HPV Subtypes 16 or 18 Implicated in Most Anogenital Neoplasia
Initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) during the first year of life among infants vertically infected with HIV preserves the normal immune response to routine vaccinations, according to new research.. ...
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HPV Subtypes 16 or 18 Implicated in Most Anogenital Neoplasia
An analysis of data from four continents implicates human papillomavirus (HPV) subtypes I6 and 18 in a high proportion of vulvar, vaginal and anal neoplasia and carcinoma, although HPV 6 and 11 may also be involved. Approximately 40% of vulvar cancers, 60% of vaginal cancers, and 80% of anal cancers "could be avoided by prophylactic vaccines against HPV16/18," the investigators report in the April 1 issue of the International Journal of Cancer. ...
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Vorinostat May Help Eliminate Latent HIV Reservoir
Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA, Vorinostat), a histone deacetylase inhibitor with action against cutaneous lymphoma, reactivates HIV in latently infected cells, and might thus help eliminate the virus, researchers report in the March 13th issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry ...
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Glaxo and Pfizer Pool AIDS Drugs in New Company
GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Pfizer Inc, two leading developers of AIDS drugs, are merging their HIV operations into a new company. The two companies said on Thursday that Glaxo would have an 85% stake in the joint venture and Pfizer 15%, a split that reflects Glaxo's stronger position in marketed products ...
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Adding HIV Protease Inhibitors to Rifampin Leads to Adverse Effects
Healthy HIV-negative volunteers taking rifampin experienced excess hepatotoxicity and gastrointestinal intolerance when ritonavir-boosted atazanavir was added, according to a report in the March 1st issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes ...
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US AIDS Relief to African Countries Has Saved a Million Lives
Between 2004 and 2007, the US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) reduced HIV-related deaths by 10% in the 12 countries in Africa that received funding, according to researchers at Stanford University in California ...
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Bone Marrow Transplant May Offer A Revolutionary New Direction For HIV Therapy
Doctors in Germany have successfully controlled HIV infection by transplanting bone marrow cells from an HIV-resistant donor. This extraordinary case has important implications for the future treatment of HIV, a disease that kills millions each year ...
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Immune Reconstitution Syndrome May Complicate HIV Therapy
Severely immunocompromised HIV/AIDS patients initiating combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) require close monitoring for immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in the nervous system (NeuroIRIS), and to manage it "in an expedient manner," clinicians from Canada advise ...
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FDA Approves FC2 Female Condom
On March 11, the Female Health Company (FHC) announced that their FC2 female condom was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, with the expectation that this lower-cost, second-generation female condom would improve access to woman-initiated protection against HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unintended pregnancy ...
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Antibodies in Slow-Progressing HIV Patients Target Numerous Epitopes, Not Just One
In those relatively rare "slow-progressing" HIV-infected patients who mount an effective immune response to the infection, the neutralizing activity is made up of multiple antibodies targeting different epitopes on the major viral surface protein gp120, rather than one antibody having particularly strong activity, new research shows ....
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HPV Vaccine Offers Cross-Protection for HPV Types Not Covered By Vaccine
The quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, marketed under the name Gardasil (Merck), is a recombinant vaccine that is effective against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. The vaccine received approval for the prevention of cervical, vulvar, and vaginal intraepithelial lesions and genital warts associated with the vaccine HPV types, but 2 new studies indicate that the vaccine might offer protection from other types of HPV ....
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HIV Protease Inhibitor Levels in Hair Predict Treatment Response
Measuring levels of antiretroviral drugs in hair is superior to measuring plasma levels for assessment of drug exposure, US investigators report in the February 20 issue of AIDS. Furthermore, protease inhibitor concentrations in hair were the strongest independent predictor of virologic response to a new treatmen ....
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Stanford Updates List of HIV-1 Mutations Vital to Tracking AIDS Epidemic
An updated list of 93 surveillance drug resistance HIV-1 mutations is vital to tracking the AIDS epidemic, according to the results of a study reported in the March issue of PloS Mediciner ....
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Microbicide May Eventually Prevent Transmission of HIV
In monkeys, the antimicrobial compound glycerol monolaurate (GML) blocks transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which is similar to HIV, according to the results of a study published online March 4 in Nature. Although results of trials with other ....
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Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs in HIV
One of the largest studies to date to assess the safety and efficacy of cholesterol-lowering drugs in HIV-infected people shows that statins and fibrates produce clinically meaningful improvements in lipid profiles but that these drugs may not be quite as effective in this group as they are in HIV-uninfected individuals...
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FDA Approves First Nucleic Acid Test to Screen for 2 Divergent HIV Types
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the cobas TaqScreen MPX test (Roche Molecular Systems Inc) to screen for HIV in donated blood plasma and tissue, according to an FDA news release. The test is the first nucleic acid test to screen for the presence of 2 divergent HIV types: HIV-2 and HIV-1 group O....
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Oral Cholecalciferol/Calcium Regimen Seen Effective in HIV-Infected Children
In HIV-infected children and adolescents, bimonthly supplementation with oral doses of cholecalciferol together with daily calcium leads to a significant increase in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) concentrations and is well tolerated, a group of clinicians from New York City has found ...
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Changes In Drug Treatment, Commercial Sex Work Could Contribute To Spread Of HIV In Cambodia
A report showing a change in the use of drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation services throughout Cambodia has raised concerns about drug-related HIV transmission in the country's rural communities ...
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HIV Drug Resistance Less Likely With Experimental Protease Inhibitor
An in vitro selection study shows that PL-100, a novel HIV-1 protease inhibitor (PI) has a high genetic barrier to resistance, Canadian and US researchers report in the December issue of the Journal of Medical Virology....
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HIV Transmission From Surgeon to Patient Highly Unlikely
A case report of an HIV-infected cardiothoracic surgeon in Israel reinforces the message that the risk of transmitting the virus from surgeon to patient is very low.According to the findings in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released Thursday, HIV testing was ..
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Infant Mortality Peak at 2-3 Months Related to HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Researchers in Cape Town, South Africa, "interpret the peak in mortality at two-three months as an indicator for pediatric AIDS in a South African population with high HIV prevalence and where other causes of death are not sufficiently high to mask HIV effects." ...
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Annual Zoledronate Injection Effective for HIV-Associated Bone Loss
A single annual injection of the bisphosphonate zoledronate effectively treats HIV-associated bone loss and is generally well tolerated, a study confirms. In HIV-infected patients, the reported prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis associated with highly active antiretroviral ..
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Increase in Non-AIDS-Defining Cancers in HAART Era Leveling off
Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) there has been a significantly increased risk of non-AIDS-defining cancers, "which has now stabilized," UK researchers report. Individuals with HIV infection are at higher risk of developing a number of ...
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HIV Treatment Activist Martin Delaney
The changes that the HIV epidemic has brought to medicine and research are staggering: the shape and conduct of clinical trials, the pace of regulatory approval, the availability of drugs both before and after approval, the very dynamics of the physician-patient relationship — all have been transformed during the past 25 years.....
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HIV Increasing Among MSM In Hong Kong; Researchers Call For Improved Prevention Efforts
The number of new HIV cases recorded among men who have sex with men in Hong Kong has increased every year since 2003, and up to one-third of the population could be HIV-positive by 2020 if prevention programs are not effective, researchers said recently..
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