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Californian bill to revolutionize HIV testing passes legislature unanimously

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the operator of the largest non-government HIV testing program in California, today praised the California Legislature for its passage this week of Assembly Bill 2899 (Portantino, D-Pasadena).

13 Aug 2008

Venezuelan Indians dying from rabies spread by bats

Scientists from the United States say early investigations into the deaths of a number of tribal Indians in northeastern Venezuela suggest that they may have been infected by a type of rabies carried by bats.

13 Aug 2008

Rare case explains why some infected with HIV remain symptom free without antiretroviral drugs

AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins say they have compelling evidence that some people with HIV who for years and even decades show extremely low levels of the virus in their blood never progress to full-blown AIDS and remain symptom free even without treatment, probably do so because of the strength of their immune systems, not any defects in the strain of HIV that infected them in the first place.

12 Aug 2008

The rapid spread of West Nile virus in North America described

The rapid spread of West Nile virus in North America over the past decade is likely to have long-lasting ecological consequences throughout the continent, according to an article in the November issue of BioScience.

12 Aug 2008

Children with HIV in poor countries more adherent to treatment than children in rich countries

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and Moi University School of Medicine are the first to report that adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) to fight human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in children who live in low income countries is as high as or higher than adherence by children living in high income countries.

11 Aug 2008

Technological crystal ball boosts AIDS survival

A cure for the virus that causes AIDS may still be beyond our grasp, but European researchers have developed a predictive software system for HIV that could help extend the lives of victims of the killer disease.

11 Aug 2008

Thirteen Indonesian villagers clear of bird flu

Health officials in Indonesia say 13 people from a village on Sumatra who were hospitalised with suspected bird flu, have all tested negative for the H5N1 virus.

11 Aug 2008

Testosterone and disease transmission

High levels of testosterone may be a key factor in spreading disease among mice, according to biologists. The findings could help explain why males in a population are often more likely to get infected, and transmit disease.

10 Aug 2008

Yellow fever outbreak in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

The Ministry of Health of Cote d'Ivoire has declared a yellow fever outbreak in the capital, Abidjan. The outbreak was laboratory confirmed at the beginning of May 2008.

10 Aug 2008

Luminaries call for continued support for an AIDS vaccine to end the epidemic

Discussions about how to manage AIDS in the long term and how to improve prevention efforts globally took center stage at this year's International AIDS Conference (IAC) held in Mexico City.

10 Aug 2008

Hope overlooked in policies to tackle HIV/AIDS

The links between HIV transmission and the degree to which people are able to adopt realistic plans to achieve future projects, in other words, hope, have been overlooked in policies to tackle HIV/AIDS. New research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) argues that hope is a powerful tool in the battle to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

8 Aug 2008

Scientists identify several hundred genes that impact West Nile virus infection

Screening the entire human genome, a team headed by Yale University scientists have identified several hundred genes that impact West Nile virus infection. The findings reported Wednesday online in the journal Nature may give scientists valuable new clues about ways to intervene in a host of deadly viral infections.

6 Aug 2008

Step forward in search for solution to Staphylococcus aureus infection

Scientists at the University of York have helped to reveal more about the way bacteria can attach to human tissues.

6 Aug 2008

Experts say male circumcision the key to beating AIDS

Experts say while no cure or vaccine for AIDS exists male circumcision could be the key to driving the epidemic into a declining state and closer to extinction.

5 Aug 2008

New HIV/AIDS guide to help countries reach universal access

Today, at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a package of priority interventions designed to help low- and middle-income countries move towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support.

5 Aug 2008

Maggots the key to fighting superbugs

Scientists at Swansea University in Wales have discovered that maggots may hold the key to fighting superbugs.

5 Aug 2008

A new target for malaria drugs

The malaria parasite has waged a successful guerrilla war against the human immune system for eons, but a study in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry has exposed one of the tricks malaria uses to hide from the immune proteins, which may aid in future drug development.

4 Aug 2008

NanoViricides signs agreement with CDC for expanded rabies research

NanoViricides, Inc. has signed a Materials Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (MCRADA) with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia for rabies treatment study.

4 Aug 2008

Targeted action on HIV and tuberculosis needed to reach drug users

Health and criminal justice authorities need to provide targeted services to drug users, especially those who inject drugs, to prevent and treat tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. TB is a major cause of death for people living with HIV, but drug users who are HIV-positive face stigma, discrimination and barriers to accessing life-saving treatments.

4 Aug 2008

Mexico lifts regulation requiring AIDS drug companies to have manufacturing plants in Mexico in order to sell generics

On the day of the opening ceremonies of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, President Felipe Calderon announced his plans to lift a Mexican Ministry of Economy requirement that pharmaceutical companies operating in Mexico must have a manufacturing plant in that country in order to use or sell generic versions of their lifesaving AIDS and other drugs in Mexico.

4 Aug 2008