HIV/AIDS News and Research

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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).

Urging U.N. to collect, report data on aging population affected by HIV

"Estimates suggest that by 2040, over nine million people with HIV will be 50 or older in sub-Saharan Africa, triple that of current data," The Body reports, noting, "Despite this, the 2012 UNAIDS report does not mention the aging of HIV," and "because it does not include data on those aged 50 or older, the report is inaccurate and misleading."

28 Jan 2013

Blogs examine leadership changes that may affect global health as Obama begins second term

"While two new members of House Appropriation Committee's State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee profiled in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog yesterday voted first for and then against the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, one of the three profiled in the blog on Thursday is an unambiguous supporter of global health initiatives, having played a pivotal role in virtually all legislation guiding America's HIV response for more than a decade," "Science Speaks" reports.

28 Jan 2013

Gilead commences first of two tenofovir alafenamide Phase 3 trials in HIV

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced the initiation of the first of two Phase 3 clinical trials (Study 104) evaluating a single tablet regimen containing tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-naïve adults.

28 Jan 2013

Targeting key HIV protein could stop HIV infection from progressing to AIDS

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine may have found an "Achilles heel" in a key HIV protein. In findings published online today in Chemistry and Biology, they showed that targeting this vulnerable spot could stop the virus from replicating, potentially thwarting HIV infection from progressing to full-blown AIDS.

25 Jan 2013

New handheld device performs rapid HIV tests

Samuel K. Sia, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has taken his innovative lab-on-a-chip and developed a way to not only check a patient's HIV status anywhere in the world with just a finger prick, but also synchronize the results automatically and instantaneously with central health-care records-10 times faster, the researchers say, than the benchtop ELISA, a broadly used diagnostic technique.

25 Jan 2013

Sex rated as highly arousing and pleasurable whether or not condoms and lubricants are used

A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that within a nationally representative study of American men and women, sex was rated as highly arousing and pleasurable whether or not condoms and/or lubricants were used. Condoms and lubricants are commonly used by both women and men when they have sex.

23 Jan 2013

Sex, condoms and lubricants: an interview with Dr Debby Herbenick

Condoms and lubricants are widely used by both women and men and so they are part of many people’s sexual experiences. They are used for both pleasure-related reasons as well as, in the case of lubricants, comfort and making sex easier for people. The use of condoms of course reduces the risk of pregnancy or infection.

23 Jan 2013

UNAIDS presents online discussion on post-2015 AIDS agenda

The World We Want 2015 webpage is hosting an online discussion (eDiscussion), presented by UNAIDS as part of the Post-2015 Health Thematic Consultation and running from January 21 through February 3, according to the webpage.

23 Jan 2013

Sex rated as pleasurable with or without condoms and lubricants

23 Jan 2013

BRICS countries sign agreement to collaborate on research, public health efforts

"Health ministers of the group of developing countries known as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have signed an agreement to work together on research projects and to reduce the burden of disease," BMJ reports.

23 Jan 2013

Novel way to engineer specialized immune cells targeted by the AIDS virus

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a novel way to engineer key cells of the immune system so they remain resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

23 Jan 2013

Roundup: Ariz. Gov. proposing hospital tax for Medicaid expansion as Nev. ponders options; Vt. hospitals form ACO

Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer, who has become something of a conservative icon for her aggressive opposition to Mr. Obama's policies, surprised many Legislature watchers at her State of the State address last week by saying she wanted to expand the state's Medicaid program to include anyone who makes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or $14,856 for an individual.

23 Jan 2013

Studies suggest a new approach to treating HIV

A team of researchers based at Johns Hopkins has decoded a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection.

22 Jan 2013

Study finds high ADHD diagnosis rates among non-Hispanic children between 2001 and 2010

The rate of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder rose dramatically between 2001 and 2010 with non-Hispanic white children having the highest diagnosis rates, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics (formerly Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine).

22 Jan 2013

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

Scientists identify new mechanism that turns CD4 helper T lymphocytes into killer cells

A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has discovered the mechanism that enables CD4 helper T cells to assume the more aggressive role of killer T cells in mounting an immune attack against viruses, cancerous tumors and other damaged or infected cells.

21 Jan 2013

DRC reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission, PlusNews reports

"The HIV infection rate has declined among pregnant women in the Republic of Congo from 3.4 percent in 2009 to 2.8 percent in 2012, according to a study by the Ministry of Health, which said it had taken specific action to help this section of the population," PlusNews reports.

19 Jan 2013

New report highlights links between NTDs and socio-economic prosperity

A recently released report, entitled "Social and Economic Impact Review on Neglected Tropical Diseases," highlights links between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and socio-economic prosperity.

19 Jan 2013

Survey finds shortage of TB medicines in U.S.; Consequences similar to lack of access in developing countries, advocate says

"More than 80 percent of health departments in the United States that treat tuberculosis [TB] resistant to standard treatment have trouble obtaining the drugs they need to cure the disease, according to a national survey released on Thursday," Reuters reports.

18 Jan 2013