Retrovirus News and Research

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Promising results reported for HIV patients suffering from facial wasting

Physicians from leading plastic surgery and dermatology practices report positive results from HIV patients participating in a clinical trial of Radiesse synthetic injectable implant on facial wasting. The trial is intended to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of this widely used tissue augmentation therapy as a treatment for the facial changes that socially stigmatize many HIV-infected patients.

23 Mar 2005

Ranbaxy files additional Anti-Retroviral (ARV) agents with the World Health Organization

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (RLL) announced today that the Company has made two additional filings of its Anti-Retroviral (ARV) agents with the World Health Organization (WHO) for its approval, taking the total number of Ranbaxy ARV filings submitted with the WHO to five.

23 Mar 2005

Availability of cheap HIV-AIDS drugs threatened by Indian patent law

A controversial Indian patents bill could threaten the lives of millions of people worldwide living with HIV-AIDS and cancer by banning companies from producing cheap copies of brand name drugs.

21 Mar 2005

Fishing communities are the hidden victims of HIV/AIDS

Men and women living in fishing villages across the world have been found to be between five and ten times more vulnerable to the disease than other communities.

21 Mar 2005

£800,000 to boost research into fighting viruses

A team of University of Glasgow scientists have received a grant of £800,000 from the Wellcome Trust to research a mechanism that blocks a critical step in the replication cycle of retroviruses. In the long term, the research could lead to the design of new therapeutic strategies or drugs against retroviruses, which cause diseases such as AIDS and certain leukemias.

14 Mar 2005

HIV is not an independent risk factor for severe heart disease

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is no longer an automatic death sentence, thanks to the use of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART).

8 Mar 2005

HAART saves 2 million life years

The total impact of HIV treatment in the US has been evaluated for the first time. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, ( Harvard Medical School in Boston), speaking at the 12th Annual Retrovirus Conference, quoted from research which estimated the survival benefits of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and opportunistic infection prophylaxis in the US from 1989 to 2003.

2 Mar 2005

Beautiful with HIV

HIV-positive women wearing evening gowns and sparkling jewels entered a beauty pageant in Botswana in an attempt to dispel the stigma that surrounds the deadly virus in this AIDS-ravaged southern African country with one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection. 37 percent of its 1.7 million population has tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS.

1 Mar 2005

New study following 12,574 individuals over the course of three years of HAART

Although clinical progression to AIDS of patients infected with Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has declined since the introduction of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), there is little data on the changes in incidence of AIDS-defining events during the first few years of therapy.

28 Feb 2005

Dual testing better for monitoring new cases of HIV

Johns Hopkins researchers will present results showing that tighter, dual testing standards work better for accurately distinguishing between new and old cases of HIV.

27 Feb 2005

Benitec announces AIDS collaboration

Benitec today announced a collaboration with City of Hope (based in Duarte California) to develop a novel T-cell based therapy for AIDS patients.

22 Feb 2005

Blips and AIDS therapy

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have concluded that sudden, temporary spikes in the amount of HIV in the body, commonly called blips, do not always mean the virus is developing resistance to AIDS drugs.

14 Feb 2005

New 3-DCR HIV strain does not respond to three classes of anti-retroviral medication

A highly resistant strain of rapidly progressive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been diagnosed for the first time in a New York City resident who had not previously undergone antiviral drug treatment, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

13 Feb 2005

Finding points towards the possibility of retrovirus involvement in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)

A significant proportion of patients suffering from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neuron disease, have a marker of retrovirus activity in their blood, reports the February 8 issue of the medical journal Neurology.

7 Feb 2005

New highly active agents against leishmaniasis

Parasitic diseases, especially leishmaniases and trypanosomiases, kill hundreds of thousands of people every year in the world, mainly in the countries of the South. The most severe form of leishmaniosis (kala-azar, the visceral form), induced by Leishmania donovani and L. infantum, affects about 500 000 people per year and proves fatal if no treatment is given.

25 Jan 2005

Home HIV-AIDS test could be a reality within two years

A portable device similar to a home pregnancy test that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles as well as biological agents such as Ricin and anthrax, is the goal of a new joint research project

17 Jan 2005

Important clue to understanding the origins of the AIDS epidemic

Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have uncovered an important clue to understanding the origins of the AIDS epidemic. The work suggests that harnessing natural mechanisms of resistance to HIV infection might provide new methods for combating AIDS.

12 Jan 2005

New portable infectious disease detector

A portable device similar to today's home pregnancy tests that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles, as well as biological agents such as ricin and anthrax, is the object of a new joint university/industry research project.

10 Jan 2005

Important clue to understanding the origins of the AIDS epidemic

10 Jan 2005

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs)

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) have been the subject of a great deal of investigation in recent years. It has been established that HERVs cause some genetic diseases and there is strong circumstantial evidence for a link to some types of cancer and autoimmune diseases, but what else do we need to know about these unique organisms?

4 Dec 2004