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Discovery of antibody that neutralizes two viruses classified as henipaviruses

In laboratory experiments, scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and their colleagues supported by the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), have discovered an antibody that neutralizes two viruses classified as henipaviruses.

18 Feb 2008

Protein found in the saliva of deer ticks prevents the HIV-1 virus from attaching to the surface of T cells

The HIV-1 virus cripples the human immune system by targeting white blood cells called T cells that form the body's first line of defense in fighting infections.

17 Feb 2008

Bush's PEPFAR at risk, says AHF

As President Bush begins a five-country tour of Africa to visit and highlight programs funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the five year-old US global AIDS program which Congress created at his request, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has cautioned the President that his legacy as a leader in the global fight against HIV and AIDS is at risk due to proposed changes in the priorities of PEPFAR that essentially cut the heart out of this lifesaving AIDS care and treatment program. PEPFAR is currently up for reauthorization by Congress.

17 Feb 2008

New control mechanism for genetic code translation discovered in bacteria

Almost all organisms, from bacteria to human beings, share the same genetic code, a group of universal instructions used to convert DNA or RNA sequences into proteins, the "building blocks" of life.

17 Feb 2008

Human growth hormone abuse raises serious health risks

Human growth hormone (HGH), when medically necessary, is a safe and effective clinical treatment for children and adults.

13 Feb 2008

Scientists find new cellular receptor for HIV

A cellular protein that helps guide immune cells to the gut has been newly identified as a target of HIV when the virus begins its assault on the body's immune system, according to researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

11 Feb 2008

The key to survival and virulence for a fungal pathogen is autophagy

Autophagy is a process whereby cells recycle material during stress situations, such as when nutrients are scarce.

8 Feb 2008

HIV drugs, Abacavir and Didanosine increase the risk of heart attack

A study to assess the adverse effects of anti-retroviral drugs shows that two widely-used HIV drugs are associated with an increased risk of heart attack/the formation of blood clots in the heart.

8 Feb 2008

Beneficial bacteria found in healthy women provide clues for slowing HIV transmission

Beneficial bacteria found in healthy women help to reduce the amount of vaginal HIV among HIV-infected women and might make it more difficult for the virus to spread, boosting the possibility that "good bacteria" might someday be tapped in the fight against HIV.

8 Feb 2008

Australian gene test opens door to personalised care

Australian researchers have led a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows a simple blood test can allow doctors to predict which HIV patients will have a side effect, known as a hypersensitivity reaction, to a particular medication before it is prescribed.

6 Feb 2008

Getting under the skin of HIV, hep C

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is working towards a new approach to treat people with HIV/AIDS, with a drug which has already shown promise in the laboratory.

5 Feb 2008

Breastfeeding now safer for infants of HIV-infected mothers

An antiretroviral drug already in widespread use in the developing world to prevent the transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their newborns during childbirth has also been found to substantially cut the risk of subsequent HIV transmission during breast-feeding.

4 Feb 2008

New discovery, immune cells confront viruses just inside of the lymph node

Vaccines have led to many of the world's greatest public health triumphs, but many deadly viruses, such as HIV, still elude the best efforts of scientists to develop effective vaccines against them. An improved understanding of how the immune system operates during a viral infection is critical to designing successful anti-virus vaccines.

4 Feb 2008

Researchers examine immune cells where HIV can lie dormant, possible treatments

Researchers have determined how HIV is able to lie dormant in certain immune system cells and prevent the cells from self-destructing, according to a study published Thursday online in the journal Retrovirology, the AP/Google.com reports.

4 Feb 2008

Researchers examine effect of male circumcision on female partners

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4 Feb 2008

Democrats to seek changes, boosted funding during PEPFAR reauthorization debate

Some Congressional Democrats have proposed removing abstinence program spending requirements and a mandatory pledge against commercial sex work in the upcoming reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the AP/Yahoo! News reports (Abrams, AP/Yahoo! News, 2/2). The lawmakers also are hoping to allow "reproductive health groups to have broader access to U.S. money," according to CQ Today.

4 Feb 2008

PNG Coalition Against HIV/AIDS to implement programs in businesses nationwide

The Papua New Guinea Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS plans to work with businesses in the country to implement the coalition's policy on HIV/AIDS in the workplace, Rod Mitchell, CEO of the coalition, said recently, the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reports.

4 Feb 2008

New anti-HIV medication etravirine shows great promise

The AIDS Institute, a national public policy research, advocacy, and education organization, is encouraged with the FDA's approval of the first new non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) in nearly a decade.

4 Feb 2008

Researchers seek trial participants for experimental HIV vaccine called PENNVAX-B

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers are recruiting healthy, HIV-negative adults to participate in a phase I clinical trial of an experimental HIV vaccine called PENNVAX-B, a DNA-based vaccine which is made using synthetic DNA-based HIV genes.

4 Feb 2008

Virtual human in HIV drug simulation

The combined supercomputing power of the UK and US 'national grids' has enabled UCL (University College London) scientists to simulate the efficacy of an HIV drug in blocking a key protein used by the lethal virus.

31 Jan 2008