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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).

Study finds increased risk of some cancers among HIV-positive people in U.S.

HIV-positive people in the U.S., many of whom are living longer because of antiretroviral drugs, are at an increased risk for certain types of cancers, according to a study published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Reuters reports.

22 May 2008

An alternative strategy for HIV vaccine research

Today, Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. (ABL) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) report that their unique HIV vaccine formulation was effective in eliciting strong and balanced immune responses in healthy human volunteers.

22 May 2008

Congress should 'resolve' issues preventing consideration of PEPFAR reauthorization legislation, editorial says

Although it is a "bit risky to herald progress during a global pandemic when infections of a disease such as AIDS still seem to multiply by the millions," the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief gives the U.S. a "record that is worth celebrating, if only to show others around the world what's possible," a Wilmington News Journal editorial says.

21 May 2008

Archbishop Tutu calls on governments to address health issues in Africa, including HIV/AIDS

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday at the World Health Assembly in Geneva called on governments to increase their efforts to fight diseases -- including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- in Africa, the Associated Press reports.

21 May 2008

DOJ investigating Alabama resort after manager prohibits HIV-positive child from using pool, restrooms

The Department of Justice is investigating Wales West RV Resort in Silverhill, Ala., in preparation for a possible discrimination lawsuit after a manager at the facility prohibited an HIV-positive child from using the facility's swimming pool and restrooms in July 2007, the Birmingham Press-Register reports (Bean, Birmingham Press-Register, 5/19).

21 May 2008

Ugandan group launches no-cost HIV testing campaign aimed at children, urges parents to test children

The Joint Clinical Research Centre in Kampala, Uganda, recently launched a no-cost HIV testing campaign aimed at children born to parents living with HIV/AIDS and those orphaned by the disease, the New Vision/AllAfrica.com reports. The campaign has tested at least 1,500 children in the Ugandan divisions of Central, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa and Rubaga, according to the New Vision/AllAfrica.com.

21 May 2008

Life insurance policies made available to sex workers in India

Commercial sex workers in India now have the option of purchasing life insurance policies, Smarajit Jana -- chief adviser to the group Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, or the Committee for Indomitable Women -- said Monday, AFP/Yahoo! News reports.

21 May 2008

HIV/AIDS advocacy groups protest ruling in case regarding HIV-positive man, saliva

Several HIV/AIDS advocacy groups are saying that a recent ruling in a Dallas County, Texas, case that an HIV-positive man who spit into the mouth and eye of a Dallas police officer was using saliva as a deadly weapon was excessive, the Dallas Morning News reports.

20 May 2008

HIV/AIDS experts call for new ideas, increased funding on 25th anniversary of paper identifying virus

A novel strategy, new teams of researchers and increased funding are needed to revitalize the fight against HIV/AIDS worldwide, experts said Monday on the 25th anniversary of the release of the study that identified HIV, AFP/Google.com reports.

20 May 2008

NPR program examines HIV/AIDS education in U.S.

NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday" examined issues surrounding HIV/AIDS education in the U.S. The segment included a discussion with Adam Tenor -- executive director of Metro TeenAIDS, a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that runs education programs in city schools -- and with John Jemmott, a specialist in health psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

20 May 2008

PEPFAR reauthorization legislation should make HIV/AIDS treatment 'priority,' letter to editor says

"When it comes to AIDS, treatment is prevention," Republican Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) write in a Washington Post letter to the editor in response to a recent opinion piece by columnist Michael Gerson.

20 May 2008

Scientists paint-viruses with proteins to track and treat viral disease and evolution

Biologists from Austria and Singapore developed a technique that adds a new twist on the relationship between biology and art. In an article recently published online in The FASEB Journal and scheduled for the August 2008 print issue, these researchers describe how they were able to coat-or paint-viruses with proteins.

20 May 2008

Rifampin provides new way to treat latent tuberculosis

A new way to treat patients with latent tuberculosis (TB), who are infected with TB but without symptoms, can effectively treat it in less than half the time and at a lower cost than the current standard treatment, according to researchers who conducted a multi-center, randomized controlled trial. The results will be presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Tuesday, May 20.

20 May 2008

NIAID to advance B-cell approach to HIV vaccines

To advance underdeveloped approaches to designing a preventive HIV vaccine, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is launching a new program to foster the study of B cells, immune cells that can produce antibodies with the capacity to neutralize HIV.

20 May 2008

Counting immune cells on a 'protein printboard'

In order to monitor how far an HIV infection has progressed, the number of immune cells - lymphocytes - must be counted. Researchers at the University of Twente have developed a method that neatly arranges the antibodies that bind to these immune cells on a 'molecular printboard'. The researchers are publishing this key step in the road towards antibody-based sensors in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

20 May 2008

Warning about lack of attention given to hepatitis

A report by the World Hepatitis Alliance has called for an increased focus on hepatitis and says the disease should be given the same attention as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

20 May 2008

Global burden of disease shifts from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases

The global burden of disease is shifting from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases, with chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke now being the chief causes of death globally, according to a new WHO report published today. The shifting health trends indicate that leading infectious diseases - diarrhoea, HIV, tuberculosis, neonatal infections and malaria - will become less important causes of death globally over the next 20 years.

20 May 2008

Blood-free monitoring as good as blood tests in predicting the course of AIDS

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that monitoring treatment adherence to AIDS therapy is a simple blood-free way to monitor risk of disease progression. The international study was published in the May issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.

20 May 2008

Monitoring whether patients take medicines can help anticipate HIV treatment failure in Africa

Information on how reliably people take their anti-HIV medicines can help identify those whose treatment will succeed or fail. Monitoring this information, which can be obtained directly from pharmacy records, works at least as well as performing blood tests that track the medicine's effect on the immune system, according to research published in PLoS Medicine by Gregory Bisson, Jean Nachega and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the University of Cape Town.

20 May 2008

New York Times profiles support group for HIV-positive women over age 50

The New York Times on Sunday profiled the Divas, a support group for black and Hispanic HIV-positive women over age 50 in Harlem, N.Y. The Divas is organized through Iris House, an HIV/AIDS service center that opened 15 years ago in Harlem.

19 May 2008

HIV/AIDS News and Research

Further Reading

Study finds increased risk of some cancers among HIV-positive people in U.S.

An alternative strategy for HIV vaccine research

Congress should 'resolve' issues preventing consideration of PEPFAR reauthorization legislation, editorial says

Archbishop Tutu calls on governments to address health issues in Africa, including HIV/AIDS

DOJ investigating Alabama resort after manager prohibits HIV-positive child from using pool, restrooms

Ugandan group launches no-cost HIV testing campaign aimed at children, urges parents to test children

Life insurance policies made available to sex workers in India

HIV/AIDS advocacy groups protest ruling in case regarding HIV-positive man, saliva

HIV/AIDS experts call for new ideas, increased funding on 25th anniversary of paper identifying virus

NPR program examines HIV/AIDS education in U.S.

PEPFAR reauthorization legislation should make HIV/AIDS treatment 'priority,' letter to editor says

Scientists paint-viruses with proteins to track and treat viral disease and evolution

Rifampin provides new way to treat latent tuberculosis

NIAID to advance B-cell approach to HIV vaccines

Counting immune cells on a 'protein printboard'

Warning about lack of attention given to hepatitis

Global burden of disease shifts from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases

Blood-free monitoring as good as blood tests in predicting the course of AIDS

Monitoring whether patients take medicines can help anticipate HIV treatment failure in Africa

New York Times profiles support group for HIV-positive women over age 50

Industry Focus eBook - Forensics & toxicology (2nd edition) eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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