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Early administration of HIV antiretroviral therapy improves survival

The first antiretroviral treatments appeared in 1996. Since then, new and better drugs have been discovered that have almost turned AIDS into a chronic disease.

12 Apr 2009

Rural AIDS and HIV expert comments on media campaign

A recent study revealed that the public's concern about the HIV/AIDS problem in the United States has lessened: In 1995, 44 percent of people surveyed considered HIV/AIDS the most urgent health problem, but only 5 percent of study participants reported feeling this way today, said William L. Yarber, senior director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University.

9 Apr 2009

HIV virus may have become more virulent

Damage to patients' immune systems is happening sooner now than it did at the beginning of the HIV epidemic, suggesting the virus has become more virulent, according to a new study in the May 1, 2009 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

8 Apr 2009

AIDS organizations endorse new HIV testing bill

Five AIDS service organizations have endorsed legislation proposed by State Senate Health Committee Chair Thomas Duane that would bring New York's HIV counseling and testing law up-to-date with the realities facing the epidemic today.

8 Apr 2009

Patient to patient transmission of hepatitis B virus:

Patient-to-patient transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) can occur as the result of routine clinical practices incorrectly thought to be risk-free.

8 Apr 2009

$45 million public awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS epidemic in U.S.

The U.S. government has announced a $45 million program to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

8 Apr 2009

FDA clears rapid test for the detection of influenza A/H5N1

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today cleared for marketing a new, more rapid test for the detection of influenza A/H5N1, a disease-causing subtype of the avian influenza A virus that can infect humans.

7 Apr 2009

Stanford study shows PEPFAR program saved a million lives

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the ambitious U.S. government program begun in 2003, has cut the death toll from HIV/AIDS through 2007 by more than 10 percent in targeted countries in Africa, though it has had no appreciable effect on prevalence of the disease in those nations, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine that is the first to evaluate these outcomes.

6 Apr 2009

Killing older mosquitoes is a more sustainable way to control malaria

Killing only older mosquitoes could be a more sustainable way of controlling malaria, and has the potential to lead to evolution-proof insecticides that never become obsolete, according to an article in this week's issue of PLoS Biology.

6 Apr 2009

First Lady Obama to partner with French First Lady Bruni-Sarkozy on global HIV/AIDS efforts

First lady Michelle Obama and French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on Friday in Strasbourg, France, agreed to collaborate on efforts to address HIV/AIDS worldwide, AFP/Google.com reports.

6 Apr 2009

Ugandan First Lady calls for increased efforts to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission

Uganda's first lady Janet Museveni recently called for increased efforts to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in the country, Uganda's New Vision reports.

6 Apr 2009

Cambodia aims to decrease HIV/AIDS prevalence to 0.6% by 2010

Cambodia aims to decrease its HIV/AIDS prevalence to 0.6% by 2010, compared with a prevalence of more than 0.7% in 2008 and 0.9% in 2006, Xinhuanet reports.

6 Apr 2009

Inter Press service examines research into PrEP

Inter Press Service last week examined how researchers are investigating the use of antiretroviral drugs as a possible method of pre-exposure prophylaxis. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition's Executive Director Mitchell Warren recently said that such efforts are "a pivotal moment in HIV/AIDS research."

6 Apr 2009

California HIV/AIDS group launches web-based program aimed at MSM

The Palm Springs, Calif.-based Desert AIDS Project has launched an Internet-based education and prevention program aimed at men who have sex with men, the Desert Sun reports. The program was launched ahead of the area's White Party Easter weekend, according to the Sun.

6 Apr 2009

Partner behavior better predicts STD risks

Risky behaviors such as not using condoms or having sex with multiple people put young adults at risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases, but perhaps not as much as the characteristics of their sexual partners, University of Florida researchers say.

6 Apr 2009

Locking parasites in host cell could be new way to fight malaria

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that parasites hijack host-cell proteins to ensure their survival and proliferation, suggesting new ways to control the diseases they cause.

6 Apr 2009

Experts discuss disease-fight dollars for developing world

The debate over how to spend the hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked to fight AIDS and other killer diseases in developing countries will come under the spotlight at a meeting of international experts.

5 Apr 2009

U.S.-funded HIV/AIDS, malaria initiatives represent 'new approach' to foreign aid, opinion piece says

In her book "Dead Aid," author Dambisa Moyo comes to "disastrously wrongheaded conclusions" regarding U.S. foreign aid, columnist Michael Gerson writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

5 Apr 2009

UNITAID reaches deal with travel agencies to raise donations for HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria

UNITAID on Wednesday announced that it has reached an agreement with three travel reservation systems that will allow users to make voluntary $2 donations to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria efforts, AFP/Google.com reports.

5 Apr 2009

Doctors identify patients at high risk of Clostridium difficile

Doctors have developed and validated a clinical prediction rule for recurrent Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile ) infection that was simple, reliable and accurate, and can be used to identify high-risk patients most likely to benefit from measures to prevent recurrence.

1 Apr 2009