HIV & AIDS

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Common Herpes Drug Reduces HIV Levels

The results of a new trial show that a common herpes medication can reduce levels of HIV independent of herpes infection. The herpes drug valacyclovir reduced HIV levels in HIV patients not infected with herpes. The trial was carried out by an international group of researchers – including a team from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, OH – and is reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The investigators found – contrary to previous studies – that the commonly used herpes drug valacyclovir (known under the brand name Valtrex) reduced levels of HIV-1 even in patients that did […]

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Paying Those at Risk for HIV to Take Drugs Doesn’t Work

Paying patients in the Bronx and in Washington — where infection rates are high among poor blacks and Hispanics — up to $280 a year to take HIV medications daily improved overall adherence rates very little, a new study found. SEATTLE — A major study testing whether Americans would take HIV drugs daily if they were paid to do so, essentially failed, scientists at an AIDS conference this week said according to a New York Times article. Paying patients in the Bronx and in Washington — where infection rates are high among poor blacks and Hispanics — up to $280 […]

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Hook-up Apps Popular Vehicle for HIV Advocates

  Hook-up apps on smartphones continue to be an avenue for HIV health advocates to reach gay men at risk, Bloomberg reports. Citing surging rates of new infections in gay and bi men 24 or younger, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the CDC coordinated an online campaign last month with several dating services to promote testing. The messages, which were donated by the app companies, were seen by 19 million users and more than 30,000 clicked through for more information, Hecht said. Hornet and Jack’d are among dating apps that have undertaken their own awareness campaigns, deploying them in […]

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Potential New Vaccine ‘blocks All Known Strains of HIV’

A novel drug candidate against HIV has been created by a joint team led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, FL. The scientists consider it to be so potent and effective that it could form the basis of a vaccine. drugs and syringe The scientists designed a protein that simultaneously binds to two sites on the surface of the virus, which blocks it from entering a host cell. “Our compound is the broadest and most potent entry inhibitor described so far,” says Michael Farzan, a Scripps Research Institute professor who led the effort. “Unlike antibodies, which fail […]

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Criminalization of LGBT People and Those Living With HIV Threatens Global Progress Against AIDS

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When Uganda President Yoweri Museveni visited the White House during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit last month, a high court had just overturned his country’s widely reviled “Anti-Homosexuality Law” which penalized “aggravated homosexuality” with life in prison, and criminalized the provision of services and support to gay people, threatening progress in that country’s long battle against HIV. The elimination of the law, which President Barack Obama had warned Museveni would “complicate” the relationship between their two countries, allowed Museveni to focus on the summit, centered around growth, economic development, and the theme of “investing in the next generation.” In many sub-Saharan […]

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U.S. Health Officials Encourage Use Of HIV Pill For At-Risk Individuals

U.S. health officials on Wednesday issued new recommendations urging healthcare workers to consider offering an HIV prevention pill to healthy individuals who are at substantial risk for HIV infection. The guidelines, issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Public Health Service, involve the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, a strategy in which at-risk individuals take a daily dose of an antiretroviral drug to reduce their risk of HIV infection. The strategy builds on a landmark 2010 study that found Gilead Sciences Inc’s Truvada – a pill already widely used to treat the human […]

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Barebacking Study Reveals Disturbing Connection With Hook-Up Apps

A new study by England’s University of Westminster found what appears to be a disturbing uptick in the number of young gay men who find unprotected sex with a stranger “exciting.” The study, first published in Pink News, found that a staggering 70 percent of young gay men surveyed in London said they believed sex without condoms is more pleasurable. Meanwhile, 94 percent of respondents said they were more likely to have unprotected sex with a stranger if he was good-looking. One HIV-positive participant, identified simply as 25-year-old Jason from London, described his “addiction” to the gay networking app Grindr […]

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