rises during pregnancy, according to a study of women in Uganda's Rakai District led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The increased risk for acquiring HIV remained even after researchers controlled for behavior and other factors that contribute to HIV risk.

3 Oct 2005

Clinical trials of daily oral antiretroviral dosing as pre-exposure prophylaxis

Writing in the journal Science, an international team of researchers, clinicians and others explains that a promising, relatively new approach is for people not infected but at high risk to take drugs that might prevent them from contracting HIV. But debate over the particulars of the strategy has slowed progress.

3 Oct 2005

No specific antiretroviral drug-related "Crix belly" syndrome

Contrary to the concerns of many HIV-infected patients, there appears to be no specific antiretroviral drug-related "syndrome" of changes in body fat distribution in men wherein leg and arm fat decrease as belly fat increases, reports a study in the October issue of Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS).

28 Sep 2005

Chicken virus helps develop novel vaccines

Researchers at the University of South Australia are developing novel vaccines by using a chicken virus to either stimulate or suppress the body's immune system.

28 Sep 2005

Prevalence of "risky" sex in Scotland has doubled in the space of six years

...while unfounded confidence in the HIV negative status of casual partners has also increased, reveals research in Sexually Transmitted Infections.

28 Sep 2005

Emergence of "POZ Parties"

The emergence of "POZ Parties" - parties exclusively for HIV positive men to meet other HIV positive men for sex - signals the potential to spread HIV "superinfection,"suggests research in Sexually Transmitted Infections.

28 Sep 2005

Drug-releasing intravaginal ring could help prevent women from contracting HIV infection

The silicone vaginal ring steadily releases aciclovir: a treatment for genital herpes. It is known that women with genital herpes are at increased risk of HIV infection because the genital blisters caused by the infection increase the transmissibility of sexually acquired HIV.

28 Sep 2005

Longer hospital stays do not mean better care

Physicians at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) have disproved the notion that longer hospital stays mean better care. They have successfully cut back on wait times across one dozen hospital departments and, as a result, reduced to well below six the average number of days patients with congestive heart failure, a need for dialysis or surgery, and many other conditions must spend in the hospital.

27 Sep 2005

Pneumonia doesn't appear to harm HIV-positive patients any more than those without HIV

In a two-year study that documented cases in 26 hospitals in 11 countries including the United States, Canada, South Africa, Chile and Spain, outcomes for 58 HIV-positive patients with CAP, or community-acquired pneumonia (pneumonia contracted outside of hospitals) were compared with outcomes for 174 HIV-negative patients suffering a similar severity of CAP.

27 Sep 2005

Testing for drug resistance in HIV-infected patients at the time of diagnosis may increase patients' life expectancy

Resistance to antiretroviral therapy, even in patients who have never received treatment, is a growing concern. However, genotype resistance testing, which involves looking for the presence of resistance genes, is not a standard procedure at the time a patient is diagnosed with HIV, probably due to lack of data on its benefits and its relatively high cost compared with other routine blood tests.

26 Sep 2005

New study into the health-related quality of life for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients

Pharmacists in Wales have conducted a new study into the health-related quality of life for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. The surprising results were revealed at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester.

26 Sep 2005

HIV/AIDS News and Research

Further Reading

Fijiian seaweed shows potential to kill cancer cells, bacteria and the HIV virus

Tropical diseases such as sleeping sickness, schistosomiasis, river blindness, hookworm, elephantiasis, and blinding trachoma are being ignored

Experimental HIV vaccine progresses in trials

New way to measure the impact of AIDS on the living brain

New report identifies over 40 infectious agents that pose significant human health problems in the United States or abroad

Community-level intervention program successfully delayed sexual debut and increased the use of condoms

Body's own defenses may cause HIV-related dementia

Compounds secreted by frog skin are potent blockers of HIV infection

Training for health workers improves the quality of tuberculosis care and control without requiring extra staff

Risk of acquiring HIV rises during pregnancy

Clinical trials of daily oral antiretroviral dosing as pre-exposure prophylaxis

No specific antiretroviral drug-related "Crix belly" syndrome

Chicken virus helps develop novel vaccines

Prevalence of "risky" sex in Scotland has doubled in the space of six years

Emergence of "POZ Parties"

Drug-releasing intravaginal ring could help prevent women from contracting HIV infection

Longer hospital stays do not mean better care

Pneumonia doesn't appear to harm HIV-positive patients any more than those without HIV

Testing for drug resistance in HIV-infected patients at the time of diagnosis may increase patients' life expectancy

New study into the health-related quality of life for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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