Antiretroviral News and Research

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Genetic mutations tied to immune comeback during therapy for HIV-1

Researchers with the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) here and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have published a patient outcome study in the March 30 online edition of Nature Medicine that may signal a need for a change of thought in the management of HIV.

3 Apr 2008

Gene mutations tied to immune comeback during therapy for HIV-1

A new study by U.S. scientists provides compelling evidence that two genes are linchpins in defining the course of immune restoration in HIV-positive individuals undergoing virus-suppressing therapy.

31 Mar 2008

Increasing access to antiretroviral drugs would drastically cut AIDS deaths in South Africa

More that 1.2 million deaths could be prevented in South Africa over the next five years by accelerating efforts to provide access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a study released online today by the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

28 Mar 2008

When should children infected with HIV start medication?

The advent of effective medications for treating HIV dramatically improved the outlook for both adults and children infected with HIV who had access to treatment, but the optimal timing for starting treatment remains controversial, particularly in children.

25 Mar 2008

Scientists discover how salmonella becomes lethal for AIDS patients

Nearly half of all HIV-positive African adults who become infected with Salmonella die from what otherwise would be a seven-day bout of diarrhea.

25 Mar 2008

Stark warning about HIV in Australia

A new study has a stark warning about HIV numbers in Australia. According to recent research, if current trends continue, parts of Australia could be facing a surge of HIV infection rates in the next 7 years.

5 Mar 2008

AHF to congress: keep PEPFAR funding priority on AIDS treatment

With a bipartisan voice vote earlier today, The House Foreign Affairs Committee today passed House Resolution 5501 (the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act), a bill to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the US global AIDS program.

28 Feb 2008

Tenofovir gel safe for daily use over an extended period

A vaginal microbicide that incorporates an antiretroviral (ARV) drug normally used to treat people with HIV is safe for sexually active HIV-negative women to use every day over an extended period, suggest results of a clinical trial of tenofovir topical gel.

27 Feb 2008

25% of HIV infected women want to become pregnant

About one in four women who have tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) expect pregnancy and motherhood to be a part of their future, recent research suggests.

26 Feb 2008

Most maternal deaths worldwide are preventable

A study published in PLoS Medicine this week suggests that of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa, more may die from treatable infectious diseases than from conditions directly linked to pregnancy.

20 Feb 2008

Bush's PEPFAR at risk, says AHF

As President Bush begins a five-country tour of Africa to visit and highlight programs funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the five year-old US global AIDS program which Congress created at his request, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has cautioned the President that his legacy as a leader in the global fight against HIV and AIDS is at risk due to proposed changes in the priorities of PEPFAR that essentially cut the heart out of this lifesaving AIDS care and treatment program. PEPFAR is currently up for reauthorization by Congress.

17 Feb 2008

Breastfeeding now safer for infants of HIV-infected mothers

An antiretroviral drug already in widespread use in the developing world to prevent the transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their newborns during childbirth has also been found to substantially cut the risk of subsequent HIV transmission during breast-feeding.

4 Feb 2008

New anti-HIV medication etravirine shows great promise

The AIDS Institute, a national public policy research, advocacy, and education organization, is encouraged with the FDA's approval of the first new non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) in nearly a decade.

4 Feb 2008

Bush in State of the Union address calls on Congress to allocate $30 billion for PEPFAR

President Bush on Monday during his last State of the Union address urged Congress to authorize a $30 billion, five-year extension of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the New York Times reports (Stolberg, New York Times, 1/29).

30 Jan 2008

Brazil to distribute 19.5 million condoms during carnival

Health officials in Brazil on Sunday began distributing millions of condoms ahead of the country's five-day Carnival in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

30 Jan 2008

U.S. PTO's rejection of Gilead's antiretroviral patents might affect applications in India

Last week's rejection by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of four patents on Gilead Sciences' antiretroviral drug Viread might affect patent applications for the drug in India, the Times of India reports.

28 Jan 2008

Mouse model shows potential efficacy of HIV prevention strategy

A new kind of laboratory mouse can be used to test the efficacy of much-needed methods to prevent transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to research by J. Victor Garcia and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

15 Jan 2008

AHF to Schwarzenegger: Re-consider proposed budget cuts in AIDS services

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has urged California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reconsider and reverse $11 million of proposed budget cuts in AIDS services that will reduce and threaten vital lifesaving care and services for Californians living with HIV/AIDS as he seeks to close a $14 billion deficit in the state budget.

11 Jan 2008

New York City mortality rate at all-time low in 2006

The death rate in New York City reached an all-time low in 2006, the Health Department reported today, as the number of deaths fell to 55,391 - down from 57,068 in 2005 and 60,218 in 2001.

10 Jan 2008

Ryan White funding proposal demonstrates neglect of US' growing AIDS epidemic

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has strongly criticized Ryan White CARE Act funding levels contained in the latest budget package drafted by Congress in order to meet the restrictions of President George W. Bush's spending target for next year.

18 Dec 2007