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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).

Male circumcision helps reduce rates of HPV transmission to women, study finds

"Among HIV-negative sexual partners, male circumcision helps prevent the transmission of human papillomavirus [HPV] from men to women," according to a study published online Thursday in the Lancet, HealthDay News/Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

10 Jan 2011

New lab-on-a-chip technology detects protein in blood less than 30 minutes

While most blood tests require shipping a vial of blood to a laboratory for analysis and waiting several days for the results, a new device invented by a team of engineers and students at the University of Rhode Island uses just a pinprick of blood in a portable device that provides results in less than 30 minutes.

10 Jan 2011

IDSA releases MRSA treatment guidelines

Physicians now have help in their battle against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a potentially deadly infection that initially was limited to hospitals and health care facilities but has become a growing problem in healthy children and adults. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released its first guidelines for the treatment of increasingly common MRSA infections.

7 Jan 2011

Opinions: Global health top foreign policy issue; Global food security; Opiate-substitution programs in Eastern Europe; Feed the future; Foreign aid lessons

In response to a story examining 2011's top foreign policy issues, Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, writes in a letter to the editor, published in The Hill, that "[g]lobal health was disturbingly absent from" the story. "Global health policy is at a critical turning point right now with the impending implementation of President Obama's Global Health Initiative, which will change our fundamental approach to health programs and policy," according to Sippel.

7 Jan 2011

Profectus BioSciences commences GENEVAX IL-12 phase 1 study for HIV

Profectus BioSciences, a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers, and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group announced today the initiation of a phase 1 study of Profectus' multi-antigen HIV plasmid DNA vaccine administered with various doses of GENEVAX™ interleukin-12 pDNA adjuvant and delivered using the electroporation based TriGrid™delivery system developed by Ichor Medical Systems.

6 Jan 2011

Indian drugmaker seeks to make, sell generic version of Pfizer's HIV drug

The Indian drugmaker Natco Pharma "said Wednesday it has informed Pfizer Inc. that it wants to make and sell a low-cost generic version of the U.S. company's [drug] maraviroc for treating the HIV infection under a so-called 'compulsory license'," Dow Jones Newswires/Smart Money reports.

6 Jan 2011

OpEds: Sebelius, Fla. Attorney General, USA Today, Wash Post opine about repeal strategies

Over the past nine months, I've traveled around the country and seen the benefits of this law firsthand. Unless we want to take coverage away from cancer patients, reduce oversight for insurance companies, raise prescription drug costs for seniors, weaken Medicare, add $1 trillion to the deficit and undo dozens of other reforms that are improving health around the country, we can't afford repeal (Kathleen Sebelius, 1/5).

6 Jan 2011

UC professor receives Fulbright Scholar Award to explore health education efforts in China

The New Year has a University of Cincinnati professor sharing his vast and vital research background on health education in a new location. Randall Cottrell, a UC professor of health promotion and education in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH), is spending the winter and spring academic quarters at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China.

5 Jan 2011

Indian government rejects Abbott's patent application for second-line ARV

India's patent office "has rejected American drug maker Abbott Laboratories' patent application for an HIV combination drug, allowing low-cost local drug makers to make and sell their generic versions in India and other countries where the medicine is not patented," Economic Times reports (1/4).

5 Jan 2011

Opinions: U.S. International Affairs Budget; Health impacts of climate change; Role of U.N.; Drug development, free trade

Despite challenging economic times, "[t]wo areas we cannot afford to shortchange right now ... are our national security and our economic prosperity, which is why we must continue to have a strong and effective International Affairs Budget," U.S. Global Leadership Coalition Communications Director Richard Parker writes in a FoxNews.com opinion piece.

5 Jan 2011

AHF to supply $1 million in free AIDS drugs to Florida's disenrolled and wait listed HIV/AIDS patients

As the State of Florida grapples with a budget shortfall that has crippled its AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and forced the state to potentially disenroll 350 Florida patients already on ADAP as well as place nearly 2,400 low-income Floridians on waiting lists to access lifesaving medications, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has proposed an innovative plan to help state health officials and displaced HIV/AIDS patients bridge the transition to private patient assistance programs run by the major pharmaceutical companies.

4 Jan 2011

New ATS guidelines for treating fungal infection in adult pulmonary and critical care patients

The American Thoracic Society has released a new official clinical policy statement on the treatment of fungal infections in adult pulmonary and critical care patients.

4 Jan 2011

FDA approves 200 mg formulation of INTELENCE for HIV-1

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a label update to include a 200 mg formulation of INTELENCE® (etravirine), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) indicated for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) in treatment-experienced adults with resistance to an NNRTI and other antiretroviral (ARV) agents.

3 Jan 2011

Today's Opinions: End-of-life counseling; Rising costs of boomers; Controlling infections in hospitals

Death panels. Government-sponsored euthanasia. Pulling the plug on grandma. Those were just some of the blatantly false terms conservatives threw around last year to scare Congress into stripping a provision out of the health-reform bill that would have allowed Medicare to reimburse doctors for providing voluntary, end-of-life counseling to their patients. The scare tactics worked (1/2).

3 Jan 2011

Immunitor reports positive safety imm01 clinical trial against tuberculosis

Immune Network Ltd., advises that Immunitor has published data from the first half of the 120-patient imm01 clinical trial of its V5 immunomodulator product against tuberculosis, including difficult-to-treat forms of the disease.

30 Dec 2010

New Year's Eve can be bad for your health

Research has shown that New Year's is the deadliest day of the year for pedestrians. Drinking and walking can be as dangerous as drinking and driving. Trauma surgeon Dr. Thomas Esposito has seen the tragic effects of drunk walking, among his patients and in his own family.

29 Dec 2010

Chinese government should show more leadership on HIV/AIDS, says AHF

In response to news that the most recent round of grants issued by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is nearly $1 billion less than just two years ago, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today called on nations to give more to help fight HIV/AIDS around the globe.

23 Dec 2010

Discovery highlights potential to combat HIV/AIDS

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered how HIV binds to and destroys a specific human antiviral protein called APOBEC3F. The results suggest that a simple chemical change can convert APOBEC3F to a more effective antiviral agent and that shielding of a common feature shared by related proteins may yield a similar outcome.

23 Dec 2010

Vatican issues communique to clarify Pope's statement on condoms

"The Vatican on Tuesday issued its most authoritative clarification on Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks that condoms could sometimes be used for disease prevention, saying that the pope in no way justified their use to prevent pregnancy," the New York Times reports (Donadio, 12/21).

23 Dec 2010

Combination of antigen and wax nanoparticles improves immunogenicity

Particle Sciences, a leading pharmaceutical CRO has formulated a series of wax nanoparticles that, when coupled with an antigen, enhanced its immunogenicity, increasing both systemic and the mucosal immune response.

23 Dec 2010