AIDS Weekly articles from March 2004

AIDS Weekly archives from March 2004

Novel gp41-derived peptides inhibit HIV cell entry.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Novel gp42-derived peptides inhibit strongly inhibit HIV-cell membrane fusion. According to a study from Germany, "As the limitations of antiretroviral drug therapy, such as toxicity and resistance,...

HAART induces abnormal bone metabolism, reduces BMD in children.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HAART causes abnormal bone metabolism and reduces BMD in children. According to recent research from Italy, "Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) may be a contributory factor for a...

Microbead-conjugated anti-gp41 antibodies can isolate HIV-infected cells.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Microbead-conjugated anti-gp41 antibodies can be used to enrich for HIV-infected cells. "The isolation of a pure population of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected cells is highly desirable...

C-type lectin DC-SIGN microdomains enable HIV entry.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- C-type lectin DC-SIGN microdomains act as portals for HIV entry. "The C-type lectin dendritic cell (DC)-specific intercellular adhesion molecule grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN; CD209) facilitates...

Lipid membranes likely involved in enfuvirtide activity.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lipid membranes are likely involved in the antiretroviral activity of enfuvirtide. According to recent research from Portugal, "Partition of the intrinsically fluorescent HIV fusion inhibitor...

T-20 cross-reactive gp41 antibody does not reduce T-20 efficacy.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Enfuvirtide cross-reactive gp41 antibody has no significant effect on the outcome of enfuvirtide treatment. In a recent study, scientists in Canada "investigated the effect of enfuvirtide...

Three-year data highlight Viread efficacy, safety, and side effect profile.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gilead Sciences, Inc., (GILD) announced preliminary 3-year (144-week) data from a double-blind, phase III clinical trial (Study 903) suggesting that Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) is associated...

Procleix Ultrio Assay clinical trials commence.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chiron Corporation (CHIR) announced that the U.S. clinical trials of the Procleix Ultrio Assay on the Procleix Tigris system have started in San Diego, California, under an investigational new drug. ...

Company to close Palo Alto facilities, cut workforce, focus on drug discovery.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Incyte Corp. (INCY) announced that it will close its Palo Alto, California, research facilities and headquarters, effective April 2, 2004, completing its transition to a drug discovery and development...

Phase III CFS clinical trial complete.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc., (HEB) has completed the randomization and placebo-controlled dosage stage of its phase III clinical trial for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), becoming - according to the...

Alcohol abuse history could pose problems for HIV patients.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Patients with HIV infection and a history of alcohol abuse may be at higher risk for cognitive problems than HIV-positive patients with no alcohol abuse history, an Ohio State University (OSU) Medical...

Marketing agreement signed for promotion of aspergillus test.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., (BIO; BIOb), a multinational manufacturer and distributor of life science research products and clinical diagnostics, announced that it has entered into a marketing agreement...

Antiretroviral mechanisms of DSB identified.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The antiretroviral mechanisms of the novel agent DSB have been characterized. According to published research from Tennessee, "Despite the effectiveness of currently available human immunodeficiency...

Antiviral and DNA-cleaving activities of fullerene derivatives reviewed.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The antiviral and DNA-cleaving activities of fullere derivatives have been reviewed. "The fullerene family, and especially C-60, has very appealing photo-, electro-chemical and physical properties,...

Inhibition of HIV integrase by styrylquinoline derivatives characterized.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The inhibition of HIV IN by styrylquinoline derivatives (SQ) has been characterized. SQ "efficiently inhibit the 3'-processing activity of integrase (IN) with IC50 values of between 0.5 and 5...

FDA accepts filing for Sculptra.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dermik Laboratories, the U.S. dermatology arm of Aventis (AVE), announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and granted expedited review of the company's Premarket...

Cachexia drug developer secures $12M in financing.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Advanced Viral Research Corp. (ADVR) announced that it entered into an agreement with James Dicke II and his son James Dicke III whereby ADVR shall sell to the two purchasers an aggregate of 120,000,000...

Whole genome optical map completed of world's most frequent fungal infection.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- OpGen, Inc., has completed a whole genome map of the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus (strain Af293) for an international project aimed at determining the complete genome sequence of this organism....

LA County to intensify fight against HIV, STDs in gay bathhouses.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Alarmed by high rates of HIV, LA County, California, supervisors have ordered local health officials to strengthen plans to combat sexually transmitted diseases in gay bathhouses and sex clubs. The...

Rate in U.S. is approximately 4% per year.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An Emory University study estimates that more than 95% of people living with HIV in the United States do not transmit the virus to another person in a year's time. The findings were reported in the...

AIDS threatens Mozambique teachers and students.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- AIDS is threatening Mozambique's education system by killing teachers and orphaning students who have to leave school to take care of relatives, Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi said February 10, 2004....

Bayesian inference used to clarify evolutionary relationship of HIV, SIV.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel Bayesian technique has been used to clarify the evolutionary relationship of HIV and its simian counterpart, SIV. "The most plausible origin of HIV-1 group M is an SIV lineage currently...

Bulgarians in AIDS trial supported by Libyan virologist.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Libyan virologist testified February 9, 2004, in the trial of Bulgarian medics accused of infecting Libyan children with HIV that a hospital's conditions caused an outbreak of the virus, the Bulgarian...

HIV discrimination case settled by surgeon.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Phoenix, Arizona, surgeon reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over accusations that he refused to treat an HIV-positive patient. Scott Croft, a physician with Arizona Bone and...

CXCR4 mediates gp120 neurotoxicity in cerebellar granule cells.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CXCR4 mediates HIV gp120-induced neurotoxicity in cerebellar granule cells. "The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) glycoprotein gp120 causes neuronal cell death; however, the molecular...

AIDS rising in black male college students.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A sudden, surprising increase in HIV infections has been discovered among male black college students in North Carolina, and officials fear the same is probably happening across the South. The...

HIV rates, risk factors among different IDU types determined.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Patterns of HIV transmission among different classes of injection drug users have been characterized. In a recent study from the United States, the "prevalence of HIV and associated risk behaviors...

Geneva-based agency to provide India with funds to prevent AIDS.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Geneva-based fund said February 10, 2004, it was ready to give the Indian government US$26.1 million of assistance pledged toward its efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS. About a year ago, the...

HIV among pregnant women at Mexican hospital much higher than reported earlier.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV infection among pregnant women in labor at Tijuana General Hospital in Mexico is 14 times higher than previously reported by CONASIDA, the Mexican organization that tracks AIDS cases, according to a...

Enyzme immunoassay suitable for cryptosporidiosis diagnosis.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cryptosporidiosis diagnosis through EIA appears to be feasible in HIV patients. Scientists in Brazil conducted a study "to verify the occurrence of Cryptosporidium infection in 52 human...

Murine T cytotoxic-1 CD8 cells are effector cells against P. carinii.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In mice, anti-Pneumocystis immune activity is effected by T cytotoxic-1 CD8 cells. "Host defenses are profoundly compromised in HIV-infected hosts due to progressive depletion of CD4+ T...

Prevalence and effects of P. jirovecii DHPS mutations determined.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The frequency and clinical significance of P. jirovecii DHPS polymorphisms have been elucidated. According to published research from France, "Dihydropteroate synthase gene (DHPS) mutations at...

Pol incorporation into Gag VLPs is independent of upstream Gag domain.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pol incorporation into Gag VLPs is independent of the upstream Gag-Pol Gag domain. "By using particle-associated reverse transcriptase (RT) activity as an assay for Pol incorporation into human...

Protease activity regulates Env-mediated membrane fusion.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV protease activity regulates Env-mediated membrane fusion. Evidence has been presented "for a direct interaction between the matrix (MA) domain of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)...

Social networks and oral testing improve minority HIV screening rates.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The use of social networks and oral testing can improve minority HIV screening rates. In a recent study, public health researchers in Massachusetts evaluated a program designed "to boost HIV testing...

Nucleocapsid-RNA interactions crucial for stability, but not assembly.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV nucleocapsid-RNA interactions are crucial for structural stability, but not for viral assembly. According to published research from the United States, the "process of RNA incorporation into...

Internalization and recycling mechanisms of CCR5 clarified.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The internalization and recycling mechanisms of CCR5 have been characterized. "CCR5 is a G protein-coupled receptor that binds several natural chemokines but it is also a coreceptor for the entry of...

Effects of indinavir on sterol, fatty acid homeostasis clarified.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The effects of indinavir on sterol and fatty acid homeostasis have been characterized. "Human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors induce hyperlipidemia in many patients treated with these...

Houston firm set to begin human trials of new HIV treatment.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Stratus Research Labs will soon begin human trials in Latin America of its treatment, A-221-HIV, on patients infected with the HIV virus. Stratus is a privately held company with offices in Houston,...

Injection drug use attenuates HAART benefits.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Injection drug use attenuates the benefits of HAART. "There is evidence that HIV-positive injecting drug users benefit less than other risk groups from highly active antiretroviral therapy that has...

Methamphetamines augment HIV replication in humans.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Meth use augments HIV replication in humans. "Abuse of methamphetamine (METH) is a frequent comorbidity among individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1," scientists in the...

December price hike on AIDS medicine under investigation.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Investigators in Illinois and New York are trying to determine if Abbott Laboratories broke the law when it increased the cost of a commonly used AIDS medicine. Attorney General Lisa Madigan's...

LA-based AIDS care group sues over huge increase in cost of drug.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- One of the nation's largest AIDS-care providers is suing pharmaceuticals giant Abbott Industries for raising the price of its drug Norvir nearly 400%, claiming the action threatens the lives of people...

Two-drug regimen can reduce vertical transmission risk to below 2%.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Data from the Perinatal HIV Transmission Trial group (PHPT), a collaboration of researchers from Thailand, France, and the U.S., show that a simple two-drug regimen can reduce the risk of...

Measles virus expressing HIV proteins induces antibodies to HIV.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A single injection of recombinant measles virus vaccines expressing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 clade B envelope glycoproteins induces neutralizing antibodies and cellular immune responses...

Monoclonal antibodies show promise for AIDS vaccines.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Monoclonal antibodies show promise for AIDS vaccines. According to a study from the United States, "Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is phylogenetically classified into groups and clades...

HBV treatment can lead to recovery of virus-specific T-cell responses.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HBV treatment can lead to the recovery of HBV-specific T-cell responses in HIV patients. "Liver-related mortality is an increasing problem in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis B virus...

HIV treatment as a human right - learning from Thailand's experience.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new paper discusses the landmark legal case in Thailand where two people with HIV successfully challenged a multinational pharmaceutical company for restricting access to a key antiretroviral drug due...

Nigerian AIDS sufferers complain that shortages and corruption threaten lives.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Nigerian government program to provide cheap medicine for people infected with HIV has run out of supplies, jeopardizing more than 14,000 who began taking the drugs 2 years ago, AIDS activists say....

Highest therapy response rates to date seen in coinfected patients.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Mount Sinai School of Medicine researcher reported results from a study with a drug combination that showed the highest hepatitis C treatment response rates ever reported in patients infected with...

Clinical trials of Procleix Ultrio Assay begin on Procleix Tigris system.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gen-Probe Incorporated (GPRO) announced that clinical trials of the Procleix Ultrio Assay, for the simultaneous detection of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), the virus that causes AIDS, hepatitis...

HIV exhausts the immune system through chronic nonspecific activation.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Like most persistent viruses, HIV uses a variety of strategies to counteract its host's response to infection. HIV infects the very cells that coordinate the immune response, which compromises the...

Prosecutors investigating December price hike on AIDS medicine.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Investigators in Illinois and New York are trying to determine if Abbott Laboratories broke the law when it increased the cost of a commonly used AIDS medicine. Attorney General Lisa Madigan's...

Patent granted for EradicAide technology to diagnose, prevent, treat AIDS.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (AVRX) announced that its collaborators at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have been issued United States Patent number 6,656,471 entitled "HIV-specific...

Production of drug-sensitive HIV continues in children during successful HAART.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV production continues in HAART-treated children with undetectable viremia, although the evolution of drug resistance is halted in these patients. "Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can...

Nevirapine plus zidovudine to prevent perinatal HIV in Thailand.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers from the Perinatal HIV Transmission Trial group (PHPT), an international program in collaboration with Thailand, France and the U.S., show that a simple two-drug regimen can reduce the risk...

Stopping AIDS spread to newborns may harm mothers.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The treatment used in poor countries to prevent the spread of HIV from mothers to their babies may have a serious drawback: It can make the women resistant to the AIDS drugs they may need later on,...

Biopharmaceutical company appoints Kevin Reilly to board of directors.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Immune Response Corporation (IMNR) announced that Kevin L. Reilly, a career pharmaceutical executive, has joined the company's board of directors. Mr. Reilly, former president of Wyeth's...

Biotechnology company appoints new member to board of directors.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VIRxSYS Corporation announced the appointment of John P. Phair, MD, professor emeritus of medicine, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, to serve on its board of directors. Dr....

Pharmacokinetics of emtricitabine in HIV-infected children determined.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Investigators report the pharmacokinetics of emtricitabine in HIV-infected children in a recent issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. "Emtricitabine (FTC; Emtriva), a potent deoxycytidine...

Should compulsory screening of immigrants be part of U.K. policy?
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.K. government may be considering compulsory screening of immigrants for tuberculosis and HIV, yet compulsory screening is not based on adequate evidence and has practical and ethical problems,...

Biopharmaceutical research company reduces debt.
March 1, 2004... 2004 MAR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The management team at Medical Discoveries, Inc., (MLSC) announced that as a result of their restructuring efforts, the company has written off $610,828 in liabilities from its balance sheet. MDI...

Cyclohexane derivatives strongly inhibit HIV integrase activity.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A series of novel cyclohexane derivatives strongly inhibit HIV integrase activity. According to published research from Italy, "A number of 2,6-bisbenzylidenecyclohexane-1-one derivatives have been...

Adiponectin attenuates protease inhibitor-induced dyslipidemia.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Adiponectin may be useful for the treatment of protease inhibitor-induced dyslipidemia in HIV patients. "Although the clinical application of HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) has markedly reduced...

Bicyclam-GalCer agents have disappointing antiretroviral activity.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Novel bicyclam-GalCer conjugates have surprisingly weak antiretroviral activity. According to published research from France, the "synthesis of bipharmacophore anti-HIV compounds which, in a single...

Conformation of HIV gp41 during cell entry determined.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The conformation of HIV gp41 during cell entry has been determined, providing information that may facilitate the design of novel antiretroviral agents. "Triggered by receptor binding of gp120, the...

GBV-C infection has protective effect in HIV+ mothers.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GB virus type C (GBV-C) infection has a protective effect in HIV-positive mothers. In a recent study from South Africa, GBV-C infection was examined "in a convenience sample of 75 antiretroviral...

Injected contraceptive use heightens acute HIV viremia.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The use of injected contraceptives heightens HIV viremia in acutely infected women. In a recent study, scientists in the United States "examined the association between host factors present near the...

Data presented on potential new class of antiretroviral therapy.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) presented data from study AI430-003 on BMS-488043, one of the compounds from its series of experimental HIV-1 attachment inhibitors - a potential new class of...

Emory, partner, identify topical microbicides for drug development.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- FemmePharma, Inc., a prescription pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing drugs for diseases and disorders disproportionately affecting women, has initiated a collaboration with Emory University...

Studies offer new insight into HIV vaccine development.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mutations that allow AIDS viruses to escape detection by the immune system may also hinder the viruses' ability to grow after transmission to new hosts, scientists at the University of Wisconsin (UW)...

Novel method improves bremazocine enantiomer synthesis.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel method facilitates the synthesis of bremazocine enantiomers. "In order to provide ready access to multigram quantities of the optically pure bremazocines [(-)- and...

Water-soluble dipeptide HIV PI prodrugs synthesized.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A series of novel water-soluble HIV protease inhibitor prodrugs has been developed. "To improve the low water-solubility of HIV protease inhibitors," scientists in Japan "synthesized water-soluble...

Diagnostic products manufacturer announces positive 2003 financials.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- OraSure Technologies, Inc., (OSUR) announced record revenues of $40.5 million and $11.9 million for the year and quarter ended December 31, 2003, respectively. Full year 2003 revenues represent a...

FDA clearances granted for ViroSeq HIV-1 genotyping system.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Celera Diagnostics, a joint venture between the Applied Biosystems Group (ABI) and Celera Genomics Group (CRA) of Applera Corporation, announced that it has obtained special 510(k) clearance from the...

Billions budgeted in South Africa for fight against AIDS.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel unveiled a 369 billion rand (US$56 billion) budget February 18, 2004, that commits billions to the fight against AIDS, crime and poverty in the run-up to...

Controversial Nebraska bills would create new HIV-related crimes.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Nebraska Legislature's Judiciary Committee heard testimony February 18, 2004, on 2 controversial bills aimed at creating new crimes relating to HIV. One measure (LB872) would make it a crime...

Iowa Hospice worker helps African hospice cope with AIDS.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- On her lapel, Margo Nixon of Moville, Iowa, sports an AIDS awareness pin. Perched on her computer is a yellow teddy bear, which has the AIDS ribbon on its paw and a graphic of Africa on its tummy. ...

Japanese doctor accused in HIV scandal unfit to stand trial.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A prosecutor said February 19, 2004, an 87-year-old doctor was too senile to stand trial on charges of criminal negligence for his actions while leading a government panel on AIDS that allegedly led to...

Officials to experience life in Chinese AIDS villages.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- China has sent 76 officials to live for a year in a group of villages with one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection to oversee government efforts to help victims and prevent the spread of the...

Real-time SYBR green PCR useful for HIV viremia measurement.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A real-time SYBR green reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay can be used to monitor HIV viremia. "HIV-1 viral load represents a basic marker for evaluation of the rate and...

Genotypic resistance after abacavir, efavirenz salvage treatment characterized.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The rate of HIV resistance mutations has been determined in patients undergoing abacavir- and efavirenz-based salvage therapy. "Once highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) fails to suppress...

Grant to support HIV/AIDS education among religious cults in Brazil.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pathfinder International has received a $9,483 grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation to support an HIV/AIDS education program aimed at the religious leaders of candomble temples in Salvador, Brazil....

For first time since 1992, AIDS cases rise in Los Angeles County.
March 8, 2004... 2004 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The number of new AIDS cases reported in Los Angeles County jumped a half-percent between 2001 and 2002, the first increase in a decade and a possible indication that high-risk sexual behavior is on the...