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Scientists revive a dormant gene to fight HIV

A new vaginal cream containing a reawakened protein could someday prevent the transmission of HIV.

30 Apr 2009

Gains in access to antiretroviral treatment come with some costs

In this week's PLoS Medicine magazine, Yibeltal Assefa, from the National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office in Addis Ababa, and colleagues describe the successes and challenges of the scale-up of antiretroviral treatment (ART) across Ethiopia.

30 Apr 2009

If started early, HIV treatment reduces death rates toward background levels in African countries

Mortality rates of people starting HIV treatment in four African countries approach those of the general population over time, provided that treatment is started before the immune system has been severely damaged, according to research published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine.

30 Apr 2009

Global health organizations are doing too little to support health system strengthening

Existing health systems in the developing world are fragile and many are unable to provide effective health services - and so there is growing consensus that the success of global health initiatives will depend on "health system strengthening" (a recent buzzword in global health).

30 Apr 2009

DNA "barcodes" used to map mosquito species in West Africa that spread lymphatic filariasis

New biotechnologies that allow scientists to quickly and accurately distinguish species based on a simple DNA analysis are being creatively deployed for the first time in the war against a major global disease.

29 Apr 2009

Test for best potential HIV/AIDS vaccine in the pipeline

Scientists in Britain are well on the way to developing a test for the best potential HIV/AIDS vaccine.

27 Apr 2009

Australian researchers win bumper grant from Bill Gates for HIV research

Australian researchers have won themselves a bumper grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to examine the best way of using drugs to treat HIV.

27 Apr 2009

Nanoparticles applied to skin offer hope for erection problems

Cutaneous application of nanoparticles may offer a new means of delivering drugs to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), according to findings presented at the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).

26 Apr 2009

Diffusion weighted MR accurately identifies gynecologic malignancies

Diffusion weighted MR can accurately identify benign from malignant pelvic lymph nodes in patients with gynecologic malignancy, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA.

23 Apr 2009

Baroque classical music in the reading room can help improve radiologists work lives

Baroque classical music in the reading room can help improve radiologists work lives, potentially improving diagnostic efficiency and accuracy, according to a study performed by researchers at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD, Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, MD, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, PA.

23 Apr 2009

Malaria death in Zambia decline by 66%

Malaria deaths reported from health facilities in Zambia have declined by 66%. This result along with other supporting data indicates that Zambia has reached the 2010 Roll Back Malaria target of a more than 50% reduction in malaria mortality compared to 2000.

23 Apr 2009

Why an effective vaccine for HIV has proven so elusive

Some 25 years after the AIDS epidemic spawned a worldwide search for an effective vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), progress in the field seems to have effectively become stalled.

22 Apr 2009

Discovery of two important molecules that underlie the pathology of lupus, particularly kidney disease

Kidney damage associated with the autoimmune disease lupus is linked to a malfunction of immune cells that causes them to congregate in and attack the organs, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered in a mouse study.

22 Apr 2009

Rifampin kinetics poor in children

Rifampin (RMP), a first-line antituberculosis drug, reaches serum concentrations well below suggested lower limits when a standard dose of 8-12mg/kg body weight is given to children.

22 Apr 2009

Another gene found for Rett syndrome

New research has revealed another gene for Rett syndrome which could lead to new treatments for the disorder.

22 Apr 2009

URMC expert to give free talk on hearing loss

Ann Clock Eddins, Ph.D., director of Audiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, will present a free talk from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, at the Hahnemann Club, 201 Stoutenberg Lane, located on the campus of The Highlands at Pittsford (off of Rt. 31, just east of the village of Pittsford).

21 Apr 2009

Humanized mouse infected with HIV vaginally and rectally allows testing

The "humanized mouse" developed by Dr. J. Victor Garcia-Martinez has allowed the University of Texas Southwestern physician-scientist to conduct HIV/AIDS studies that would have been impossible without such a small animal model of HIV infection.

20 Apr 2009

Acupuncture relieves symptoms of xerostomia

Twice weekly acupuncture treatments relieve debilitating symptoms of xerostomia - severe dry mouth - among patients treated with radiation for head and neck cancer, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the current online issue of Head & Neck.

20 Apr 2009

NIH grants will strengthen fight against HIV/AIDS-tuberculosis

The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health today announced it will award $11.75 million over five years in grants to institutions to strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Haiti, Uganda and China and establish a new program in Tanzania.

16 Apr 2009

New updated clinical guidelines for HIV-associated opportunistic infections

The first complete update in five years of the U.S. guidelines for preventing and treating HIV-associated opportunistic infections has been released by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in cooperation with the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

16 Apr 2009