AIDS Weekly articles from July 2001

AIDS Weekly archives from July 2001

Simultaneous Antigen/Antibody Detection Test Effective.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - HIV screens that can simultaneously test for the presence of both HIV antibodies and antigens in the blood may be able to replace cumbersome standard...

HIV's Assault On Cells Chronicled In Step-By-Step Account.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Using sophisticated post-genomic technology, a team of researchers has looked deep within the body's immune cells and recorded the molecular events triggered by invasion of the human...

HIV Immunoglobulin G3 Superior To Other Antibody Subclasses.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The G3 subclass of HIV immune globulin blocks HIV cell fusion and entry more efficiently than other immunoglobulin subclasses, researchers in Maryland...

Study Suggests Need For Advanced Care Planning Interventions In Clinical HIV Programs.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Half of all people infected with HIV are at risk for making end-of-life decisions without prior discussions with their health care practitioners, University of California, Los Angeles, researchers...

Drug-Resistant Mutants Remain Months After Treatment Interruption.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Although drug-resistant strains of HIV tend to be weeded out during drug-free periods, limited populations of these mutants can persist undetected for...

Anti-Pneumonia Prophylaxis Also Improves Nutritional Status.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in France say that co-trimoxazole, an antibiotic commonly used to prevent Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in HIV patients, can also help prevent...

Disease-Specific T Cells Migrate To Secondary Lymph Organs.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - HIV infection provokes a migration of HIV specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes to secondary lymphoid organs, including the tonsils and spleen, researchers in...

Alliance Builds Medical Training Facility.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new alliance of African and Western infectious disease experts, the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa, will soon break ground on the first large-scale HIV/AIDS clinic in...

Group Aims To Provide Drugs To South Africans.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Grace was coughing up blood. Her feet were numb. Her head pounded. Her mouth was full of sores. Her throat burned with a choking infection. Ulcers riddled her stomach. She was thin and bedridden and...

HIV-1 Immunogen Induces Allo- And HIV Specific Immune Responses.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Immune Response Corporation (Nasdaq:IMNR) announced interim clinical results from an ongoing Phase II trial, indicating that treatment with Remune (HIV-1 Immunogen), an investigational product,...

Immunotherapy With Strategic Interruptions Evaluated.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Orange County Center for Special Immunology (CSI), California, announced that it will begin a research trial involving a new approach to treating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection....

Protease Inhibitors Linked To Sexual Dysfunction.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Authors of a multicenter study report that protease inhibitors, potent HIV drugs that interfere with a crucial enzyme involved in viral replication, may be...

Cidofovir Effective After Stem Cell Transplantation.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Cidofovir can safely and effectively treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection following stem cell transplantation, researchers in Germany say. "Cidofovir...

Proof Of Concept Efficacy In Phase IIa Clinical Trials Reported.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Centaur Pharmaceuticals announced that it obtained proof-of-concept efficacy in its dementia trials with its drug CPI-1189. This result is based on the observation of statistically and...

Patent Awarded For Nucleic Acid Probe-Based System To Detect Infectious Diseases, Cancers.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Applied Gene Technologies Inc. announced that it has received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (No. 6,242,188) for its Tessera(TM) Array Technology, entitled "Sample processing to...

New Drug-Resistant HIV Strains Can Escape Detection.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study presented June 6, 2001, at the 5th International Workshop on HIV Resistance and Treatment Strategies shows that a mutation in the genetic code of HIV cannot be detected by most...

Black Leaders Urge Major Changes To Slow Spread Of AIDS.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Black leaders urged the government to step up efforts to slow the alarming spread of AIDS among minorities and called soaring infection rates a national emergency. The National Black Leadership...

Costs Of Global HIV Prevention And Care Program Estimated.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- On June 25-27, 2001, government and civil delegates met for a Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations to consider an expanded global response to HIV/AIDS. Writing in a...

Visceral Fat Increases Linked To Reduced Bone Density.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Men with HIV related dysfunction in fat metabolism also have a high risk of reduced spinal bone density, researchers in the United States warn. Jeannie...

AIDS Program For The Caribbean And Latin America Set For Expansion.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An AIDS program to help combat the epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean will be expanded through a joint effort of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Caribbean Epidemiology...

Excluding U.K. Blood Donors From French Blood Supply Increases Risk.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in France report that the country's debated policy of excluding blood donors from the United Kingdom would have actually caused a slight...

Manufacturing Agreement Reached For Plasmid DNA-Based Vaccine.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- pAllliance, a strategic alliance between QIAGEN N.V. (Nasdaq: QGENF; Neuer Markt: QIA; Easdaq: QGEN), DSM Biologics, Valentis Inc. (Nasdaq: VLTS), and the Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines (WLV), a business...

Inhibiting Calcineurin Signal Blocks Kaposi-Associated HSV Reactivation.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Deborah W. Heinrich, PhD, staff medical writer - Government researchers in the United States have identified a calcium-dependent Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) reactivation pathway...

Potassium Tellurite Test Rapidly Reveals MAC Susceptibility.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... 2001 JUL 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Potassium tellurite testing can quickly show whether a particular case of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is susceptible to treatment with the antibiotic...

Antiretroviral Therapy Improves CD8 Cell Diversity.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection improves the number of circulating cytotoxic T lymphocyte subsets, immunologists report. Stefan...

Drug Adherence Tests Can Yield Discordant Results.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Different measures of patient compliance with HIV drug regimens can give doctors different views of patient behavior. "Poor adherence to HIV protease...

Study Cites Danger For HIV(+)Mothers And Their Children.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Physicians have long suspected that breastfeeding by HIV positive mothers poses substantial health risks to children. However, researchers in Kenya have...

WHO Comments On Lancet Study Reporting Higher Mortality In HIV(+) Mothers.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The following statement was issued in June 2001 by the World Health Organization: [helv] A recent paper by Ruth Nduati and colleagues in the Lancet (May 26, 2001;357:1651-5; [see also the...

Diversity Of HIV Epidemic Is A Risk Factor In The Americas.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV epidemic is so varied in the Americas that its very diversity makes more likely its further spread, according to a new report by Pan American Health Organization experts, titled "HIV and...

Numbers Of CD4(+) T Cells Increase In HIV Patients After Antiretroviral Therapy.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Georgetown University Medical Center researcher has found that a certain type of CD4(+) T-cell, a type which travels through the lymph nodes, increases in HIV patients after they receive...

Declaration Outlines Plan For Nations To Provide Treatment Of And Prevent Spread Of HIV.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Buoyed by the success of a historic three-day United Nations summit on AIDS, politicians, health experts, and activists now face the challenge of putting to action their battle plan to halt the...

Foscarnet Prodrugs Can Reverse Viral Drug Resistance.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Modified versions of the HIV drug foscarnet are effective against drug-resistance viral variants and can even reverse the effects of some...

Indinavir Causes Metabolic Dysfunction In Healthy Men.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The protease inhibitor indinavir triggers metabolic dysfunction in healthy men, with some similarities to disorders suspected to result from protease...

Long-Term Immune-Based Therapy Is Safe And Effective.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Trinity Medical Group USA, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: TMGU) presented clinical data on HIV positive patients who have undergone treatment using its immune-based Remune(TM) product, suggesting that...

Structured Drug Holidays Enhance Off-Therapy Viral Control.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Planned interruptions in antiretroviral therapy may enable HIV patients' immune systems to control viremia without medication, researchers say. "In a...

Testosterone Can Reverse Bone Degradation.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Testosterone therapy can improve spinal bone density in men suffering from AIDS wasting syndrome, even for patients with normal testosterone levels,...

Strategies To Cut Risky Sexual Behavior May Do More Harm Than Good.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Strategies aimed at changing sexual behavior to prevent the transmission of HIV should not be assumed to bring benefit and potentially may even do more harm than good, finds a study. To...

Editorial Says Cheap Drugs Won't Stop Scourge Of AIDS In South Africa.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the June 25, 2001, issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. Daniel Ncayiyana, editor of the South African Medical Journal, comments on the state of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in his...

Researchers Discover One Of HIV's Hiding Places.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Where in the body does HIV hide when it is under attack by drugs? In a case report in the June 27, 2001, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Mount Sinai School of...

Can A "Universal" HIV-1 Vaccine Be Developed?(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Some researchers fear that vaccinations designed to target a single HIV-1 strain wouldn't offer sufficient protection from all versions of the virus. Vaccines based on the viral forms most...

Viral Protein Particles Enable Strain-Specific Antibody Production.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Immunogenic particles made up of HIV proteins can act as a strain-specific vaccine in rhesus macaques, enabling them to produce effective immune responses...

Government Agencies Target Online Health Fraud.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As part of an ongoing and comprehensive law enforcement and consumer education campaign begun in 1997, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a new round of enforcement actions...

VerticalNews Launch Uses NewsRx Artificial Intelligence Technology.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NewsRx, the leading provider of life science databases and daily and weekly health news, has leveraged its technology platform to create a new media company, VerticalNews. VerticalNews'...

Cesarean Section Safe For HIV(+) Women.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Pregnant women who are HIV positive can undergo cesarean deliveries without exceptional risk, researchers say. E.J. Rodriguez and colleagues at Emory...

Bulk Medicine-Buying Program Works For TB, Could Do Same For AIDS Drugs.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A World Health Organization program that buys tuberculosis medicines in bulk at competitive prices is working well - with reductions of over 30% - and could serve as a model to help reduce costs of...

Immunoblot Testing Effective For Prognosis.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2001... 2001 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers have shown that immunoglobulin G (IgG) immunoblot testing for Toxoplasma gondii is an effective means of determining patients at high risk for...

Drug In AIDS Regimen May Cause Liver Damage.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Bell-Nichols, senior medical writer - A European study indicates the drug nevirapine, used in AIDS regimens, may cause liver problems, especially in patients with poor liver function,...

Pediatric Patients Often Have Pathological Lung Changes.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Children infected with HIV often have chronic pathologic lung disease, the resolution of which may portend more harm than good, researchers in the United...

Indinavir Impairs Early Adipocyte Differentiation.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The HIV protease inhibitor indinavir blocks the differentiation of fat cell precursors into mature cells by interfering with the activity of a crucial...

Multicenter Study Finds Drug Cocktail Effective In Advanced Cases.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), also known as AIDS cocktail therapy, is saving lives and preventing infections even in the most advanced AIDS patients, according to a new study. ...

Hepatitis C Virus Levels Higher In Patients Coinfected with HIV.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Immunosuppression may be a reason patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) have greater levels of HCV than...

Pediatric Patients May Develop Semantic Impairment.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Children suffering from neurological disorders related to HIV infection may have a reduced ability to distinguish between related but distinct semantic...

Indinavir Reduces Skeletal Muscle Glucose Transport.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The HIV protease inhibitor indinavir contributes to the lipodystrophy experienced by many patients by impairing glucose transport in skeletal muscles,...

Monitoring Of Nelfinavir Metabolite Unnecessary.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Physicians do not need to measure plasma levels of nelfinavir's active metabolite in order to monitor concentrations of the protease inhibitor, according...

Rifampicin Can Interfere With Saquinavir Metabolism.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Coadministration of the HIV protease inhibitor saquinavir with the antibiotic rifampicin can reduce saquinavir's bioavailability to ineffective levels,...

Eastern Europe And Former Soviet Union On Track For "Large-Scale Epidemic".(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, which already have the world's fastest rising rates of new HIV/AIDS infections, are headed for a large-scale epidemic unless anti-AIDS programs go into...

Government Says More Than 600,000 In China Are Infected With HIV.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 600,000 people in China are estimated to be infected with HIV and the number is increasing by 30% annually, primarily because of an upsurge in infections among intravenous drug users,...

Tat Protein May Contribute To Salivary Gland Disease.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The HIV tat protein causes changes in several structural proteins that may underlie HIV related salivary gland disease, researchers in the United States...

High Quinolinic Acid Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels Linked To Brain Atrophy.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Elevated levels of quinolinic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of HIV patients are a marker of cerebral damage, researchers in California report. ...

First Trinidadian Volunteer Injected With Experimental Combination.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers testing an experimental HIV vaccine have injected the first of 40 volunteers in Trinidad for a study sponsored by a U.S. health agency and the French and U.S. manufacturers. "The...

Vaccine For Developing World Shows Unexpected Activity.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VaxGen, Inc. (VXGN) presented preclinical data indicating that antibodies to subtype C HIV have an unexpected ability to bind to significant regions of another HIV subtype. The findings...

Amino Acid Fragment Confers Profound Drug Resistance.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Japan have found a naturally occurring HIV mutant with a large foreign insertion conferring a remarkably high level of resistance to many...

Late Virus Assembly Requires Energy Sources.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The last stages of the HIV assembly process grind to halt without cellular energy sources, according to researchers in the United States. "Several...

Fight Against AIDS Emphasizes Need For Change.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Taabu got the message that is making the rounds of the bars in this Lake Victoria fishing town: promiscuous sex can lead to AIDS, and a change in behavior can save your life. "I used to be a...

In Africa, Stigma Blocks Treatment - Even Talk - Of AIDS.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Long years after becoming the first in his Sahara nation to publicly acknowledge carrying HIV, Mamadou Barry is still fighting the same battle as on day 1. The mission is "convincing people...

HIV Drug-Resistance Test Can Detect Resistance To Lopinavir.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tibotec-Virco announced that it has added the protease inhibitor (PI) lopinavir to its HIV drug-resistance test, the VirtualPhenotype(TM). The addition means that the VirtualPhenotype reports...

Maternal Infections A Major Source of HCV In Children In Italy.(Brief Article)
July 23, 2001... 2001 JUL 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A study of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among children in Italy during the last decade has revealed almost half of the youngsters acquired HCV from...