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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).

People taking highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection remain susceptible to tuberculosis

...though the risk is lower than for HIV-infected patients not on HAART, according to an article in the Dec. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

13 Nov 2005

Promising functional readouts of immunity in a blood-stage malaria vaccine trial

A malaria vaccine remains the most desired tool to combat the worsening malaria epidemic in many developing countries. Pierre Druilhe and colleagues (from the Institut Pasteur in Paris) have completed the first human trial of a vaccine based on MSP3, a protein present on the surface of the malaria parasite, with very encouraging results.

13 Nov 2005

Doctors want 'cured' HIV victim to have more tests

Doctors in the UK are urging a man to come forward for more tests after he apparently shook off the HIV virus.

13 Nov 2005

Anabolic steroids help people with HIV put on weight and muscle mass

People with HIV who are treated with anabolic steroids to prevent AIDS wasting may realize modest gains in weight and muscle mass, a new review shows.

10 Nov 2005

Syphilis on the rise in U.S. - high risk sex among men to blame

According to an annual report on sexually transmitted diseases (STD), by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of U.S. syphilis cases rose for the fourth year in 2004, and that increase was mainly among men.

9 Nov 2005

Specific bacterial markers for bacterial vaginosis discovered

Findings reported in this week's New England Journal of Medicine (November 3 issue) highlight promising findings from two Seattle-based researchers on the origins of bacterial vaginosis (BV).

7 Nov 2005

New Flu Chip can determine the genetic make-up of types of flu virus in 11 hours

A novel "Flu Chip" developed at the University of Colorado at Boulder that can determine the genetic signatures of specific influenza strains from patient samples within hours may help world health officials combat coming epidemics and pandemics.

7 Nov 2005

Diagnostics test for monitoring anti-HIV drugs hits European market

The test has been acquired by Delphic Europe - a diagnostics products provider - which will develop it in conjunction with viral resistance testing for market on the continent. The service was created by Professor David Back, Dr Saye Khoo and a team in the School of Biomedical Science and is currently used to analyse blood samples from patients with HIV across the UK in order to identify the correct dosage of medicine for individual patients.

7 Nov 2005

HIV antiretroviral therapy does help those in third world

With preliminary results from a study in Botswana, Harvard School of Public Health researchers have found that people with HIV-1 subtype C in resource-poor settings, who receive antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, can achieve comparable results to those in the developed world.

7 Nov 2005

HIV-positive patients have shorter survival periods while awaiting liver transplants

A new study on HIV-positive patients eligible for liver transplants found that their survival while waiting for a transplant is significantly shorter than patients who are HIV-negative.

7 Nov 2005

Scientists find new mechanism by which brain cells can be damaged during chronic neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have targeted a new culprit and method of attack on neurologic functions in diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia associated with HIV.

7 Nov 2005

Socioeconomic status determines life expectancy in HIV patients

HIV patients with a low socioeconomic status are likelier to die much more often than patients with higher levels of wealth and education, a new UCLA study has found.

3 Nov 2005

New insight into the eradication of HIV in infected individuals receiving antiviral therapy

Antiviral therapy has been used to suppress HIV replication and has dramatically improved the clinical course of disease in affected patients. But the existence of viral reservoirs precludes the complete elimination of HIV from treated patients.

3 Nov 2005

Dynamic protein personalities reveal traits

A Brandeis University study published in Nature this week advances fundamental understanding of the dynamic personalities of proteins and proposes that these enzymes are much more mobile, or plastic, than previously thought.

3 Nov 2005

New findings on bacterial vaginosis

Despite being one of the most common infections among women, scientists and doctors know little about the causes of bacterial vaginosis (BV), a usually benign disease that is also linked to serious health problems including pelvic inflammatory disease

3 Nov 2005

Drug giants join forces to develop gel for women in fight against AIDS

Giant American drug companies Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, have signed agreements to develop a treatment called a microbicide, a gel or a cream that women can use to protect themselves from AIDS.

2 Nov 2005

Vaginal gel shown to protect female monkeys against an HIV-like virus

Research with female monkeys at the Tulane National Primate Research Center has for the first time shown that three different anti-viral agents in a vaginal gel protect the animals against an HIV-like virus.

1 Nov 2005

Breastfeeding does not raise the risk of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis C virus

One study found that infant girls are twice as likely to be infected as infant boys. Both studies provide new information with which to counsel pregnant women infected with HCV. Taken together, the two new studies expand upon preliminary data from smaller studies of mother-to-child transmission of HCV.

1 Nov 2005

Reagent under study as cancer vaccine may also help protect tumors

A bacterial mimic under study as a cancer vaccine because it signals the immune system to attack may also help some tumors hide, researchers have found.

1 Nov 2005

Molecule called metallacarborane appears to fight HIV protease

A molecule consisting of two "cages" of metallic atoms bound to carbon has shown great promise in preliminary tests of becoming a new weapon in the anti-HIV arsenal, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center report.

1 Nov 2005