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NIAID announces 14 grants for basic research to identify new HIV vaccine approaches

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded 14 grants totaling $7.8 million in first-year funding for basic research to identify new approaches for designing a safe and effective HIV vaccine.

22 Aug 2012

AIDS Healthcare Foundation announces acquisition of MOMS Pharmacy

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest nonprofit global HIV/AIDS organization, today announced that it has acquired MOMS Pharmacy, a specialty pharmacy focused exclusively on providing medications and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS.

21 Aug 2012

Declining circumcision rates in the US raise healthcare costs and disease risk

A team of disease experts and health economists at Johns Hopkins warns that steadily declining rates of U.S. infant male circumcision could add more than $4.4 billion in avoidable health care costs if rates over the next decade drop to levels now seen in Europe.

21 Aug 2012

International community observes World Humanitarian Day

On World Humanitarian Day, recognized August 19, "United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has highlighted the power of individual actions to spark global changes, and praised the work of humanitarian workers who provide assistance to vulnerable people around the world," the U.N. News Centre reports.

21 Aug 2012

Declining rates of circumcision in US infant males could add billions to health care costs

21 Aug 2012

New statistical model predicts global decline in working-age adults to support elderly people

A new statistical model predicts that by 2100 the number of people older than 85 worldwide will increase more than previously estimated, and there will be fewer working-age adults to support them than previously expected.

21 Aug 2012

HIV home test popular among men with high risk sexual practices

Thirty years into the HIV epidemic, many people who are at high risk of HIV infection cannot or will not adopt safer sexual practices, such as abstinence and condom use. This means there is room in the market for alternative methods to reduce either exposure to or transmission of HIV among these individuals.

21 Aug 2012

Infectious disease rates are high among homeless people

Rates of the infectious diseases HIV, Hepatitis C and tuberculosis among the world’s homeless people are many times higher than in the general population, according to a new systematic review of existing data published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

20 Aug 2012

Ohio's three Clinical and Translational Science Award institutions establish IRB agreement

The three Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions in Ohio — Case Western Reserve University, University of Cincinnati and The Ohio State University — and their partnering institutions have established a statewide collaborative agreement allowing a single organization's Institutional Review Board (IRB) to assume IRB responsibilities on behalf of multiple institutions when conducting multicenter studies.

18 Aug 2012

USAID blog examines structural issues fueling HIV epidemic

"During the recent International XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C., exciting breakthroughs in HIV prevention, treatment, and care -- even a possible cure -- took center stage," but, "despite recent advances, many men and women remain at risk of HIV as a result of structural issues that fuel and have an impact on the epidemic," Molly Fitzgerald, technical advisor for AIDSTAR-One, writes in this post in USAID's "Impact Blog."

18 Aug 2012

CDC reports worst West Nile virus outbreak in the U.S.

This past year's mild winter and wet spring could be contributing to the worst West Nile virus outbreak since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more cases of the virus so far this year than any year. As of August 14, almost 700 cases had been reported across the nation, including 26 deaths. This year also marks the earliest reported case of West Nile virus in New Jersey.

18 Aug 2012

Blog examines use of controversial HIV drug in Malawi

This post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines the use of stavudine, "also known as d4T, an antiretroviral treatment that was dropped in wealthy countries years ago and that the World Health Organization has recommended stop being included in treatment programs," to treat HIV in Malawi.

17 Aug 2012

Kenyan President announces additional funding for national AIDS response

"Kenya's government, under the leadership of President Mwai Kibaki, has allocated additional funding to its national AIDS response," UNAIDS reports in a feature story on its webpage, noting, "The announcement came last Friday during a high level advocacy meeting in Nairobi."

17 Aug 2012

Study helps explain how large DNA viruses undergo rapid evolution

Scientists have discovered that poxviruses, which are responsible for smallpox and other diseases, can adapt to defeat different host antiviral defenses by quickly and temporarily producing multiple copies of a gene that helps the viruses to counter host immunity.

17 Aug 2012

Curcumin shows promise in fighting devastating viruses

The popular spice turmeric packs more than just flavor - it shows promise in fighting devastating viruses, Mason researchers recently discovered.

17 Aug 2012

Researchers identify molecular and protein signatures that predict HCV virus-induced liver injury

Researchers have discovered molecular and protein signatures that predict rapid onset of liver damage in hepatitis C patients following a liver transplant. The markers appeared soon after transplant and well before clinical evidence of liver damage.

17 Aug 2012

Achieving AIDS-free generation worth more than Olympic gold

In this post in Huffington Post's "Healthy Living" blog, John-Manuel Andriote, a journalist and author living with HIV, asks, "For all of us living with HIV infection -- Oct. 27 will mark seven years since my own diagnosis -- the question we face daily, hopefully more consciously and deliberately than most, is how shall we live, knowing as we do that we will most assuredly die one day?"

16 Aug 2012

U.S. military medical team supports Botswana HIV prevention efforts

In an article on the U.S. Department of Defense webpage, the American Forces Press Service reports on how a U.S. military medical team is helping the Botswana Defense Force "to promote Botswana's national program of education, HIV screening and male circumcision surgeries to stem what's become a national epidemic," according to Army Col. Michael Kelly, an Army Reserve surgeon deployed in Botswana from the Army Reserve Medical Command in Washington.

16 Aug 2012

Human milk oligosaccharides may reduce risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

An international team of researchers has found that certain bioactive components found in human milk are associated with a reduced risk of HIV transmission from an HIV infected mother to her breast-fed infant. Their study will be published in the August 15 online edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

16 Aug 2012