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HIV/AIDS
Barriers against HIV treatment in Kenya
Between 2009-2011, AMPATH Consortium health workers sought to test and counsel every adult resident in a sub-county of Kenya for HIV. A study shows that the campaign yielded more than 1,300 new positive diagnoses, but only 15% of those sought treatment.
Risk factors for HIV patients developing TB
Alcohol consumption, high viral load and low CD4 cell count appeared to be independent risk factors for developing active tuberculosis in patients with HIV, according to Soweto/Johns Hopkins Novel Tuberculosis Prevention Regimens Trial research.
FDA approves new HIV drugs
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Prezcobix tablets and Evotaz tablets for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus.
Antibody-based molecules to fight HIV
Caltech researchers have developed antibody-based molecules that are more than 100 times better than our bodies' defences at binding to and neutralising HIV, when tested in vitro, suggesting a novel approach to engineering more effective HIV-fighting drugs.
Best to start therapy early and stay on
A French study that starting therapy immediately after infection and then interrupting it conferred no advantage compared to deferring treatment until CD4 counts fell below a certain figure. Only those who started therapy early and stayed on it had a significant advantage in terms of immune recovery.
HIV/Aids conspiracy theories persist
The idea that Aids was created as part of a US government-led conspiracy to decimate the African-American population remains salient to a significant minority of black people, according to qualitative research.
Some resistance risks to PrEP
New data from the Partners PrEP study suggest that although resistance selected by pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is rare among those who acquire HIV, it can occur in patients with unknown acute HIV infection at PrEP initiation.
Study looks at polio antibody responses
A 40% dose of intra-dermal inactivated polio vaccine achieved non-inferior antibody responses in HIV patients compared with a full dose administered intramuscularly, according to the results of a randomised controlled trial.
S ex work is a booming sector in SA
Research commissioned by the South African National Aids Council shows that SA has about 153,000 s ex workers. Earlier research estimated at least 6% of all new HIV infections to be linked to the sector.
SA adult ART guidelines updated
The Southern African HIV Clinicians Society has released guidelines intended as an update to those published in the Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine in 2012.
HIV acquisition figures in US healthcare
Only a single healthcare worker in the US was confirmed to have acquired HIV on the job between 2000 and 2013, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Elite controllers hospitalised more frequently
Elite controllers - HIV-positive individuals who maintain undetectable viral loads in the absence of treatment - were hospitalised more frequently than those who control the disease with antiretroviral therapy, according to new research.
Dipping in the African gene pool
The African gene pool is so diverse that SA researchers are now using this unique genetic material in the effort to find a cure for HIV/Aids.
Possible blueprint to eradicate HIV
A Johns Hopkins-led study offer a strategy that could form a blueprint for a therapeutic vaccine to eradicate lingering HI virus from the body.
Drug combination offers added benefits
The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care has assessed the fixed-dose combination of dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine (trade name Triumeq) and found that adults who have not been treated for their HIV infection have 'considerable' added benefit from treatment with the new fixed-dose combination.
Depo-Provera increases HIV risk
A review of 12 studies suggests women who use the Depo-Provera contraceptive jab are at moderately greater risk of contracting HIV than those who use other forms of birth control or none at all. However the researchers, from the University of California, said their findings did not warrant the injection being withdrawn.
US government slows withdrawal of SA HIV/Aids treatment support
The US government has slowed its withdrawal of support from South Africa’s HIV/Aids treatment programmes to ensure patients are not left in the lurch....
Another step identified in the search for an HIV cure
A team of scientists at the Gladstone Institutes has identified a new way to make latent HIV reveal itself, which could help overcome one...