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reading notes 16042010

April 16th, 2010

In the UK, the Gay Men’s Sex Survey in 2005 found that only 3% of the whole sample had used methamphetamin and that only 0.3% were frequent users of the drug.
(Methamphetamin – meth, crystal, ice, tina, Christine, yaa baa, Nazi speed is a chemically altered version of amphetamin. It was banned in the UK in 1964 and the USA in 1971).

News from the 17th. conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections
San Francisco has promoted HIV testing so well that only one in seven people with HIV are undiagnosed.

In South Africa, nearly a quarter of patients eligible for HIV therapy died while on the waiting list.
(ref: Montaner j et al. Association of expended HAART coverage with a decrease in new |HIV diagoses, particularly among injection drug users)

Researchers from the DAART trial in Uganda and Zimbabwe found that within a year of starting treatment, 78% of patients had not achieved a CD4 count over 350 cell/mm3 and nearly half had not reached 200.
(ref: Munderi P et al. Immune restoration over 5 years on ART among patients initiating treatment with advanced immune deficiency in the DART trial in Uganda and Zimbabwe)

HIV transmission in long-term hetrosexual relationships could not be prevented by treating herpes. The rate of transimission from a HIV-positive patner was reduced from 2.25% to 0.39% a year when they started treatment.

Partners with CD4 counts under 200 cells/mm3 were five times more likely to transmit HIV than others.

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Human Rights for HIV+

December 16th, 2009

Geneva, 10 December 2009 – On Human Rights Day UNAIDS is calling on all countries to
uphold the human rights of people most affected by the AIDS epidemic.

Criminalization of consensual adult sexual behaviour and violation of human rights of people
living with HIV are hampering HIV responses across the world. UNAIDS urges all countries
to remove laws and policies that make it difficult for people to access HIV services. UNAIDS also calls upon countries to enforce laws that protect people living with and affected by HIV from discrimination.

Although important progress has been made in creating legal environments conducive for
HIV prevention in many countries, UNAIDS is concerned about an apparent trend towards
criminalizing consensual adult sexual behaviour.

In Uganda, for example an ‘anti-homosexuality’ bill has been proposed which if passed into
law, would represent a serious setback to achieving universal access to HIV prevention,
treatment, care and support in Uganda by driving men who have sex with men underground
and away from HIV services. If passed, the bill would greatly increase stigma and
discrimination against people living with and affected by HIV, as well as putting lives at risk.

from UNAIDS website

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Vaginal HIV gel fails to cut risk

December 14th, 2009

Vaginal HIV gel fails to cut risk

Many women in Africa are vulnerable to HIV
A major trial of a vaginal microbicide has produced no evidence that its use reduces the risk of HIV infection in women.

The gel, PRO 2000, is intended for use before sexual intercourse to help reduce HIV infection.

It was tested in a trial involving 9,385 women in four African countries.

The risk of HIV infection was not significantly different among women supplied with the gel than in women given a placebo gel.

It was hoped microbicide gels would prove to be an effective way to limit the spread of HIV, as experts admit that condom promotion alone has not controlled the epidemic.

New ways of curbing the spread of HIV are badly needed, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 60% of those infected with the virus are women.

Women are often forced to take part in unsafe sex, and are biologically more vulnerable to HIV infection than men – so in theory a gel they could apply themselves could be effective.

A previous, smaller trial suggested PRO 2000 could reduce the risk of HIV infection by 30%.

But the latest study, carried out by the Microbicides Development Programme, a not-for-profit partnership of 16 African and European research institutions, failed to find any positive effect.

And the researchers say the trial was large enough to provide conclusive results.

The women who took part were given the gel together with free condoms and access to counselling about safe sex.

Important result

Lead researcher Dr Sheena McCormack, of the Medical Research Council, which part-funded the study, said: “This result is disheartening.

“Nevertheless, we know this is an important result and it shows clearly the need to undertake trials which are large enough to provide definitive evidence for whether or not a product works.”

Professor Jonathan Weber, from Imperial College London, who also took part in the study, said: “It is unfortunate that this microbicide is ineffective at preventing HIV infection, but it’s still vital for us as scientists to continue to look for new ways of preventing HIV.

“Now that we know this microbicide is not the answer, we can concentrate on other treatments that might be.”

from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8408108.stm

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HIV TB

December 14th, 2009

Washington, July 1 (ANI): Ending one of the biggest mysteries, Harvard scientists have found out why HIV patients are more susceptible to tuberculosis (TB) infection.

In their study paper, a team of researchers led by Dr. Naimish Patel have described how HIV switches off the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The researchers have detailed how HIV interferes with the cellular and molecular mechanisms used by the lungs to fight TB infection.

With this discovery, the researchers have taken an important first step toward the development of new treatments to help people with HIV to prevent or recover from TB infection.

“HIV/TB co-infection is a critical global health problem, especially in developing countries. We hope that these findings will lead to further studies and possible new therapies for treating or preventing tuberculosis in HIV disease,” said Patel.

For their study, the researchers extracted immune cells called “alveolar macrophages” from the lungs of otherwise healthy, asymptomatic HIV-positive patients as well as from people who did not have HIV.

In people who are HIV-positive, the macrophages have a decreased response to the TB bacterium when compared to people who did not have HIV.

To know why this happens, the scientists examined lung specimens from the HIV-positive patients, and found increased levels of a molecule called IL-10.

IL-10 elevated the amount of a protein called “BCL-3″ in alveolar macrophages, which in turn reduced their ability to ward off TB infection.

“HIV and TB represent two of the most significant health challenges in human history and the combination of the two infections is particularly devastating because HIV dramatically increases the severity of TB infection,” said Dr. John Wherry, Deputy Editor of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology,

He added: “There are still many unknowns about how HIV reduces the ability of the body to combat other infections. This study sheds light on co-infection with HIV and TB, which up to this point, has perplexed scientists and physicians alike.”

The study has been published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. (ANI)

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