bioethics.net News Update - AIDS/HIV

University of Michigan Scientists Identify Reservoirs Where HIV-Infected Cells Can Lie in Wait

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:58:49 EST

University of Michigan scientists have identified a new reservoir for hidden HIV-infected cells that can serve as a factory for new infections. Targeting these reservoirs of latent cells may open a door to new treatments.

Scientists find new strain of HIV

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:46:11 EDT

Gorillas have been found, for the first time, to be a source of HIV. Previous research had shown the HIV-1 strain, the main source of human infections, with 33m cases worldwide, originated from a virus in chimpanzees. But researchers have now discovered an HIV infection in a Cameroonian woman which is clearly linked to a gorilla strain, Nature Medicine reports.

Hepatitis Group Is Harassed in China

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:29:06 EDT

In the realm of potential threats to China�s stability, an organization that advocates on behalf of people infected with hepatitis B would seem to be low risk.But on Wednesday, the group�s director, Lu Jun, found himself squaring off against four security officials who were trying to cart away stacks of literature they claimed had been printed without official permission.

Washington Supports Exchange of Needles

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:12:55 EDT

City officials on Friday called on Congress not to reinstate a ban that prevented the nation�s capital from using local money to distribute clean needles to drug users. Until 2007, when the ban was lifted, Washington was the only city in the country forbidden by Congress from using both local and federal tax dollars to distribute clean needles to drug addicts. The capital has one of the fastest-growing H.I.V. and AIDS problems in the country

AIDS-like disease in chimps may be a 'missing link'

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:32:44 EDT

Scientists have discovered that chimpanzees in Tanzania are falling ill and dying from an AIDS-like disease -- a surprising finding that could lead to insights into the illness and, perhaps, to a vaccine.

Youth HIV, Pregnancy on Rise

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:14:30 EDT

Mississippi is among the top states in the nation in the spread of HIV and AIDS among pre-teens to young adults, as well as pregnancies in the same age groups, according to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AIDS Relief and Moral Myopia

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:02:24 EDT

Public-health specialists working on AIDS in Africa are fond of invoking �ignorance.� It is a term assigned to any local attitude that stands in their way�from the cool reception Africans have given condoms to the lingering doubt in many African societies that sexual activity is the essential cause of AIDS.

South Africa Is Seen to Lag in H.I.V. Fight

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:56:41 EDT

ORANGE FARM, South Africa � Young men have flocked by the thousands to this clinic for circumcisions, the only one of its kind in South Africa. Each of them lies down on one of seven closely spaced surgical tables, his privacy shielded only by a green curtain. �I�ve done 53 in a seven-hour day, me, myself, personally,� said Dr. Dino Rech, who helped design the highly efficient surgical assembly line at this French-financed clinic for cutting off foreskins.

International Development Minister Urges Firms to Pool HIV Patents

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:57:45 EDT

Drug companies should give up their patent rights to HIV medicines to help prevent the deaths of millions of people in poor countries, a British government minister will say this week. The international development minister, Mike Foster, will call on pharmaceutical companies to put lives before profits, as the all-party parliamentary group on Aids publishes a report this week detailing the scale of the "treatment timebomb". By 2030, they estimate, 50 million people will need new drugs, which are currently prohibitively expensive, to keep them alive.

Time for a Scientific Code of Ethics

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:01:28 EDT

In the light of recent high-profile scandals � one researcher has asked: Just how common is scientific misconduct? And her conclusions are worrying. Daniele Fanelli of the University of Edinburgh conducted the first meta-analysis of surveys questioning scientists about their misbehaviours. The results suggest that altering or making up data is more frequent than previously estimated and might be particularly high in medical research. There have been previous estimates based on indirect data (for example, official retractions of scientific papers or random data audits) which have produced largely discrepant results. Many researchers have asked scientists directly, with surveys conducted in different countries and disciplines. However, they have used different methods and asked different questions, so their results also appeared inconclusive.

New Non-Drug Fix for HIV?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:09:03 EDT

Researchers are slowly establishing a connection between an extremely rare genetic disease and HIV -- and homing in on a safe, non-prescription compound that could treat both. Recently, James Hildreth at the Meharry Medical College School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn., and his colleagues found that cells affected by Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC), which disrupts cholesterol trafficking, were unable to release HIV, suggesting these cells would not spread the virus. These findings, published May 27 in the Journal of Virology, are rooted in a hypothesis Hildreth has explored for a long time: that "cholesterol is somehow essential" to HIV, he said. For instance, HIV-1 relies on specialized structures known as lipid rafts, which are rich in cholesterol, to infect new cells.

New advances on the long road to the development of an AIDS vaccine

Wed, 20 May 2009 10:22:43 EDT

AIDS Vaccine Day, May 18, marks the occasion in 1997 when U.S. President Bill Clinton challenged researchers to come up with an AIDS vaccine within the following decade, stating that such a vaccine was the only way to eliminate the threat of AIDS. Twelve years later, the goal of an effective HIV vaccine remains unfulfilled, but the need for one remains urgent. AIDS is the number four killer in the world and number one in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite education and prevention campaigns, every day 7,500 people become infected with HIV. Antiretroviral drugs can prolong the lives of those who are infected, but they are not cures, and because of their cost and logistical difficulties, they reach only a minority of those who need them. And for every two individuals who go on antiretroviral treatment, five become HIV infected. As with any major viral pandemic, a vaccine remains the best hope of ending, and not just mitigating, AIDS.

A Policy Cocktail for Fighting HIV

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:54:47 EDT

Nearly 30 years after the first cases were recognized in the United States, HIV/AIDS remains an incurable disease that is devastating large swaths of our country and the rest of the world. To understand the magnitude of the destruction, look around our nation's capital. Last month, D.C. health officials announced that 3 percent of city residents had full-blown AIDS or were infected with HIV. Not only is that infection rate on a par with rates in some African countries, but the D.C. data were based only on those who have been tested for HIV; the actual rate is probably much higher.

FDA Approves Inexpensive Female Condom

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:09:44 EDT

Female Health Co has won U.S. approval to market its newer, less expensive female condom, which could help it win over American women as well as boost use in developing countries, the company said on Wednesday.

A New Call to Defeat the AIDS Virus

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:51:57 EST

Scientists at major medical centers in the United States, the drug industry and AIDS advocates are calling for a new research effort to defeat, once and for all, the viral infections that have caused the global AIDS epidemic that kills more than 2 million people each year worldwide, despite the antiviral drugs that are keeping other millions alive even now.