Simulation Explains Why HIV Cure Is Elusive
University of AdelaideNew research from the University of Adelaide shows why the development of a cure and new treatments for HIV have been so difficult for scientists to crack.
New research from the University of Adelaide shows why the development of a cure and new treatments for HIV have been so difficult for scientists to crack.
In a four-year study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Minority AIDS Research Initiative, researchers will conduct and evaluate an HIV/AIDS anti-stigma related intervention among 10 African-American congregations in rural Alabama. The overall goal of the project, “Faith-Based Anti-Stigma Intervention Toward Healing HIV/AIDS,” or Project FAITHH, is to decrease both individual and community-wide stigma in these congregations.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS.
Research done by Australian scientist Jack da Silva, PhD, and published in the March issue of the journal GENETICS, suggests that even in early infection, when the virus population is low and has reduced genetic variation, HIV rapidly evolves to evade immune defenses and treatment.
Physical violence, sexual abuse and other forms of childhood and adult trauma are major factors fueling the epidemic of HIV/AIDS among American women. Scientists have known for years that traumatized women are at greater risk of becoming infected.
A common sexually transmitted bacterial infection more than doubles the risk of HIV infection in African women, according to a study by researchers at RTI International.
A national team of AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere say they are surprised and dismayed by results of their new study showing that the yearly number of new cases of HIV infection among black women in Baltimore and other cities is five times higher than previously thought. The data show that infection rates for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, among this population are much higher than the overall incidence rates in the United States for African-American adolescents and African-American women.
This is the first to demonstrate that the biological mechanism that keeps the HIV virus hidden and unreachable by current antiviral therapies can be targeted and interrupted in humans, providing new hope for a strategy to eradicate HIV completely.
Using human immune system cells in the lab, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins have figured out a way to kill off latent forms of HIV that hide in infected T cells long after antiretroviral therapy has successfully stalled viral replication to undetectable levels in blood tests.
A common sexually transmitted bacterial infection more than doubles the risk of HIV infection in African women, reports a study in the March issue of AIDS. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
The International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC) publishes new set of evidence-based guidelines to overcome common barriers to optimal care for patients of all ages
Only about 75 percent of HIV/AIDS patients in the United States remain in care consistently, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published online this week in AIDS. The study of patients across the United States is the first to provide a comprehensive national estimate of HIV care retention and information about patients who are most likely to continue their treatment over time.
Leading AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions around the world have issued new guidelines to promote entry into and retention in HIV care, as well as adherence to HIV treatment, drawn from the results of 325 studies conducted with tens of thousands of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
A drug once taken by people with HIV/AIDS but long ago shelved after newer, modern antiretroviral therapies became available has now shed light on how the human body uses its natural immunity to fight the virus—work that could help uncover new targets for drugs.
Scientists have identified a promising strategy for vaccine design using a mathematical technique that has also been used in analyses of stock market price fluctuations. The team will give an update on its work at the Biophysical Society 56th Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.
Problems with correct condom use, such as not wearing a condom throughout sex or putting it on upside down, are common in the U.S. and have become a major concern of public health officials. Countries around the world are facing similar challenges.
Using a mathematical formula that carefully measures the degree to which HIV infection of immune system cells is stalled by antiretroviral therapy, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins have calculated precisely how well dozens of such anti-HIV drugs work, alone or in any of 857 likely combinations, in suppressing the virus. Results of the team’s latest research reveal how some combinations work better than others at impeding viral replication, and keeping the disease in check.
A larger waistline may be linked to an increased risk of decreased mental functioning in people infected with the AIDS virus HIV, according to research published in the February 14, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Tenofovir, one of the most effective and commonly prescribed antiretroviral medications for HIV/AIDS, is associated with a significant risk of kidney damage and chronic kidney disease that increases over time, according to a study of more than 10,000 patients led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
HIV-resistant sex workers in Africa have a weak inflammatory response in their vaginas – a surprise for researchers, who were expecting the contrary considering the women’s high exposure to the virus.
A novel discovery by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and colleagues reveals a mechanism by which the immune system tries to halt the spread of HIV. Harnessing this mechanism may open up new paths for therapeutic research aimed at slowing the virus’ progression to AIDS. The study appears online ahead of print today in Nature Immunology.
A study of more than 300 children and adolescents with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) revealed no association between specific antiretroviral therapy and the severity of psychiatric disorders. In “Human Immunodeficiency Virus Disease Severity, Psychiatric Symptoms, and Functional Outcomes in Perinatally Infected Youth,” Principal Investigator Sharon Nachman, M.D., of Stony Brook School of Medicine, and colleagues detail this finding and others in the Online First edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adult Medicine.
A new analysis published this week in the open-access journal PLoS ONE (Feb. 3, 2012) focused on a combined public health campaign in Western Province, Kenya led by the Swiss-based company Vestergaard Frandsen, the Kenyan Ministry of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The analysis looked at the cost effectiveness of simultaneously confronting the problems of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and diarrhea caused by waterborne pathogens.
Using a combination of evolutionary biology and virology, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have traced the birth of the ability of some HIV-related viruses to defeat a newly discovered cellular-defense system in primates.
Radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy is less effective for patients with HIV when compared to the recurrence and overall survival rates in patients who do not have HIV, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, sponsored by AHNS, ASCO, ASTRO and SNM.
HIV-positive mothers have been able to guard against transmitting the disease to their babies by taking antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. Although the drugs prevent children from being born with HIV, they could cause birth defects, such as cleft lip and palate. A new study explores any links between antiretroviral prophylaxis and cleft lip and palate.
A spoonful of medicine goes down a lot easier if there is a dog or cat around. Having pets is helpful for women living with HIV/AIDS and managing their chronic illness, according to a new study from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.
Research conducted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center global health investigators and cancer specialists in New York, Qatar and Haiti suggests that aspirin should be evaluated for its ability to prevent development of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women.
For children with HIV infection, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the use of raltegravir, an antiretroviral drug that slows the spread of HIV infection, offers a new weapon to treat HIV infection in children.
A new guideline issued by the American Academy of Neurology recommends doctors use caution when choosing seizure drugs for people with HIV/AIDS to avoid potential drug interactions. The guideline, which was co-developed with the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), is published in the January 4, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology and in Epilepsia, the journal of the ILAE.
The finding of a team of researchers — including several members from Johns Hopkins — that HIV treatment with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) can actually prevent transmission of the virus from an infected person to his or her uninfected partner has been named “Breakthrough of the Year” for 2011 by the journal Science.
The HIV Prevention Trials Network 052 study, led by Myron S. Cohen, MD of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been named the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science.
In perhaps the most comprehensive survey of the inner workings of HIV, an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has mapped every apparent physical interaction the virus makes with components of the human cells it infects—work that may reveal new ways to design future HIV/AIDS drugs.
Young women who receive recommended vaccinations to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and associated cancers do not engage in more sexually risky behavior, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
In an advance toward eliminating pockets of infection in the brain that help make HIV disease incurable, scientists report the development of new substances that first plug the biological vacuum cleaner that prevents anti-HIV drugs from reaching the brain and then revert to an active drug to treat HIV.
Effective long-term treatment for patients living with HIV is complicated. Drug resistance is the leading cause of treatment failure and the development of new strains of the virus is common. Ryan Zurakowski, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware, has developed a treatment method to reduce the risk of future failures in patients who have already experienced failure with their HIV treatment protocol.
A new weapon to prevent HIV infection, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is based on the same drugs used to treat HIV-infected individuals. Thus,the big public health scare is that the dual use of these drugs will lead to skyrocketing levels of drug resistance. In fact, say UCLA researchers in a new study, that is not the case and indeed, the exact opposite is likely to happen.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of medicine and pharmacy may help explain the failure of some recent clinical trials of prevention of HIV infection, compared to the success of others that used the same drugs.
Mayo Clinic in Florida is now offering kidney and pancreas transplants to HIV positive patients with advanced kidney disease and diabetes.
A study of headaches among HIV patients, which shows that HIV/AIDS patients have a 13-fold increased risk of suffering chronic migraines, is being hailed as a critical step to improving treatment and reducing unnecessary medical costs among sufferers.
National Association for People with AIDS (NAPWA) President and CEO Frank Oldham, Jr. Advocates for a Three Pronged Strategy to End the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Prevention, Research to Lead to Better Treatments, and Leveling the Playing Field for Access to Healthcare and Economic Opportunity
A cheaper laboratory test that helps guide anti-retroviral drug treatment for people with HIV/AIDS may be just as effective as a more sophisticated test, a group of international researchers has found – a discovery that could be particularly important in rural Africa.
To determine why participation rates in these communities are so low, University of Toronto researchers surveyed nine focus groups comprising at-risk individuals, and found they held a set of misconceptions.
Experts in HIV/AIDS prevention at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing are available to talk with media for stories on World AIDS Day, which is on December 1.
Loyola HIV specialist uses Chicago example of HIV infected man who bit a cop and was charged with transmission of HIV, as an opportunity to increase education, especially with World Aids Day on Thursday, Dec. 1.
In this video, Douglas Richman, MD, is professor of pathology and medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Florence Seeley Riford Chair in AIDS Research discusses the current status of HIV/AIDS research and what lies ahead.
As the world prepares to mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, two Florida State University professors are available to provide perspective on the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, and in commemoration of the occasion, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, debunks the top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research.
A University of Cincinnati researcher from Ghana examines whether African immigrants are taking measures to protect themselves from AIDS and HIV as they adapt to living in a new country.
A topically applied microbicide gel containing a potent anti-HIV drug has been found to significantly reduce infection when applied to rectal tissue that was subsequently exposed to HIV in the laboratory.