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Discovery of the molecular mechanism that inhibits HCV replication in vitro

Since its discovery several decades ago, the insidious human pathogen has stymied the quest for anti-viral therapies by refusing to reproduce in test tubes for more than a few hours or days, denying scientists an efficient virus production and infection system for experimental research.

7 Feb 2006

HIV subtype is a better predictor than viral load for determining rapid death from AIDS

Traditional testing standards help monitor the progression of an HIV infection to AIDS by keeping track of viral load, using a scale in which less than 50 viral particles per cubic milliliter of blood is considered suppressed disease and a viral load of more than 75,000 particles per cubic milliliter of blood means that the disease will progress more rapidly.

7 Feb 2006

Improving access to STI diagnosis and treatment services must be a public health priority at all levels

The 48 hour access target for all sexual health clinics will be impossible to meet on the basis of current evidence, claims an editorial in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

7 Feb 2006

Research sheds light on origins of "junk" DNA

In experiments with transgenic mice, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers discovered the remaining steps in the complicated process of how the largest class of jumping genes replicates and inserts themselves within the human genome.

7 Feb 2006

Hepatitis C recurs rapidly after liver transplant

When a diseased liver is removed from a patient with Hepatitis C (HCV), serum viral levels plummet. However, after receiving a healthy liver transplant, virus levels rebound and can surpass pre-transplant levels within a few days, according to a new study published in the February 2006 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).

2 Feb 2006

AIDS campaigners call on British and French governments to develop a common strategy to fight HIV/AIDS

In a report published today, the Global AIDS Alliance, a grassroots campaign, gives its wholehearted backing to Gordon Brown's proposed International Finance Facility (the IFF) and calls on the French government to work with Brown to capitalise the Facility with revenues obtained from the French proposal for an airline tax.

2 Feb 2006

Controlling neglected diseases will boost fight against HIV, TB and Malaria

Achieving success in the global fight against the "big three" diseases - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which together account for 5.6 million deaths a year - may well require a concurrent attack on the world’s most neglected tropical diseases, says a team of researchers in the international open access journal PLoS Medicine.

2 Feb 2006

HIV decline in Zimbabwe

An international research team believes that changes in behaviour among the population have accelerated the recent decline in HIV infection in Eastern Zimbabwe.

2 Feb 2006

HIV testing and counseling reduces high-risk sexual behavior and prevents HIV transmission in Tanzania

Offering free HIV tests instead of charging a small fee is more cost-effective at preventing HIV infections and draws in three times as many people for testing, according to a Duke University Medical Center study conducted in Tanzania.

27 Jan 2006

HIV/AIDS in China a major cause for concern

Despite the announcement by China that it has dropped its estimate of the number of HIV/AIDS victims in the country by nearly 30 percent, world health experts are warning against complacency, and are saying the HIV/AIDS numbers are in fact still rising and many people are unaware of the dangers.

26 Jan 2006

HIV revealed in 3D

HIV, the virus which leads to AIDS and which affects 40 million people across the world, has been seen in 3D detail for the first time by Oxford scientists and their colleagues in Heidelberg and Munich.

25 Jan 2006

70,000 new HIV infections occurring in China last year

China's AIDS epidemic shows no signs of abating with an estimated 70,000 new HIV infections occurring in 2005, according to a report released by the Chinese Ministry of Health, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization.

25 Jan 2006

Researchers use yogurt to fight AIDS

Researchers have come up with a novel delivery system for anti-AIDS drugs: milk-curdling bacteria used to make yogurt and cheese.

25 Jan 2006

Bactrim could help HIV-infected children in poor countries

A new systematic review highlights strong results from a single study at the center of mounting support for worldwide use of the low-cost drug Bactrim to help HIV-infected children in poor countries.

25 Jan 2006

Health economics study questions recent policy on screening of US blood donations for West Nile Virus

A recent mandate to screen blood donations in all US states for West Nile virus (WNV) makes little sense from a public health point of view, say researchers from Columbia University and Harvard School of Public Health.

24 Jan 2006

New tool for genetic research

In an article appearing online today in the journal Nature Methods, researchers at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fidirale de Lausanne) unveil a powerful new tool that will facilitate genetic research and open up new avenues for the clinical treatment of genetic disease.

23 Jan 2006

UNICEF seeks $805 million for humanitarian efforts

UNICEF appealed to donors today to provide $805 million to assist children and women in 29 humanitarian emergencies.

23 Jan 2006

New real-time test for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

Abbott today announced that a highly sensitive new test for the simultaneous detection of the sexually transmitted pathogens Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neissera gonorrhoeae (NG) has received CE Mark certification, allowing it to be marketed in the European Union.

23 Jan 2006

Argentina and Brazil join forces to produce AIDS drugs

Argentina's Health Ministry has announced that in partnership with the Brazilian government they plan to produce their own anti-AIDS drugs in an effort to lower the cost of treatment.

19 Jan 2006

Caretek Medical signs feasibility agreement with major pharma for protein based drug

Caretek Medical Ltd, an Oxford-based company developing an innovative needle-free drug delivery system, today announced that it has signed a feasibility study agreement with a major global pharmaceutical company.

19 Jan 2006