AIDS Weekly articles from June 2000

AIDS Weekly archives from June 2000

Study Analyzes Schistosoma mansoni Prevalence in Ethiopian HIV Patients.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- Public health professionals have analyzed the prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and schistosomiasis in a population of individuals living on a sugar estate in Ethiopia. Schistosomiasis...

Virulence a Hurdle to Overcome for HIV Type 1 Vaccine.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- One of the major factors that researchers must address when determining the best way to design a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is viral virulence. Scientists at the...

HIV Type 1 Protease Mutation Increases Sensitivity to Amprenavir.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- According to a recent study published in the Journal of Virology, the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitor amprenavir is a good salvage therapy for patients who have had unsuccessful...

Latent Human Herpesvirus 7 Reactivates in Patients with HIV.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study conducted in Switzerland has shown that the human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) can be mostly found in lymph nodes rather than in spleen tissue and this virus replicates significantly more in the presence of...

Somatosensory Evoked Potentials Detect Vacuolar Myelopathy in AIDS Patients.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- Use of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) could assist in detecting vacuolar myelopathy in AIDS patients, according to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Beth Israel Medical Center. ...

Human Herpesvirus 8 Studied for Immunologic Role in Pathogenesis.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- A new study conducted in Sao Paulo, Brazil, adds additional evidence linking human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a malignant skin disease sometimes seen in patients with the human...

Major Chemokine Receptor for HIV Type 1 is Modulated by CD28.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- CD28 has a major influence on the expression of surface CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), which is known to be a major cell receptor targeted by the human immunodeficiency virus. In this study, published...

Further Negotiations Encouraged on Access to HIV/AIDS Treatment.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- The Ministers of Health meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, for the 53rd World Health Assembly (WHA) have launched an appeal for further negotiations between UNAIDS and the pharmaceutical industry to increase...

HIV/AIDS an Epidemic among U.S. Blacks.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- AIDS is spreading faster among blacks because prevention programs are under-funded and lingering stigmas about the disease prevent frank discussions, experts at a three-day summit on the subject concluded May...

AIDS Patients Subject to Other Malignancies Due to Longer Survival.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients are living longer due to better antiretroviral agents, but this also increases the chance for them to acquire malignancies not usually associated with human...

WHO Takes on Challenges, New and Old.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- The World Health Organization called May 20, 2000, for more concerted international action against AIDS, malaria, and smoking-related diseases, while also raising concerns on new issues like bioethics and...

Needle-Exchange Program Ends, HIV Risk Behaviors Increase.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- Stopping a needle exchange program in Windham, Connecticut, increased risky behaviors associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in that city's injection drug user population. Robert S....

South Africa's Health Minister Says Offer of Cheaper Drugs a 'Nonstarter'.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- The offer from five major drug companies to slash overall costs of HIV/AIDS drugs was a "nonstarter," South Africa's health minister said May 23, 2000. The firms announced earlier in May that they would...

Next-Generation 'Virtual' HIV Resistance Testing Program is Available.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- VirtualPhenotype, a powerful new quantitative approach to HIV resistance testing, is now available in the U.S. via Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Virco announced. The greatly enhanced system,...

Agreements Set Vaccine on Fast Track to Developing Countries.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- The development of an innovative, orally-administered AIDS vaccine by the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) will be funded by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) under terms of a new multi-year,...

Genetically Altered Tobacco Being Studied to Help Fight HIV.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- A vaccine against the HIV virus may lie in a plant blamed for millions of deaths each year: tobacco. Researchers at CropTech Corporation, a biotechnology firm, are working to genetically alter the leaf to...

American Businesses Unite to Fight HIV Spread in Africa.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- The chairman of the Corporate Council on Africa, Maurice Tempelsman, announced the formation of a Corporate Task Force on AIDS in Africa. The role of the task force will be to examine what American...

Patients Often Only Notify Main Partner.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... 2000 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com) -- When diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease, patients typically notify their main partners but not any other sexual partners. According to P.M. Gorbach and colleagues from San Diego State...

HIV Viral Load Increases in Mouth When Inflammation is Present.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published study results indicating that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 viral load increases in the saliva when there is inflammation...

Interleukin-2 Plasmids Augment Response to HIV and SIV Vaccines in Monkeys.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Harvard University School of Medicine researchers reported in a major scientific publication that interleukin-2 (IL-2) plasmids enhance the immune response to HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)...

Kidney Disease Attributed to Reaction to Antiviral.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Medical investigators at Indiana University's School of Medicine report that patients taking the drug indinavir, an antiretroviral agent used in treating patients with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),...

Scientists Note Common Patterns in MR Imaging of AIDS Patients.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging reflects the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) encephalopathy, scientists at the University of...

Scientists Study Predictors for AIDS in Infants.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study conducted in Madrid, Spain, has determined the predictive markers most associated with progressing to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) by infants who acquire the human immunodeficiency virus...

HIV-1 Reagents Require Specific Antigen Preparation.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- When preparing HIV-1 antibodies for use in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), scientists should ensure that the antigen they originally used is specific enough to target the antigen configuration they...

Number of Discarded Needles is Not Increased.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Needle exchange programs, which reduce HIV rates by providing injection drug users with sterile needle and syringe replacements, have been criticized for potentially increasing the quantity of discarded...

Neuronal Degeneration Seen in Patients with HIV-1.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study of the extrapyramidal motor disorders sometimes seen in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has shown that neuronal degeneration may be related to this disorder. K. Itoh...

Pediatricians Issue New Guidelines for HIV Infected Schoolchildren.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- New drug treatments mean more children with HIV can function normally in the classroom for long periods of time, according to a revised policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The...

Emphasis Placed on Control of Sexually Transmitted Diseases to Prevent HIV-1.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- The second of a series of articles on HIV published in the Lancet states that "STD control remains an urgent public health priority for the prevention of HIV-1 and the prevention of the complications of STDs....

Thymic Emigrant Cells Seen in Responders to Drug Therapy.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Pediatric patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are considered to be responders to highly active retroviral therapy develop their new CD4 T cells from thymic output, scientists reported at the...

Black Church Leaders Meet to Plan AIDS Strategies.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Trying to overcome policy differences in their efforts to combat AIDS, black church leaders met in Tuskegee, Alabama, to attempt to put together a plan of action. More than 300 bishops, pastors, priests,...

Combretastatin A-4 Disodium Phosphate Effectively Targets Tumors.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Research results presented in San Francisco, California, at the American Association for Cancer Research 91(st) Annual Meeting, have shown that combretastatin A-4 Disodium phosphate (CA4DP) is an effective...

Researchers Want to Know How Vaccines Work.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Vaccines work simply by producing antibodies, right? Well, probably not. And this misconception coupled with basic ignorance of how they do work is stalling the urgent quest for an AIDS vaccine, claim...

NDA Submitted in U.S. for Investigational Protease Inhibitor Therapy.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- Abbott Laboratories announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market ABT-378/r, also known as lopinavir/ritonavir, its investigational...

Treating Hepatitis C with Combination Therapy Benefits Patients Coinfected with HIV.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- A new clinical study has found that the leading hepatitis C treatment is effective in patients coinfected with HIV, does not interfere with HIV medications, and may even make it possible for more HIV patients...

Mbeki Appeals for U.S. Support on AIDS in Africa.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- On May 22, 2000, U.S. president Clinton met with South African president Thabo Mbeki, who appealed for U.S. support, "whatever our differences" over how best to combat AIDS on the African continent. ...

AIDS Vaccine Patent Disputes Settled.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- VaxGen Inc. (VXGN), Brisbane, California, announced that it has prevailed in two separate European patent disputes, confirming its exclusive rights to vaccines containing key proteins for preventing AIDS. ...

NIAID Creates Global Network to Advance Development of Vaccines.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- The worldwide search for an HIV vaccine received a boost as the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced funding of nine U.S. clinical units of the new HIV Vaccine Trials...

Female Condom 'Dream Come True for Ghanaians'.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- The Female Health Co. (FHCO), Chicago, Illinois, announced the launch of the female condom in Ghana on May 25, 2000. Her Excellency Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the First Lady of Ghana presided over the...

Worrying Rise in High Risk Sexual Behavior among Homosexual Men.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... 2000 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- The first-ever report of an increase in unsafe sex among gay men in England was published in the British Medical Journal the first week of June. It represents a worrying shift in behavior 20 years after...

Central Nervous System Cells Targeted as Potential Viral Reservoir.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Fearing central nervous system (CNS) cells may be a reservoir for latent HIV infection, researchers in the United States are targeting an anti-HIV-1 gene therapy strategy at these cells. "Studies have...

Predictors of Virological Success or Failure Studied.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Predictors of virological success or ensuing failure for HIV-1 patients undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) were evaluated in a study conducted in Europe. "Predictors of virological...

New Gene Delivery Technique Thwarts Blood-Brain Barrier.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), researchers have developed the first non-invasive method for delivering therapeutic genes into the brain. This new approach could provide a treatment option...

Sustained Response Indicates OK to Discontinue Cytomegalovirus Retinitis Therapy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- New findings from a study conducted in Texas indicate that patients who are positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and who also have a history of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis can discontinue...

HIV-1 Often Associated with Tuberculosis in South African Children.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- HIV-1 co-infection is often found in children admitted to the hospital for tuberculosis in South Africa. S.A. Madhi and colleagues, South African Institute of Medical Research, calculated HIV/TB...

Scientists Conclude HIV Began in 1930s Africa.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- HIV evolved from a benign simian infection into a human virus in the early 1930s, long before it was recognized as a disease, but it stayed in remote Africa until jet travel, urban environments, and the...

Accelerating Development and Future Availability.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- An HIV-1 vaccine offers the best long-term hope to control the AIDS pandemic, especially in less-developed countries, according to research presented in the June 10 issue of The Lancet. To ensure its...

Live Vaccine May Be Possible.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- A live HIV vaccine that can't infect the people it's supposed to protect may be possible after all. A team based in California has created a hybrid of HIV and another virus that can enter cells, but can't...

Multi-Epitope Vaccines Increase Levels of Antibodies in Animal Model.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in China reported that multiepitope vaccines increased the levels of antibodies that recognize neutralizing epitopes on HIV-1 envelope protein. "A few neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1...

Male Circumcision Protects Against HIV Infection.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Uncircumcised men are at a much greater risk of becoming infected with HIV than circumcised men, according to new evidence presented in the British Medical Journal. Using information from over 40 previous...

Interferon in Placenta Doesn't Prevent HIV in Infants.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Although interferons are expressed in the placenta of infants before birth, these cytokines with antiviral properties cannot effectively overcome the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from...

Six-Month Data Analysis Shows Positive Outcome for Drug Resistance Genotype Testing.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Visible Genetics Inc. (VGIN), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, reported that preliminary six-month data from the Narval study showed a benefit to HIV infected patients who received HIV drug resistance genotype...

Soluble CD4 Activates HIV-1 Env-Mediated Membrane Fusion.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Soluble CD4 (sCD4) can activate HIV-1 Env-mediated membrane fusion with CD4-negative/coreceptor-positive target cells, researchers in the United States reported. "The push for an effective AIDS vaccine...

DAPD Antiviral Activity Presented in HIV Patients with Multiple Drug Failure.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VIRS) presented data on the antiviral activity of DAPD in HIV infected patients who have failed multiple antiviral drugs at the 4th International Workshop on HIV Drug...

Data Reported from Phase I/II Study of Protease Inhibitor.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VIRS), Durham, North Carolina, presented the initial results of a Phase I/II dose escalation combination study conducted outside the U.S. of DMP-450, a protease inhibitor for...

Study Indicates Need for Increased HIV Resistance Testing.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Data presented by Virco at the 4th International Workshop on HIV Drug Resistance and Treatment Strategies, held in Sitges, Spain, during June 2000, demonstrates that 27.2% of 11,990 HIV patients being surveyed...

Role of Angiogenic Chemokines Explored.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in the United States examined the relationship of angiogenic chemokines in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma. "AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma is an angioproliferative disease characterized by...

Canadian University to Test New Gels.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at Laval University are recruiting women for clinical trials using microbicide gels known as invisible condoms. Dr. Michel Bergeron told an international conference on HIV and AIDS that the...

"Lazarus Syndrome" Impacts HIV Survivors.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- At this year's AmFAR Aids Research National HIV/AIDS Update conference, Bruce Thompson reported that better AIDS therapies are creating a "Lazarus Syndrome" in long-term survivors of the human...

Whole-Killed Virus Vaccine Candidates Inactivated by Aldrithiol-2.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Aldrithiol-2 can be used to inactivate whole virus for vaccine development, researchers say. "We have previously shown that a variety of disulfide compounds can inactivate whole virus causing complete...

Thailand Plans Production of Stavudine at Reduced Price.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Thailand's state pharmaceutical manufacturer plans to produce stavudine (d4T) at one-seventh its commercial price, The Nation newspaper reported June 10. The Government Pharmaceutical Organization will...

State of Florida Targets Blacks with AIDS Awareness Ads.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 26, 2000... 2000 JUN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Florida health officials hope to raise AIDS awareness among the state's black residents with an advertising campaign scheduled to run all year. The state Department of Health has assembled a series of...