Reporting their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, American and Ugandan scientists working in Africa describe how adult male circumcision can significantly decrease infection rates for the two most common sexually transmitted infections – herpes and the human papillomavirus (HPV – the virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts). The findings build […]
Researchers at the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) report that the practice of mindfulness meditation can halt the decline of CD4-T cells in HIV-positive patients. CD4-T cells are the “brains” of the immune system, but they are also the cells that are attacked by HIV, which slowly eats away at the CD4-T cells […]
A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 percent, according to new research. Interestingly, once people are infected, the same variant seems to protect against progression of the disease, allowing those who carry it to […]
HIV researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston (UT Medical) believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the HIV virus. The weak spot is hidden in the HIV envelope protein gp120, essential for HIV’s attachment to host cells. Normally, the body’s immune defenses can ward off viruses by […]
University of Michigan researchers say that a new technique for vaccinating against a variety of infectious diseases – using an oil-based emulsion placed in the nose, rather than needles – has produced a strong immune response against smallpox and HIV in two sets of experiments. The so-called nanoemulsion vaccines are based on a mixture of […]
Stereotypes and misinformation about HIV that are commonplace among the general public are also evident in a surprising number of clinical staff, a study from the University at Buffalo has found. Published in the journal AIDS Patient Care and STDs, Lance S. Rintamaki’s study shows that more than 25 years after its discovery, HIV still […]
Male circumcision, which had previously been found to lessen the risk of contracting HIV, is largely irrelevant, suggests a new study. Rather, it is the number of prostitutes in a country that determines the spread of HIV infections, says researcher John R. Talbott, in the journal PLoS ONE. After conducting statistical empirical research across 77 […]
Scientists from Jefferson Medical College say they have produced viral immunity to an AIDS-like disease by using a weakened rabies virus to deliver HIV-related proteins into non-human primates. The study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, details how two years after the initial vaccination, four vaccinated rhesus macaques were still protected from disease, even […]
A circumcision trial conducted in Kenya, led by University of Illinois at Chicago professor of epidemiology Robert Bailey, has provided strong evidence that circumcision can indeed prevent HIV infection. In fact, the evidence was so strong that the study’s independent data safety monitoring committee ordered the trial be stopped, so that the uncircumcised participants could […]
A new gene therapy based on a disabled AIDS virus carrying genetic material that inhibits HIV replication has produced positive results in a Phase I clinical trial, say researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Reporting in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Penn researcher Carl June said that viral loads in […]
