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Current smokers with HIV more likely to get bacterial pneumonia

Bacterial pneumonia is one of the commonest and most serious infections occurring in people infected with HIV. A metanalysis of cohort and case control studies published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine finds that current smokers with HIV were at double the risk of bacterial pneumonia than non-smoking counterparts, but that when people stopped smoking their risk was reduced.

21 Jan 2013

Early treatment during primary HIV infection shows promise

Two papers in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest that starting antiretroviral treatment early after HIV infection is diagnosed may improve patients’ immune response, boosting the initial recovery of the immune system and delaying progression of the disease.

21 Jan 2013

New compounds can target RNase H enzyme in HIV

Scientists who study HIV are facing a troubling consequence of their own success. They created drugs that can now give infected patients almost normal life expectancy. However, those same drugs will eventually cause the constantly mutating virus to evolve into a form that eludes current treatments.

18 Jan 2013

Reviews show little evidence of widespread efficacy of mobile health interventions

"Mobile phone technology is frequently heralded as a solution to many health challenges facing the developing world, but two systematic reviews have found that evidence to back such claims is still largely non-existent," SciDev.Net reports.

17 Jan 2013

Janssen receives EC approval for PREZISTA 800mg tablet to treat HIV

Janssen R&D Ireland announced today that the European Commission (EC) has approved a new PREZISTA (darunavir) 800mg tablet allowing people living with HIV to take one darunavir tablet once a day.

16 Jan 2013

Zimbabwe continues to face medicine shortages, stock-outs, PlusNews reports

"Chronic shortages of generic and antiretroviral drugs, stock-outs, high medication costs, and long distances to clinics are some of the hurdles people face in their quest to access essential medicines in Zimbabwe," PlusNews reports.

16 Jan 2013

Uganda government continuing focus on HIV prevention, treatment, amid calls from groups to do more

"Uganda continues to fall short of achieving its goal of ensuring that 80 percent of people living with HIV receive antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) by 2015, according to the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC)," PlusNews reports.

9 Jan 2013

Vaccine gives HIV patients a long-term boost

A functional cure for HIV-1 seems feasible after research shows that an immunotherapeutic vaccine demonstrated long-term efficacy at reducing viral load when administered to patients in the early stages of disease.

7 Jan 2013

January issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The January issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial examining universal health coverage and the right to health, a public health news roundup, a research article examining research priorities for adolescent sexual and reproductive health in low- and middle-income countries, and a systematic review examining the integration of antiretroviral therapy into antenatal care and maternal and child health settings, among others.

4 Jan 2013

Salix receives FDA approval for crofelemer to treat HIV-associated diarrhea

On New Year's Eve of 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its approval of crofelemer (Fulyzaq, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., Raleigh, North Carolina) — marking the second time a botanical, and the first time an orally administered botanical, has received drug approval from the Administration.

3 Jan 2013

HIV-positive status disclosure rates low in Ethiopia: Study

In Ethiopia, where more than 1.2 million people are infected with HIV, disclosure of infection by patients is important in the fight against the disease. A new study led by a Brown sociology researcher investigates HIV-positive status disclosure rates among men and women in Africa's second most populous country.

2 Jan 2013

Disparities in HIV care in Ontario

Researchers have found significant disparities in hospital admission rates for certain groups of individuals living with HIV in Ontario, Canada.

20 Dec 2012

Recreational use of HIV drugs leading to pre-treatment resistance in South Africa

NPR's "Shots" blog examines how "opportunists who market street drugs may be undermining the global struggle against AIDS," writing, "In South Africa, two mainstay HIV drugs have found their way into recreational use."

20 Dec 2012

Findings emphasize importance of counseling HIV patients on smoking cessation

Among HIV patients receiving well-organized care with free access to antiretroviral therapy, those who smoke lose more years of life to smoking than to HIV, according to a Danish study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online. The findings highlight the importance of smoking cessation efforts in the long-term, integrated care of patients infected with HIV.

19 Dec 2012

Global Fund, Nigeria sign grants for HIV, TB initiatives

"On Thursday (Dec. 14), Nigeria signed five grant agreements with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria," with some of the money going "to provide for antiretroviral therapy treatment and prevention services, particularly on mother-to-child HIV transmission," Devex's "The Development Newswire" blog reports.

18 Dec 2012

New issue of GHD-NET's Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin available online

The November 2012 issue of the Global Health Diplomacy Network's (GHD-NET) Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin is now available online.

15 Dec 2012

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Friday published Issue 206 of its "Global Fund Observer."

14 Dec 2012

Reproductive Health Matters' supplement issue focuses on pregnancy decisions of HIV-positive women

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today publication of Reproductive Health Matters' 2012 supplement issue "Pregnancy decisions of women living with HIV".

13 Dec 2012

Clinical trial to examine AstraZeneca experimental drug against pulmonary tuberculosis

A clinical trial will examine an investigational drug's early bacteria-killing activity in patients newly diagnosed with drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis.

12 Dec 2012

Janssen announces U.S. prescribing information update for EDURANT tablets

Janssen Therapeutics, Division of Janssen Products, LP, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a prescribing information update for EDURANT (rilpivirine) tablets to include 96-week pooled data from the Phase 3 ECHO and THRIVE studies, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of EDURANT for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in antiretroviral treatment-naive adults.

11 Dec 2012