• New System Blocks HIV Transmission Via Breastfeeding
    Researchers are developing a new technology that prevents the infection of HIV by breastfeeding.

  • Since Introduction Of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, HIV Death Rate Has Decreased
    In industrialized countries, persons infected sexually with HIV now appear to experience mortality rates similar to those of the general population in the first 5 years following infection, though a higher risk of death remains as the duration of HIV infection lengthens, according to a new study.

  • Asthma Risk Increases In Children Treated For HIV
    Children whose immune systems rebound after treatment with potent anti-viral drugs for HIV infection face an increased risk of developing asthma, according to a new report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

  • Potential New Drug Candidates To Combat 'Bird Flu' Identified
    As the specter of a worldwide outbreak of avian or "bird flu" lingers, health officials recognize that new drugs are desperately needed since some strains of the virus already have developed resistance to the current roster of anti-flu remedies.

  • Antiretroviral Therapy As HIV Prevention Strategy
    The widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy may reduce the incidence of HIV in individuals and populations but has been overlooked by public health as a prevention strategy.

  • What Works To Prevent HIV Among Heterosexual African-Americans?
    Behavioral HIV prevention interventions targeting heterosexual African Americans that are proven to work require several key characteristics, according to researchers. "Peer education, skills training and cultural tailoring were critical factors we found in interventions that reduced HIV risk behaviors and led to lower rates of sexually transmitted infections," said lead author, Lynae Darbes, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and Global Health Sciences.

  • Zinc Finger Proteins Put Personalized HIV Therapy Within Reach
    Researchers are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T-cells to one day treat AIDS in humans. Using the zinc fingers, scientists have shown that they could reduce the viral load of immune-deficient mice transplanted with engineered T cells.

  • Disclosure Of Organ Transplant Risks: A Question Of When, Not If
    Physicians and bioethicists are calling for a new, more standardized way for patients in need of organ transplants to be informed of the risks they face. If adopted, their policy recommendations could promote greater equity in how organs are allocated while restricting patients' abilities to "cherry-pick" the best organs.

  • Potential Key To Better Drugs To Fight Toxoplasmosis Parasite Discovered
    Researchers can now help explain how the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis transforms into a cyst form that resists drugs and the body's immune system, yet can emerge from its dormant state to strike when a patient's immune system is weakened. The discovery linking this stress-response mechanism to cyst formation and maintenance not only offers a possible target for new drugs, but it could also lead to a preventative vaccine -- for animals.

  • HIV Screening Found Cost-effective In Older Adults
    Recent studies suggest that large numbers of Americans remain sexually active well into their 60's, 70's and even 80's. But researchers say seniors may be overlooked as possible carriers of the AIDS virus, and based on a new study, they are recommending screening for most adults ages 55 to 75 as a sensible, cost-effective way to prolong life, and decrease the spread of the disease.

  • New Study Shows Potential To Treat Or Prevent Viral Cancers
    A new study shows that radioimmunotherapy targeting viral antigens offers a novel option to treat -- or even prevent -- many viral cancers by targeting cancer cells expressing viral antigens or infected cells before they convert into malignancy.

  • Protein Linked To Alzheimer's Disease Also Has Role In HIV Progression
    A protein related to heart disease and Alzheimer's is found to be a factor in HIV. The apolipoprotein (apo) E4 isoform has been implicated in neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Now, investigators have shown that this troubling protein is a risk factor for AIDS progression rates and promotes entry of HIV into cells.

  • Are HIV Prevention Gels Safe For Pregnant Women, Their Babies?
    Clinical trials hoping to identify a vaginal microbicide that is safe and effective against HIV have all but skirted questions befitting evaluation of an approach intended primarily for sexually active women of childbearing age: What if a woman gets pregnant while using a product? Can exposure during pregnancy pose a risk to the fetus? Researchers will begin addressing these and other questions in the first clinical trial of a candidate vaginal microbicide in pregnant women.

  • Every Patient Is Unique: Individualized Therapies For Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
    Positron emission tomography could be an important tool for identifying non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients who are likely to respond well to treatment with 90 ibritumomab tiuxetan -- the first radioimmunotherapy treatment approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration. PET imaging allows practitioners to identify patients who could be treated, predict how they would respond and identify relapses early in patients with follicular lymphoma.