Source: BBC News
The first in a new class of HIV drugs has become available in the UK.
It means doctors will have a further treatment option for patients who have built up resistance to existing drugs. Raltegravir is an integrase inhibitor, which works by blocking an enzyme essential for HIV to be able to replicate itself.
An estimated 73,000 people live with HIV in the UK. Raltegravir will be reserved for those who have stopped responding to other treatment.
Resistance to HIV medication is becoming increasingly common - more than one in 10 UK patients with HIV has some level of resistance to at least one drug before they have even begun therapy, research has shown.
A clinical trial of Raltegravir published last year found it to be effective in patients who had been taking regular antiretroviral HIV drugs for about 10 years.
Treatment for HIV is helping people to live longer but, in the UK, one of the biggest challenges is the threat of resistance.
Integrase is one of three HIV enzymes the virus uses to multiply.
It inserts viral genes into the DNA of the host cell, effectively making it a "factory" for producing more of the virus. Without this, the virus cannot multiply and infect other cells as easily, reducing the amount of virus present in the blood.
The complete article is available on BBC's Website
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sexually transmitted diseases soar in the Outaouais
Source: CBC News
Cases of sexually transmitted diseases increased sharply in Quebec's Outaouais region between 1996 and 2006, alarming public health officials.
Provincial statistics for the western Quebec region that includes Gatineau show that over 10 years, chlamydia infections more than doubled, from 275 cases in 1996 to 590 cases in 2006 (about 170 cases per 100,000). Gonorrhea infections are also on the rise and syphilis, which had almost disappeared from the region, is making a comeback. There was only one case of syphilis in 2001, but around a dozen in 2006. In the case of hepatitis C, there were 95 cases in 2006, up from 49 in 1996, but down from a high of 118 in 2003.
The growth in sexually transmitted diseases was particularly large among 15- to 35-year-olds, said Denis Carrier, a spokesman for the Outaouais public health agency. He blames the growth on young people failing to use protection such as condoms.
"Because there's some new pills or new treatments, people consider there's no big risk anymore," he said.
However, he warned that unprotected sex can have serious health consequences, and he said the health agency is launching a campaign to send home that message.
According to Health Canada's website, even chlamydia and gonorrhea, which can be treated with antibiotics, can potentially have serious effects such as pelvic inflammatory disease in women, which can cause internal abscesses and long-lasting pain. They can also lead to infertility among both men and women, and in some cases, a type of arthritis that affects joints throughout the body.
Sores associated with syphilis greatly increase the chance of contracting HIV. And if left untreated, syphilis can cause a wide range of symptoms ranging from fever to joint pain to hair loss, Health Canada said.
The agency also warns that AIDS is still incurable and fatal, and hepatitis C, which is also incurable, can lead to serious liver damage or liver cancer.
Cases of sexually transmitted diseases increased sharply in Quebec's Outaouais region between 1996 and 2006, alarming public health officials.
Provincial statistics for the western Quebec region that includes Gatineau show that over 10 years, chlamydia infections more than doubled, from 275 cases in 1996 to 590 cases in 2006 (about 170 cases per 100,000). Gonorrhea infections are also on the rise and syphilis, which had almost disappeared from the region, is making a comeback. There was only one case of syphilis in 2001, but around a dozen in 2006. In the case of hepatitis C, there were 95 cases in 2006, up from 49 in 1996, but down from a high of 118 in 2003.
The growth in sexually transmitted diseases was particularly large among 15- to 35-year-olds, said Denis Carrier, a spokesman for the Outaouais public health agency. He blames the growth on young people failing to use protection such as condoms.
"Because there's some new pills or new treatments, people consider there's no big risk anymore," he said.
However, he warned that unprotected sex can have serious health consequences, and he said the health agency is launching a campaign to send home that message.
According to Health Canada's website, even chlamydia and gonorrhea, which can be treated with antibiotics, can potentially have serious effects such as pelvic inflammatory disease in women, which can cause internal abscesses and long-lasting pain. They can also lead to infertility among both men and women, and in some cases, a type of arthritis that affects joints throughout the body.
Sores associated with syphilis greatly increase the chance of contracting HIV. And if left untreated, syphilis can cause a wide range of symptoms ranging from fever to joint pain to hair loss, Health Canada said.
The agency also warns that AIDS is still incurable and fatal, and hepatitis C, which is also incurable, can lead to serious liver damage or liver cancer.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Immunologists find better way to boost the immune system
Source: Science daily
Immunologists have discovered how to manipulate the immune system to increase its power and protect the body from successive viral infections.
Published in Viral Immunology, these findings may point the way toward developing new and more effective vaccines against diseases like influenza or HIV and enhance new developments in immunology.
The study suggests that scientists can boost the body’s resistance and fend off successive viral infections by taking components of the virus and indirectly activating specific populations of killer T cells – the body’s virus-killing cells. The virus components are introduced through a process known as “cross priming” whereby virus molecules are engulfed by immune cells to activate killer T cells.
“With this mechanism in mind, we can develop better tools to make more successful and effective vaccines,” says Sam Basta, Queen’s professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and the principal investigator of the study. The other members of the research team are master’s students Attiya Alatery and Erin Dunbar.
The researchers hope to build on their findings by next studying which immune cells do a better job of protecting the body while using this mechanism.
“The answer to this question is like having the Holy Grail of immunotherapy and vaccine design within our grasp,” says Dr. Basta.
Dr. Basta suggests that by fully understanding this new mechanism, researchers should be able to shuttle the appropriate viral components to the right immune cells.
The study was funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Franklin Bracken Fellowship program.
Adapted from materials provided by Queen's University.
Immunologists have discovered how to manipulate the immune system to increase its power and protect the body from successive viral infections.
Published in Viral Immunology, these findings may point the way toward developing new and more effective vaccines against diseases like influenza or HIV and enhance new developments in immunology.
The study suggests that scientists can boost the body’s resistance and fend off successive viral infections by taking components of the virus and indirectly activating specific populations of killer T cells – the body’s virus-killing cells. The virus components are introduced through a process known as “cross priming” whereby virus molecules are engulfed by immune cells to activate killer T cells.
“With this mechanism in mind, we can develop better tools to make more successful and effective vaccines,” says Sam Basta, Queen’s professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and the principal investigator of the study. The other members of the research team are master’s students Attiya Alatery and Erin Dunbar.
The researchers hope to build on their findings by next studying which immune cells do a better job of protecting the body while using this mechanism.
“The answer to this question is like having the Holy Grail of immunotherapy and vaccine design within our grasp,” says Dr. Basta.
Dr. Basta suggests that by fully understanding this new mechanism, researchers should be able to shuttle the appropriate viral components to the right immune cells.
The study was funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Franklin Bracken Fellowship program.
Adapted from materials provided by Queen's University.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Study of teen sex finds more education needed on transmitted diseases
Source: The Canadian Press
TORONTO - Most teens are responsible when it comes to sexuality, but lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted infections and their consequences is a concern, says a new study.
The research, published in the January issue of Pediatrics and Child Health [abstract], found that 27 per cent of teens were sexually active at a mean age of 15 years. The last time that they had sex, 76 per cent had used a condom, according to the findings.
"They don't know about many of the STIs that are common and they don't know about the consequences of the STIs," author Dr. Jean-Yves Frappier, head of the Adolescent Medicine Division at Sainte-Justine University Health Centre, said Monday in an interview from Montreal.
Five per cent of the sexually active teens said they had been diagnosed with an STI.
The teens surveyed overestimated the prevalence of HIV compared to other sexually transmitted infections, Frappier said.
"They don't know about chlamydia, which is much much more common," he said.
"Very few teens will be HIV positive but a certain percentage will be chlamydia positive in their teens. And that, they don't mention it."
Sixty-nine per cent of teens surveyed could not find information they were looking for about sex, and 62 per cent reported obstacles in getting information.
Online interviews were conducted in October 2005 by Ipsos Reid with 1,171 Canadian teenagers aged 14 to 17. As well, 1,139 mothers of teenagers were interviewed, but these weren't the mothers of the teens who were surveyed. The results are considered accurate to within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Click here to read the complete article.
TORONTO - Most teens are responsible when it comes to sexuality, but lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted infections and their consequences is a concern, says a new study.
The research, published in the January issue of Pediatrics and Child Health [abstract], found that 27 per cent of teens were sexually active at a mean age of 15 years. The last time that they had sex, 76 per cent had used a condom, according to the findings.
"They don't know about many of the STIs that are common and they don't know about the consequences of the STIs," author Dr. Jean-Yves Frappier, head of the Adolescent Medicine Division at Sainte-Justine University Health Centre, said Monday in an interview from Montreal.
Five per cent of the sexually active teens said they had been diagnosed with an STI.
The teens surveyed overestimated the prevalence of HIV compared to other sexually transmitted infections, Frappier said.
"They don't know about chlamydia, which is much much more common," he said.
"Very few teens will be HIV positive but a certain percentage will be chlamydia positive in their teens. And that, they don't mention it."
Sixty-nine per cent of teens surveyed could not find information they were looking for about sex, and 62 per cent reported obstacles in getting information.
Online interviews were conducted in October 2005 by Ipsos Reid with 1,171 Canadian teenagers aged 14 to 17. As well, 1,139 mothers of teenagers were interviewed, but these weren't the mothers of the teens who were surveyed. The results are considered accurate to within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Click here to read the complete article.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Charges dropped in Canada HIV tainted-blood scandal
Source: AFP
MONTREAL (AFP) — Canadian prosecutors on Friday dropped all charges against a former director of the Canadian Red Cross who had been implicated in the distribution of HIV-contaminated blood. Crown prosecutors told a court in Hamilton it would be virtually impossible to prove the case against Dr Roger Perrault which dates back to the 1980s and was Canada's worst health scandal.
"We have concluded that there no longer remains a reasonable prospect of conviction in this case," prosecutor John Pearson told the court.
Perrault had already been acquitted by the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto in October that ruled he was not criminally negligent in a separate case involving the contamination of seven children suffering from hemophilia, a bleeding disorder.
Two other Canadian doctors, an executive of Armour Pharmaceuticals, and the US firm itself were also acquitted in that case. It was the first criminal trial in the scandal in which more than 20,000 people contracted human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C in the 1980s and 1990s. At least 3,000 people died, including 800 from AIDS. In the second trial, Perrault had faced six charges of negligence for failing to take the necessary measures to protect patients from contracting HIV and to inform the public about the dangers of blood products.
Perrault has not made any comment on the case. But his lawyer Eddie Greenspan said his client may sue the Canadian government for damages.
"Not every tragedy requires a scapegoat. Dr Perrault should have never been named for the tainted blood crisis," he said.
MONTREAL (AFP) — Canadian prosecutors on Friday dropped all charges against a former director of the Canadian Red Cross who had been implicated in the distribution of HIV-contaminated blood. Crown prosecutors told a court in Hamilton it would be virtually impossible to prove the case against Dr Roger Perrault which dates back to the 1980s and was Canada's worst health scandal.
"We have concluded that there no longer remains a reasonable prospect of conviction in this case," prosecutor John Pearson told the court.
Perrault had already been acquitted by the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto in October that ruled he was not criminally negligent in a separate case involving the contamination of seven children suffering from hemophilia, a bleeding disorder.
Two other Canadian doctors, an executive of Armour Pharmaceuticals, and the US firm itself were also acquitted in that case. It was the first criminal trial in the scandal in which more than 20,000 people contracted human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C in the 1980s and 1990s. At least 3,000 people died, including 800 from AIDS. In the second trial, Perrault had faced six charges of negligence for failing to take the necessary measures to protect patients from contracting HIV and to inform the public about the dangers of blood products.
Perrault has not made any comment on the case. But his lawyer Eddie Greenspan said his client may sue the Canadian government for damages.
"Not every tragedy requires a scapegoat. Dr Perrault should have never been named for the tainted blood crisis," he said.
New HIV drug sanctioned when others fail
Source: US News
Blocks enzyme that virus needs to multiply
MONDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The anti-HIV medication entravirine has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for adults who have failed treatment with other antiretrovirals.
Sold under the trade name Intelence, entravirine is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, which helps block an enzyme that the AIDS-causing virus needs to multiply, the FDA said in a statement. This is aimed at reducing the amount of HIV in the blood and boosting infection-fighting white blood cells.
In clinical testing, 599 adults who received entravirine and additional antiviral therapy had greater reductions in blood HIV levels than adults who received a non-medicinal placebo and the same additional therapy. The most common side effects reported were rash and nausea.
The long-term effects of entravirine haven't been studied, nor have the drug's effects in pregnant women or among people age 16 or younger, the agency said.
Entravirine is distributed by Tibotec Therapeutics, whose parent firm -- Ortho Biotech Products -- is based in New Jersey.
More information on FDA's Website.
Blocks enzyme that virus needs to multiply
MONDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The anti-HIV medication entravirine has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for adults who have failed treatment with other antiretrovirals.
Sold under the trade name Intelence, entravirine is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, which helps block an enzyme that the AIDS-causing virus needs to multiply, the FDA said in a statement. This is aimed at reducing the amount of HIV in the blood and boosting infection-fighting white blood cells.
In clinical testing, 599 adults who received entravirine and additional antiviral therapy had greater reductions in blood HIV levels than adults who received a non-medicinal placebo and the same additional therapy. The most common side effects reported were rash and nausea.
The long-term effects of entravirine haven't been studied, nor have the drug's effects in pregnant women or among people age 16 or younger, the agency said.
Entravirine is distributed by Tibotec Therapeutics, whose parent firm -- Ortho Biotech Products -- is based in New Jersey.
More information on FDA's Website.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Aging Baby Boomers and seniors are at risk for HIV
Source: The Chicago Tribune
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jane Fowler thinks it's about time college students had "the talk" with their grandparents. She doesn't mean grandmothers and grandfathers explaining the facts of life. She wants kids to explain safe sex to their elders.
It's part of a broader message the 72-year-old has advocated for more than a decade. Ever since she contracted HIV when she was in her 50s, Fowler has made it her mission to help aging Baby Boomers and members of her generation avoid her mistakes.
"Once people get past their own embarrassment and understand grandparents today are still sexually active, they realize I'm right," said Fowler, who spoke at a recent safe-sex event at Kansas State University. "Their grandparents face the same risks of sexually transmitted diseases as they do."
The over-50 crowd is a relatively small segment of the nation's at-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases. Approximately four times as many HIV diagnoses occurred in people ages 25 to 44 as in those 50 and older, according to a 2005 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, medical experts agree that older Americans often are among the most overlooked and, therefore, one of the more vulnerable populations.
Click here to read the article.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jane Fowler thinks it's about time college students had "the talk" with their grandparents. She doesn't mean grandmothers and grandfathers explaining the facts of life. She wants kids to explain safe sex to their elders.
It's part of a broader message the 72-year-old has advocated for more than a decade. Ever since she contracted HIV when she was in her 50s, Fowler has made it her mission to help aging Baby Boomers and members of her generation avoid her mistakes.
"Once people get past their own embarrassment and understand grandparents today are still sexually active, they realize I'm right," said Fowler, who spoke at a recent safe-sex event at Kansas State University. "Their grandparents face the same risks of sexually transmitted diseases as they do."
The over-50 crowd is a relatively small segment of the nation's at-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases. Approximately four times as many HIV diagnoses occurred in people ages 25 to 44 as in those 50 and older, according to a 2005 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, medical experts agree that older Americans often are among the most overlooked and, therefore, one of the more vulnerable populations.
Click here to read the article.
Antiretroviral drugs may prevent vaginal transmission of HIV
Source: US News and World Report
Mouse study shows they could protect against spread of disease
Antiretroviral drugs used to treat people with HIV might also prevent vaginal transmission of the virus, claims a study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
The vast majority of new HIV infections worldwide, which total about 6,800 new transmissions daily, occur through unprotected vaginal sex with an infected partner.
For this study, the researchers used special mice with fully developed human immune systems that produced the infection-fighting cells specifically targeted by HIV in people. The Texas team found that daily doses of antiretroviral drugs before and after exposure to HIV can prevent vaginal transmission of the virus.
HIV was introduced vaginally into the mice. None of the mice that received the antiretroviral drugs emtricitabine (FTC) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) showed any evidence of infection, while 90 percent of mice that didn't receive the drugs became infected by HIV.
The study was published in the Jan. 14 online issue of PLoS Medicine.
Click here to read the article
The study published in PLoS Medicine, Antiretroviral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Prevents Vaginal Transmission of HIV-1 in Humanized BLT Mice, is available here.
Mouse study shows they could protect against spread of disease
Antiretroviral drugs used to treat people with HIV might also prevent vaginal transmission of the virus, claims a study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
The vast majority of new HIV infections worldwide, which total about 6,800 new transmissions daily, occur through unprotected vaginal sex with an infected partner.
For this study, the researchers used special mice with fully developed human immune systems that produced the infection-fighting cells specifically targeted by HIV in people. The Texas team found that daily doses of antiretroviral drugs before and after exposure to HIV can prevent vaginal transmission of the virus.
HIV was introduced vaginally into the mice. None of the mice that received the antiretroviral drugs emtricitabine (FTC) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) showed any evidence of infection, while 90 percent of mice that didn't receive the drugs became infected by HIV.
The study was published in the Jan. 14 online issue of PLoS Medicine.
Click here to read the article
The study published in PLoS Medicine, Antiretroviral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Prevents Vaginal Transmission of HIV-1 in Humanized BLT Mice, is available here.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Syphilis on the rebound in Europe
Source: The Toronto Star
Risky sexual behaviour, especially among gay men, spark fears 19th-century scourge will spread
Maria Cheng - ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON–Syphilis is back: The sexually transmitted disease long associated with 19th-century Bohemian life is making an alarming resurgence in Europe.
"Syphilis used to be a very rare disease," said Dr. Marita van de Laar, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "I'm not sure we can say that any more."
Most cases of syphilis are in men, and experts point to more risky sex among gay men as the chief cause for the resurgence. But more cases are being seen among heterosexuals, both men and women, too. Syphilis was the sexual scourge of the 19th century, and is believed to have killed artists like poet Charles Baudelaire, composer Robert Schumann, and painter Paul Gauguin. But the widespread use of penicillin in the 1950s all but wiped it out in the Western world.
In the last decade, however, syphilis has unexpectedly returned, driven by risky sexual behaviour and outbreaks in major cities across Europe, including London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin. In Britain, syphilis cases have leapt more than tenfold for men and women in the past decade to 3,702 in 2006, according to the Health Protection Agency. Among men in England, the syphilis rate jumped from one per 100,000 in 1997 to nine per 100,000 last year.
In Germany, the rate among men was fewer than two per 100,000 in 1991; by 2003, it tripled. In France, there were 428 cases in 2003 – almost 16 times the number just three years earlier. Similar trends have been seen in the United States and Canada. In 2006, Ontario counted 350 syphilis cases, two-third in Toronto.
In 2000, syphilis infection rates were so low that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention embarked on a plan to eliminate the disease. But about 9,800 cases were reported in 2006. In Europe, Van de Laar said syphilis's reappearance was so surprising that many doctors initially had trouble diagnosing it. Though these days it mainly affects urban gay men, experts worry that the disease could also rebound in the general population.
In 2005, British authorities reported that syphilis was spreading across the entire country, and that more heterosexual men and women were being infected. Pregnant women with syphilis can pass it on to their babies. Nearly half of all babies infected with syphilis while they are in the womb die shortly before or after birth.
Syphilis is a bacterial disease causing symptoms that include ulcers, sores and rashes. In extreme cases, it can result in dementia or fatally damage the heart, respiratory and central nervous systems. Syphilis is treatable with antibiotics if caught early. Once there are more than just a few isolated cases, containing the disease is difficult. Advances made in treating AIDS may have inadvertently boosted syphilis's spread.
"The evidence points to an increase in unsafe sexual behaviour since anti-retrovirals for AIDS came along in 1996," said van de Laar.
After decades of being instructed to use condoms and to limit the number of sexual partners, some people are probably suffering from "safe sex fatigue," van de Laar said. The Internet has also allowed people to find sexual partners more easily than before, and some experts link the rise of dating websites to the jump in syphilis cases. Amid this resurgence, some officials are now attacking the disease online.
See also Syphilis outbreak - cases continue to rise in Alberta.
Risky sexual behaviour, especially among gay men, spark fears 19th-century scourge will spread
Maria Cheng - ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON–Syphilis is back: The sexually transmitted disease long associated with 19th-century Bohemian life is making an alarming resurgence in Europe.
"Syphilis used to be a very rare disease," said Dr. Marita van de Laar, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "I'm not sure we can say that any more."
Most cases of syphilis are in men, and experts point to more risky sex among gay men as the chief cause for the resurgence. But more cases are being seen among heterosexuals, both men and women, too. Syphilis was the sexual scourge of the 19th century, and is believed to have killed artists like poet Charles Baudelaire, composer Robert Schumann, and painter Paul Gauguin. But the widespread use of penicillin in the 1950s all but wiped it out in the Western world.
In the last decade, however, syphilis has unexpectedly returned, driven by risky sexual behaviour and outbreaks in major cities across Europe, including London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin. In Britain, syphilis cases have leapt more than tenfold for men and women in the past decade to 3,702 in 2006, according to the Health Protection Agency. Among men in England, the syphilis rate jumped from one per 100,000 in 1997 to nine per 100,000 last year.
In Germany, the rate among men was fewer than two per 100,000 in 1991; by 2003, it tripled. In France, there were 428 cases in 2003 – almost 16 times the number just three years earlier. Similar trends have been seen in the United States and Canada. In 2006, Ontario counted 350 syphilis cases, two-third in Toronto.
In 2000, syphilis infection rates were so low that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention embarked on a plan to eliminate the disease. But about 9,800 cases were reported in 2006. In Europe, Van de Laar said syphilis's reappearance was so surprising that many doctors initially had trouble diagnosing it. Though these days it mainly affects urban gay men, experts worry that the disease could also rebound in the general population.
In 2005, British authorities reported that syphilis was spreading across the entire country, and that more heterosexual men and women were being infected. Pregnant women with syphilis can pass it on to their babies. Nearly half of all babies infected with syphilis while they are in the womb die shortly before or after birth.
Syphilis is a bacterial disease causing symptoms that include ulcers, sores and rashes. In extreme cases, it can result in dementia or fatally damage the heart, respiratory and central nervous systems. Syphilis is treatable with antibiotics if caught early. Once there are more than just a few isolated cases, containing the disease is difficult. Advances made in treating AIDS may have inadvertently boosted syphilis's spread.
"The evidence points to an increase in unsafe sexual behaviour since anti-retrovirals for AIDS came along in 1996," said van de Laar.
After decades of being instructed to use condoms and to limit the number of sexual partners, some people are probably suffering from "safe sex fatigue," van de Laar said. The Internet has also allowed people to find sexual partners more easily than before, and some experts link the rise of dating websites to the jump in syphilis cases. Amid this resurgence, some officials are now attacking the disease online.
See also Syphilis outbreak - cases continue to rise in Alberta.
H.I.V. rises among young gay men
Source: The New York Times
AIDS appears to be making an alarming comeback. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that the incidence of H.I.V. infection among gay men is shooting up, following an encouraging period of decline. The rise of infections among younger gay men, especially black and Hispanic men, is troubling, and the study carries the clear implication that people at high risk of contracting the disease are becoming less cautious.
Statistics gathered by New York City health officials show that new diagnoses of H.I.V. infection — the virus that causes AIDS — in gay men under age 30 rose 32 percent between 2001 and 2006. Among black and Hispanic men, the figure was 34 percent. Most troubling, the number of new diagnoses among the youngest men in the study, those between ages 13 and 19, doubled.
New York officials say increased alcohol and drug use may be partly responsible since they make unprotected sex more likely. Other basic precautions, including finding out whether a potential partner is infected, are also apparently being ignored.
The one bright spot in this bleak picture was the 22 percent decline in infections among men over 30 in the New York study. Awareness of the disease’s devastating effects, as much as maturity, may explain the difference. A large number of these older men came of age when AIDS was all but untreatable. They may have buried friends who died after being horribly ill.
When the disease was new and terrifying, the gay community helped change behavior by preaching loudly against taking sexual risks. From San Francisco to New York, bathhouses notorious for promoting casual sex changed the way they did business or closed down. Condoms were encouraged, and so was H.I.V. testing. “Silence equals death” was the motto of the day.
Silence now seems to be winning the day. Nearly 6,000 gay men died of AIDS in the United States in 2005; still, many young men appear to have persuaded themselves that the infection is no longer such a big deal. It is true that antiretroviral therapy has improved the outlook for anyone who becomes infected. But the treatments are still too new to know whether they can work much beyond a decade. Public health officials need to continue to distribute condoms, encourage testing and treat those who are ill. Leaders in the hardest-hit communities need to start speaking out again. The fight against AIDS is far from over.
AIDS appears to be making an alarming comeback. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that the incidence of H.I.V. infection among gay men is shooting up, following an encouraging period of decline. The rise of infections among younger gay men, especially black and Hispanic men, is troubling, and the study carries the clear implication that people at high risk of contracting the disease are becoming less cautious.
Statistics gathered by New York City health officials show that new diagnoses of H.I.V. infection — the virus that causes AIDS — in gay men under age 30 rose 32 percent between 2001 and 2006. Among black and Hispanic men, the figure was 34 percent. Most troubling, the number of new diagnoses among the youngest men in the study, those between ages 13 and 19, doubled.
New York officials say increased alcohol and drug use may be partly responsible since they make unprotected sex more likely. Other basic precautions, including finding out whether a potential partner is infected, are also apparently being ignored.
The one bright spot in this bleak picture was the 22 percent decline in infections among men over 30 in the New York study. Awareness of the disease’s devastating effects, as much as maturity, may explain the difference. A large number of these older men came of age when AIDS was all but untreatable. They may have buried friends who died after being horribly ill.
When the disease was new and terrifying, the gay community helped change behavior by preaching loudly against taking sexual risks. From San Francisco to New York, bathhouses notorious for promoting casual sex changed the way they did business or closed down. Condoms were encouraged, and so was H.I.V. testing. “Silence equals death” was the motto of the day.
Silence now seems to be winning the day. Nearly 6,000 gay men died of AIDS in the United States in 2005; still, many young men appear to have persuaded themselves that the infection is no longer such a big deal. It is true that antiretroviral therapy has improved the outlook for anyone who becomes infected. But the treatments are still too new to know whether they can work much beyond a decade. Public health officials need to continue to distribute condoms, encourage testing and treat those who are ill. Leaders in the hardest-hit communities need to start speaking out again. The fight against AIDS is far from over.
HIV a stigma in aboriginal communities
Source: The Toronto Star
Rates of infection among Canada's native people grossly disproportionate to their total numbers
Emily Mathieu - Staff Reporter
HIV rates among Canada's aboriginal community continue to rise at alarming rates – and women face the highest risk. That's where Catherine Beaver comes in.
A wry, outspoken, slip of a woman who walks with a bit of a limp, Beaver is a public speaker with 2-Spirited People of the First Nations in Toronto, a gay, lesbian and transpositive organization that conducts HIV/AIDS outreach for the community.
"The way I look at it is, I am not ashamed or afraid of it," says Beaver, 28, who is HIV-positive. She tells her story nationwide to try to stem the epidemic spread of HIV in the aboriginal community – mostly connected to intravenous drug use.
In November, the Public Health Agency of Canada released its latest stats on the spread of HIV and AIDS in this country. The report reveals aboriginal people (Inuit, Métis and First Nations) accounted for more than a quarter of all positive HIV tests reported in 2006, even though they only make up about 6 per cent of the total population in the 12 provinces and territories included in the stats. (Ontario and Quebec are excluded because they do not collect ethno-specific HIV data.) And, for the third year in a row, women accounted for more than half of the positive test results among aboriginal people. In her talks, Beaver explains how she became infected 2 -1/2 years ago through intravenous drug use. She talks about being adopted, of her isolation while living on the streets, losing custody of her two children, substance abuse and prostitution.
"You know, when the whole world just disintegrates, goes black, like in TV shows ... and you are just standing there by yourself..."
After years of treatment, she is no longer an addict but still struggles to fight the occasional setback. Beaver uses her story to make a point.
"I'm not scared of people reacting," she says, insisting not enough aboriginal people are speaking out, which is why the number of infections continues to rise.
According to the Public Health report, intravenous drug use was the main cause of HIV infection among aboriginal people, at 64 per cent. Heterosexual contact was the other main cause, at 34 per cent. That's the reverse of the national averages for HIV-positive tests, where 74 per cent of new cases are attributed to heterosexual contact and 24 per cent to intravenous drug use.
Click here to read the article
Rates of infection among Canada's native people grossly disproportionate to their total numbers
Emily Mathieu - Staff Reporter
HIV rates among Canada's aboriginal community continue to rise at alarming rates – and women face the highest risk. That's where Catherine Beaver comes in.
A wry, outspoken, slip of a woman who walks with a bit of a limp, Beaver is a public speaker with 2-Spirited People of the First Nations in Toronto, a gay, lesbian and transpositive organization that conducts HIV/AIDS outreach for the community.
"The way I look at it is, I am not ashamed or afraid of it," says Beaver, 28, who is HIV-positive. She tells her story nationwide to try to stem the epidemic spread of HIV in the aboriginal community – mostly connected to intravenous drug use.
In November, the Public Health Agency of Canada released its latest stats on the spread of HIV and AIDS in this country. The report reveals aboriginal people (Inuit, Métis and First Nations) accounted for more than a quarter of all positive HIV tests reported in 2006, even though they only make up about 6 per cent of the total population in the 12 provinces and territories included in the stats. (Ontario and Quebec are excluded because they do not collect ethno-specific HIV data.) And, for the third year in a row, women accounted for more than half of the positive test results among aboriginal people. In her talks, Beaver explains how she became infected 2 -1/2 years ago through intravenous drug use. She talks about being adopted, of her isolation while living on the streets, losing custody of her two children, substance abuse and prostitution.
"You know, when the whole world just disintegrates, goes black, like in TV shows ... and you are just standing there by yourself..."
After years of treatment, she is no longer an addict but still struggles to fight the occasional setback. Beaver uses her story to make a point.
"I'm not scared of people reacting," she says, insisting not enough aboriginal people are speaking out, which is why the number of infections continues to rise.
According to the Public Health report, intravenous drug use was the main cause of HIV infection among aboriginal people, at 64 per cent. Heterosexual contact was the other main cause, at 34 per cent. That's the reverse of the national averages for HIV-positive tests, where 74 per cent of new cases are attributed to heterosexual contact and 24 per cent to intravenous drug use.
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Genomic Screen Nets Hundreds Of Human Proteins Exploited By HIV
Source: Science daily
In some ways, HIV resembles a minimalist painter, using a few basic components to achieve dramatic effects. The virus contains just nine genes encoding 15 proteins, which wreak havoc on the human immune system. But this bare bones approach could have a fatal flaw. Lacking robust machinery, HIV hijacks human proteins to propagate, and these might represent powerful therapeutic targets.
Using a technique called RNA interference to screen thousands of genes, Harvard Medical School researchers have now identified 273 human proteins required for HIV propagation. The vast majority had not been connected to the virus by previous studies. The work appears online in Science Express on Jan. 10.
Drugs currently used to treat the viral infection interact directly with the virus itself, and it's quite simple for the rapidly mutating virus to avoid destruction by altering how it interacts with these chemicals. Patients use a cocktail of HIV inhibitors because the virus is less likely to evolve resistance to multiple drugs at the same time. But some HIV strains have still managed to evade particular drugs. These could eventually develop resistance to several drugs, especially among patients who don't adhere to their regimens. (...)
Click here to read the article.
In some ways, HIV resembles a minimalist painter, using a few basic components to achieve dramatic effects. The virus contains just nine genes encoding 15 proteins, which wreak havoc on the human immune system. But this bare bones approach could have a fatal flaw. Lacking robust machinery, HIV hijacks human proteins to propagate, and these might represent powerful therapeutic targets.
Using a technique called RNA interference to screen thousands of genes, Harvard Medical School researchers have now identified 273 human proteins required for HIV propagation. The vast majority had not been connected to the virus by previous studies. The work appears online in Science Express on Jan. 10.
Drugs currently used to treat the viral infection interact directly with the virus itself, and it's quite simple for the rapidly mutating virus to avoid destruction by altering how it interacts with these chemicals. Patients use a cocktail of HIV inhibitors because the virus is less likely to evolve resistance to multiple drugs at the same time. But some HIV strains have still managed to evade particular drugs. These could eventually develop resistance to several drugs, especially among patients who don't adhere to their regimens. (...)
Click here to read the article.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
New issue of JAIDS: Vol. 46, no 5, Dec 15, 2007
December 15, 2007, Volume 46, Issue 5Each issue of JAIDS publishes vital information on the advances in diagnosis and treatment of HIV and non-HIV infectious, as well as the latest research in the development of therapeutics and vaccine approaches.
In this issue:
Commentary
Bystander Effects: Children Who Escape Infection But Not Harm.
Basic Science
Differentiation of Monocytes Into CD1a- Dendritic Cells Correlates With Disease Progression in HIV-Infected Patients.
pp. 519-528
Abstract
Redistribution of FOXP3-Positive Regulatory T Cells From Lymphoid Tissues to Peripheral Blood in HIV-Infected Patients.
pp. 529-537
Abstract
Clinical Science
Carraguard Vaginal Gel Safety in HIV-Positive Women and Men in South Africa.
p. 538-546
Abstract
Racial Differences in Virologic Failure Associated With Adherence and Quality of Life on Efavirenz-Containing Regimens for Initial HIV Therapy: Results of ACTG A5095.
pp. 547-554
Abstract
Directly Administered Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV-Infected Drug Users Does Not Have an Impact on Antiretroviral Resistance: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.
pp. 555-563
Abstract
HIV-Associated Alterations in Normal-Appearing White Matter: A Voxel-Wise Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study.
pp. 564-573
Abstract
Effects of a Behavioral Intervention on Antiretroviral Medication Adherence Among People Living With HIV: The Healthy Living Project Randomized Controlled Study.
pp.574-580
Abstract
A Randomized, Multicenter, Open-Label Study of Poly-L-Lactic Acid for HIV-1 Facial Lipoatrophy.
pp.581-589
Abstract
Brief Report
Clinical Science
Evaluation of Filter Paper Transfer of Whole-Blood and Plasma Samples for Quantifying HIV RNA in Subjects on Antiretroviral Therapy in Uganda.
pp. 590-593
Abstract
Chinese Pediatric Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Observational Cohort: A 1-Year Analysis of Clinical, Immunologic, and Virologic Outcomes.
pp. 594-598
Abstract
Epidemiology and Social Science
Maternal Disease Stage and Child Undernutrition in Relation to Mortality Among Children Born to HIV-Infected Women in Tanzania.
pp. 599-606
Abstract
Importance of Baseline Prognostic Factors With Increasing Time Since Initiation of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: Collaborative Analysis of Cohorts of HIV-1-Infected Patients.
pp. 607-615
Abstract
HIV Prevalence and Incidence in Rural Tanzania: Results From 10 Years of Follow-Up in an Open-Cohort Study.
pp. 616-623
Abstract
HIV-1 Infection in Patients Referred for Malaria Blood Smears at Government Health Clinics in Uganda.
pp. 624-630
Abstract
Risk Factors for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 and HIV Among Women at High Risk in Northwestern Tanzania: Preparing for an HSV-2 Intervention Trial.
pp. 631- 642
Abstract
Circumcision Status and HIV Infection Among Black and Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men in 3 US Cities.
pp. 643-650
Abstract
Brief Report
Epidemiology and Social Science
Subclinical Mastitis, Cell-Associated HIV-1 Shedding in Breast Milk, and Breast-Feeding Transmission of HIV-1.
pp. 651-654
Abstract
Contact the library to request copies of articles
Sexually active gay men no longer allowed to donate organs
Source: CBC
A number of organ donation groups said Monday that they are unaware of new Health Canada regulations that mean sexually active gay men, injection drug users and other groups considered high risk will no longer be accepted as organ donors. The new rules, which came into effect in December, are similar to the regulations for determining who can donate blood. Those rules exclude groups that are at high risk of transmitting infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C and B.
Officials at several transplant programs in the country said because they were unaware of the new regulations, they would continue to consider all potential donor organs.
"We have not been informed, first of all, that Health Canada is considering this," said Dr. Gary Levy, who heads Canada's largest organ transplant program at Toronto's University Health Network. "Obviously if Health Canada wishes to discuss that, we would hope they would engage all stakeholders."
Dr. Peter Nickerson, director of Transplant Manitoba, which procures organs in that province, said transplant programs must now by law interview family members of the donor as part of the screening process.
"We'll be asking about things like travel, history of infectious disease, whether they've [donors] been in jail — that puts you at increased risk," Nickerson said. "Have they been an IV drug abuser in the past? Have they had tattoos? There's a whole list of questions we go through."
They are also asked about the donor's sexual orientation. The donor will be excluded if the donor is a man who had sex with another man in the previous five years. Health Canada had contracted the Canadian Standards Association in 2003 to come up with standardized guidelines to ensure the safety of the organ donation system.
Transplant programs have been screening potential donors, but in some cases use organs from people in high-risk groups if they've tested negative for diseases. The new legislation means that practice must stop.
A spokeswoman for Health Canada confirmed the new regulations in an e-mail, but the department didn't make anyone available to explain the changes. (...)
Click here to read the article
A number of organ donation groups said Monday that they are unaware of new Health Canada regulations that mean sexually active gay men, injection drug users and other groups considered high risk will no longer be accepted as organ donors. The new rules, which came into effect in December, are similar to the regulations for determining who can donate blood. Those rules exclude groups that are at high risk of transmitting infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C and B.
Officials at several transplant programs in the country said because they were unaware of the new regulations, they would continue to consider all potential donor organs.
"We have not been informed, first of all, that Health Canada is considering this," said Dr. Gary Levy, who heads Canada's largest organ transplant program at Toronto's University Health Network. "Obviously if Health Canada wishes to discuss that, we would hope they would engage all stakeholders."
Dr. Peter Nickerson, director of Transplant Manitoba, which procures organs in that province, said transplant programs must now by law interview family members of the donor as part of the screening process.
"We'll be asking about things like travel, history of infectious disease, whether they've [donors] been in jail — that puts you at increased risk," Nickerson said. "Have they been an IV drug abuser in the past? Have they had tattoos? There's a whole list of questions we go through."
They are also asked about the donor's sexual orientation. The donor will be excluded if the donor is a man who had sex with another man in the previous five years. Health Canada had contracted the Canadian Standards Association in 2003 to come up with standardized guidelines to ensure the safety of the organ donation system.
Transplant programs have been screening potential donors, but in some cases use organs from people in high-risk groups if they've tested negative for diseases. The new legislation means that practice must stop.
A spokeswoman for Health Canada confirmed the new regulations in an e-mail, but the department didn't make anyone available to explain the changes. (...)
Click here to read the article
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