Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

EASL calls on the UN to take action to fight against viral hepatitis infection

Marking World Hepatitis Day, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) calls on the different organizations which make up the United Nations systems to take action to fight against Viral Hepatitis (Hepatitis B and C), a potentially fatal infection of the liver which affects 500 million people.

30 Jul 2012

Study examines how heterosexual men with HIV seek health care and support services

Heterosexual men make up a small but growing number of people infected with HIV in Canada. Yet a new study has found that many of them feel existing HIV-related programs and services don't meet their needs and are geared primarily or exclusively toward gay men and heterosexual women who are living with the virus.

30 Jul 2012

Health systems must prepare for aging population living with HIV

"Many health systems are not ready to cope with the relatively new phenomenon" of people living with HIV (PLHIV) growing older, PlusNews reports. "Data on aging with HIV is largely restricted to the developed world and very little is known about older Africans living with virus, despite the high caseload in this region," the news service writes, adding, "A July 2012 supplement of the medical journal, AIDS, notes that an estimated three million people in sub-Saharan Africa aged 50 and older are HIV-positive -- 14 percent of all infected adults.

30 Jul 2012

Early ART treatment delays AIDS-related health events in HIV-infected individuals

Further analyses of the landmark NIH-funded treatment-as-prevention study (HPTN 052) have found that providing antiretroviral treatment to HIV-infected individuals earlier, when their immune systems are healthier, delays AIDS-related health events, such as chronic herpes simplex virus and tuberculosis, as well as death. Additionally, researchers found that earlier HIV treatment is also cost-effective because it increases survival, prevents costly opportunistic infections and averts transmission of the virus to uninfected individuals.

30 Jul 2012

Recent release: AIDS response should be 'instrument for social justice'

"It is outrageous that, in 2012, when we have everything we need to beat AIDS, we are still fighting prejudice, stigma, and exclusion," UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes on the Human Rights and HIV/AIDS "Now More Than Ever" blog, adding, "It is my daily reminder that the AIDS response is not just about an epidemic; the AIDS response is, has been, and must be, an instrument to fight for social justice."

28 Jul 2012

Research presented at AIDS 2012 conference renews hope of cure for AIDS

Two studies presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) and one published Wednesday in the British journal Nature "have given researchers renewed hope that a cure for AIDS may be possible," the Washington Post reports.

28 Jul 2012

Experimental dengue vaccine protects against 3 of 4 viral strains, study results show

"The world's first vaccine against dengue fever, being developed by French drugmaker Sanofi SA, protected against three of the virus's four strains in a keenly awaited clinical trial in Thailand," the company announced on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

28 Jul 2012

NPR examines whether goal of treating all HIV-positive people with ARVs is feasible

Noting new guidelines released at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C., this week "call for everybody with HIV to be started on antiretroviral drugs [ARVs] as soon as they test positive for the virus," NPR's "Shots" blog examines "whether the goal is achievable, and who would pay for this enormous expansion in treatment."

27 Jul 2012

Viral evolution and host protein levels predict rapid disease progression in hepatitis C patients

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have identified several factors in people infected with the hepatitis C virus that may predict whether the unusually rapid progression of disease from initial infection to severe liver conditions, such as cirrhosis, will occur. Knowing whether a patient's condition is likely to deteriorate quickly could help physicians decide on the best course of treatment.

27 Jul 2012

AIDS roundup: Researchers examine whether the disease causes premature aging; Funding and treatment gaps; Bone marrow transplant treatments

News outlets report on scientific and political issues coming up at the International AIDS Conference being held in Washington.

27 Jul 2012

Vaccine complex delivered safely by piggybacking onto 3D DNA nanostructures

In a quest to make safer and more effective vaccines, scientists at the Biodesign Institute- at Arizona State University have turned to a promising field called DNA nanotechnology to make an entirely new class of synthetic vaccines.

27 Jul 2012

A key question at this week's AIDS Conference: Who will pay the worldwide costs of treatment?

A roundup of news from the International AIDS Conference taking place this week in Washington.

27 Jul 2012

Lymphoma drug dislodges hidden virus in HIV patients

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have published pioneering research showing that a drug used to treat certain types of lymphoma was able to dislodge hidden virus in patients receiving treatment for HIV.

27 Jul 2012

HIV drug resistance: an interview with Dr. Silvia Bertagnolio

Sexual intercourse is the major mode of HIV transmission. HIV may also be transmitted through sharing of needles or contaminated blood products (although this is rare).

27 Jul 2012

WHO announces efforts to fight 'hidden epidemic' of hepatitis

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day on July 28, the WHO "announced on Wednesday measures to fight the 'hidden epidemic' ... which kills more than one million people a year," Agence France-Presse reports. The virus "affects 500 million people worldwide but can go unnoticed for years and even decades," the news service reports.

27 Jul 2012

Bone marrow transplant eradicates traces of HIV in men

Two men with longstanding HIV infections no longer have detectable HIV in their blood cells following bone marrow transplants. The virus was easily detected in blood lymphocytes of both men prior to their transplants but became undetectable by eight months post-transplant. The men, who were treated at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), have remained on anti-retroviral therapy.

27 Jul 2012

Chevron announces PMTCT partnership to combat mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa

Chevron announced today at the 2012 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) a partnership initiative with Pact, the Business Leadership Council (BLC), mothers2mothers and the Global Fund to aggressively combat crisis-level mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Nigeria, Angola and South Africa.

27 Jul 2012

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

EASL calls on the UN to take action to fight against viral hepatitis infection

Study examines how heterosexual men with HIV seek health care and support services

Health systems must prepare for aging population living with HIV

Early ART treatment delays AIDS-related health events in HIV-infected individuals

Recent release: AIDS response should be 'instrument for social justice'

Research presented at AIDS 2012 conference renews hope of cure for AIDS

Experimental dengue vaccine protects against 3 of 4 viral strains, study results show

NPR examines whether goal of treating all HIV-positive people with ARVs is feasible

Viral evolution and host protein levels predict rapid disease progression in hepatitis C patients

AIDS roundup: Researchers examine whether the disease causes premature aging; Funding and treatment gaps; Bone marrow transplant treatments

Vaccine complex delivered safely by piggybacking onto 3D DNA nanostructures

A key question at this week's AIDS Conference: Who will pay the worldwide costs of treatment?

Lymphoma drug dislodges hidden virus in HIV patients

HIV drug resistance: an interview with Dr. Silvia Bertagnolio

WHO announces efforts to fight 'hidden epidemic' of hepatitis

Bone marrow transplant eradicates traces of HIV in men

Chevron announces PMTCT partnership to combat mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa

Gilead Sciences second quarter total revenues increase 13% to $2.41 billion

UNITAID to invest more than $140M to evaluate point-of-care HIV diagnostics, monitoring in Africa

First Edition: July 26, 2012

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Newsletters you may be interested in