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Advocates in Mexico call for greater effort against HIV/AIDS

AIDS-related mortality rates in Mexico have remained somewhat steady over the past 12 years, despite increased access to antiretroviral drugs in the country, officials at the National Institute of Public Health, or INSP, said recently, The News/Individual.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

World Food Program expands program for HIV-positive people in Rwanda

The World Food Programme recently expanded a project in Rwanda that provides food to HIV-positive people taking antiretroviral drugs, adding 10,000 participants and increasing the number of project sites from 61 to 138 across 18 districts in the country, the New Times/AllAfrica.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

Scientists create HIV strain that can infect monkeys

Scientists have created a strain of HIV that is able to infect and multiply in monkeys, leading to the possibility that researchers would be able to test HIV/AIDS drugs and vaccines in monkeys before testing them in humans, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009

Texas Senate Committee approves bill to protect needle-exchange programs

The Texas Senate's Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday voted 5-1 to approve a bill (S.B. 188) that would protect needle-exchange programs run by local health departments, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

4 Mar 2009

Increasing risk of HIV among seniors

People ages 50 and older are more likely to have unprotected sex than younger groups, increasing their risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, according to a recently released World Health Organization study, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009

Hair helps predicts HIV antiretroviral treatment success

UCSF researchers have found that examining levels of antiretroviral drugs in hair samples taken from HIV patients on therapy strongly predicts treatment success.

3 Mar 2009

Instant immunity through chemically programmable vaccination and covalent self-assembly

The experiments, thus far performed only in mice, appear to overcome a major drawback of vaccinations - the lag time of days, or even weeks, that it normally takes for immunity to build against a pathogen.

2 Mar 2009

A new monkey model for HIV

By altering just one gene in HIV-1, scientists have succeeded in infecting pig-tailed macaque monkeys with a human version of the virus that has until now been impossible to study directly in animals.

2 Mar 2009

Doctors call for change in how non-active tuberculosis in immigrant children treated

New guidelines proposed in the March 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children may have a major impact on how pediatricians and family physicians treat non-active tuberculosis (TB) in children who are immigrants, internationally adopted or refugees.

2 Mar 2009

How obesity, diet and exercise influence our metabolism and interact with our genome

Research by kinesiology investigator Dustin Hittel, PhD, has proven that muscle in extremely obese individuals produces large amounts of a protein called myostatin, which normally inhibits muscle growth-suggesting that for Type 2 diabetics, and the very obese, the task of getting healthy may be more difficult than initially thought.

26 Feb 2009

Drug combo shows potential for treating extensively drug resistant tuberculosis

A combination of two FDA-approved drugs, already approved for fighting other bacterial infections, shows potential for treating extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), the most deadly form of the infection.

26 Feb 2009

Mylan's Matrix receives WHO approval for generic Lopinavir/Ritonavir tablets

Mylan Inc. has announced that Matrix Laboratories Limited, its India-based subsidiary in which it holds a 71.5% controlling interest, received the first and only World Health Organization (WHO) approval for Lopinavir/Ritonavir Tablets, 200 mg/50 mg. Matrix's version of this product is heat-stable and affordable, making it practical for distribution and use in warm climates.

25 Feb 2009

Implicit licenses clinical stage antibody program from Lilly

Implicit Bioscience Ltd has announced the acquisition of the clinical-stage monoclonal antibody IC14 from Eli Lilly and Company. Implicit has paid an undisclosed consideration combining cash and stock to Lilly. Lilly will also receive a royalty on future IC14 sales.

25 Feb 2009

Study finds major interruptions in antiretroviral therapy after release from prison

The vast majority of HIV-infected Texas prison inmates who receive antiretroviral therapy while incarcerated experience significant interruptions in HIV treatment after their release into the community.

24 Feb 2009

Inexpensive depression screening tool works in resource poor countries

A study published in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine reports that a highly reliable depression screening tool known as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) used across the United States and Europe can be effectively administered in resource poor Africa to HIV/AID patients, a population whose mental health needs have been underserved.

24 Feb 2009

AIDS Healthcare Foundation launches "Stay Negative" HIV testing campaign

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) , which operates the largest community-based alternative HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing program in California, has launched an innovative and eye-catching Los Angeles-area HIV prevention and testing campaign urging the public to "Stay Negative" and to visit www.freehivtest.net to find out where to get tested quickly, conveniently and at no cost.

23 Feb 2009

Basis of immunity to oral thrush, common in AIDS, identified by UB researchers

Oral thrush, a hallmark symptom in AIDS patients, is caused by a type of yeast that grows unchecked in people with weakened immune systems, and appears in colonies of white patches in the mouth.

23 Feb 2009

Global AIDS Alliance sounds alarm on potential budget cuts

Amid initial indications that the administration's first budget will flat-line funding for global health, the Global AIDS Alliance is calling on President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to keep their campaign commitments to scale up the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and accelerate efforts to ensure every child around the world gets a free basic education.

23 Feb 2009

Gene therapy shows potential against HIV

A new UCLA AIDS Institute study has found that gene therapy can be developed as a safe and active technique to combat HIV.

22 Feb 2009

New study debunks misconceptions about barriers to the CDC's HIV testing recommendations

Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released revised recommendations for opt-out HIV testing in 2006, there has been significant debate around the barriers to widespread implementation of the recommendations.

17 Feb 2009