AIDS & HIV

HIV vaccine ready for clinical trials

2007-07-21T00:01:48Z

A vaccine that is capable of delivering a double whammy against AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus by both providing immunity against the infection while at the same time destroying cells infected by the virus is ready for clinical trials, a group of Russian researchers announced today.

The team from Vector State Scientific Center of Virology and Biotechnology, Kol’tsovo, Novosibirsk first reported their research on the CombiHIVvac in the journal Doklady Biochemistry and Biophysics in May 2007.

]]> The vaccine is an artificial virus-like particle whose outer casing consists of the TBI (T- and B cell epitopes containing immunogen) protein constructed by the researchers combined with the polyglucin protein.

This protein contains nine components stimulating different cells of the immune system: both the ones that produce antibodies and the ones that devour the newcomer.

The DNA coding the TCI (T-cell immunogen) protein is contained inside the protein casing.

The protein contains more than 80 HIV proteins fragments selected in the optimal way, which should activate the immune system.

The researchers have selected only conservative fragments -- the ones that remain constant in the course of all major changes of HIV-1 and will certainly be noticed by the immunized organism there by enabling the immune system to catch the virus even if it changes its form to “hide” from the immune system.

The coating and the filling of the particle represent independent vaccines, which cause specific cellular and humoral immune responses.

In the assembled form, the combiHiVvac vaccine is a particle 40 to 100 nanometers in diameter, approaching in size to the HIV-1 virus.

The antibodies which are formed inside immunized mice under the action of vaccine recognize the real HIV-1 proteins and neutralize the virus.

This was shown by the experiments on the cell culture infected by the virus and processed by mice’s antibodies.

Preclinical trial findings allow to hope that the combiHIVvac vaccine will effectively fight even against modified HIV-1 variants.

The new vaccine is nontoxic as even a fivefold dose does not cause organs damage.

Repeated injections reinforce inflammatory processes in the livers afflicted by other conditions.

The combiHIVvac vaccine does not cause autoimmune diseases or anaphylactic reactions, and it does not weaken the organism tolerance to infections either.

The scientists emphasize that as the combiHIVvac vaccine not only stimulates antibody production but also destroys the cells infected by the virus, this vaccine can be considered not only a prophylactic one but also as a therapeutic one.

The vaccine they developed is ready for clinical trials, the researchers declared.

via pressesc.com

Key Hearing Awaits Pfizer Drug

2007-04-24T14:17:34Z

A panel of outside medical experts is meeting Tuesday to evaluate a Pfizer HIV and AIDS drug that, if approved, would the the first in a new class of treatments. Pfizer is seeking support from the Food and Drug Administration for maraviroc, a pill being targeted at patients for whom other drugs, or drug combinations, have become ineffective.

Maraviroc "could broaden the arsenal of treatments to combat resistant forms" of the virus that causes AIDS, Pfizer told analysts last week when it issued first-quarter results. Maraviroc would be the first new oral class of HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, medicines in more than 10 years, Pfizer said.

]]>

The FDA advisory panel must decide if Pfizer has proven that its drug can avoid the setbacks found in other compounds in this class, known as CCR5 antagonists.

GlaxoSmithKline halted work in October 2005 after its drug caused liver damage. The compound was in the third and final stage of clinical trials.

In August 2006, Schering-Plough said it was initiating a new phase II trial of its product because five patients in an earlier study developed different types of cancer. The company said it couldn't tell from the earlier trial if there was a link between its drug and the cancers.

So far, it appears that Pfizer's drug hasn't experienced the types of side effects that affected other CCR5 drugs, said an FDA staff report issued Friday. The FDA noted a "modest increase" in liver-related side effects. The data are being analyzed to determine if side effects were caused by Pfizer's drug, alcohol, another AIDS drug or viral hepatitis.

Pfizer's clinical trials have met their goals of reducing the amount of detectable virus in the blood when maraviroc is added to standard AIDS treatments, the staff report said. Although the FDA isn't bound by its advisory panels' recommendations, it usually follows them.

FDA researchers routinely issue analyses before advisory committee meetings. The FDA staff often recommends questions for panel members to ask company representatives.

For example, the staff wants to know if problems with other CCR5 antagonists might show up once maraviroc reaches the market and is given to many more people than were tested during trials.

The staff says Pfizer should comment on the drug's potential effectiveness for women and Aftrican-Americans since 90% of patients in the two key clinical trials were men and 83% were Caucasian. FDA researchers say Pfizer should outline plans for post-marketing surveillance or extra studies "to further characterize the safety and efficacy profile" of maraviroc.

The Pfizer drug has been in development for 10 years. Pfizer says maraviroc is different than other medications because it blocks the AIDS virus from entering human cells rather than trying to fight the virus inside white blood cells.

The drug is called a CCR5 antagonist because it blocks the AIDS virus from entering cells through the most common point of attack, called a CCR5 coreceptor.

via The Street.com

WHO support male circumcision to fight spread of AIDS

2007-03-28T23:52:38Z

UN health agencies on Wednesday gave the stamp of approval for including male circumcision in the panoply of arms to fight the spread of AIDS, stressing though that its success also depended on safe-sex awareness, sensitivity and resources.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the specialised agency UNAIDS declared that millions of lives could be saved if circumcision were widely and safely practised.

They issued guidelines at a press conference in Paris following a debate among experts, health officials and grassroots groups in Geneva on March 6-8.

"The recommendations represent a significant step forward in
HIV prevention," said Kevin de Cock, director of the WHO's HIV/AIDS Department.

]]> "Countries with high rates of heterosexual HIV infection and low rates of male circumcision now have an additional intervention which can reduce the risk of HIV infection in heterosexual men," said de Cock.

"Scaling up male circumcision in such countries will result in immediate benefit to individuals," he said, adding, however: "It will be a number of years before we can expect to see an impact on the epidemic from such investment."

The spur for the recommendation has been two trials conducted in Uganda and a third in South Africa.

These studies found that men who had been circumcised reduced the risk of HIV infection by between 51 and 60 percent at least, as compared with uncircumcised counterparts.

"The efficacy of male circumcision in reducing female-to-male transmission of HIV has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. This is an important landmark in the history of HIV prevention," said the WHO and UNAIDS.

According to figures published in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine that were cited in the UN document, 5.7 million new cases of HIV infection and three million deaths could be prevented over 20 years if male circumcision were universally practised in sub-Saharan Africa.

The two agencies made these points:

-- Circumcision reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of infection for the man in the context of heterosexual intercourse.

There is no evidence yet as to whether circumcision has any impact on the risk of infection for the woman, on the risk among men who have sex with other men, or on the risk for heterosexual anal intercourse.

-- Circumcision should be a part of a prevention package that also includes safe-sex counselling and access to condoms for both partners.

"Communities, and particularly men opting for the procedure and their partners, require careful and balanced information and education materials that underline male circumcision is not a 'magic bullet' for HIV prevention but is complementary to other ways of reducing risk of HIV infection," the guidelines warn.

-- Circumcision has to carried out with confidentiality and the informed consent of the male and without coercion or discrimination. Countries should also emphasise that male circumcision has no connection with female genital mutilation, a practice with many adverse physical and psychological impacts and with no demonstrated medical benefits.

-- Circumcision should be promoted "with full adherence to medical ethics" but in a "culturally appropriate manner." For instance, traditional practitioners who carry out circumcision in a ritual to symbolise a child's transition to adulthood should be consulted to help ensure support for a circumcision campaign.

-- Countries should carefully assess their needs in funding, trained personnel and medical equipment before promoting a circumcision campaign, to avoid botched operations.

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since the disease was first detected in 1981. At the end of 2006, an estimated 39.5 million people had AIDS or HIV, and 4.3 million became newly infected with the virus that year.

The clinical reason for circumcision's preventive effect is still being investigated.

One theory is that the foreskin has a very thin lining and suffers minor abrasions during intercourse, making it easier for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to enter the man's bloodstream. Another is that the foreskin is rich in Langerhans cells, whose surface is configured in such a way that the AIDS virus readily latches on to them.

Source: Yahoo! News

German AIDS Action Plan Aims to Revive Awareness

2007-03-08T21:03:23Z

The German cabinet approved a national action plan against the spread of HIV and AIDS, which focuses on increased preventive measures and research into new strains of drug-resistant viruses.

When it comes to HIV and AIDS, the discrepancy between knowledge of the disease and actual behavior is widening, German leaders warned this week.

According to government statistics, almost 100 percent of the German population is aware of the most frequent modes of HIV transmission and ways to protect against infection.

]]> Among the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, only about 44,000 are Germans, with some 2,700 newly infected people every year.

Condoms down, STDs up

But German Health Minister Ulla Schmidt pointed out that recent advances in AIDS treatment had lulled many Germans -- and young people in particular -- into thinking the epidemic is no longer a major cause for concern.

This, she said, was increasingly reflected in a growing reluctance to use condoms, which had in turn led to an increase in other sexually transmitted diseases.

Schmidt announced special programs to raise HIV and AIDS awareness among migrants and travelers.

"Our action plan emphasizes the need to implement preventive measures for specific groups of the population," Schmidt said.

Targeting migrants

"We’re going to offer special measures for people with a migrant origin," Schmidt added. "We need to take into account their different cultural backgrounds and the fact that many of these people don’t have a sufficient command of the German language to understand anti-AIDS spots for native Germans."

The federal government is willing to keep its annual budget for AIDS awareness campaigns above 9 million euros ($11.8 million). At the same time, it has called on the German media to keep the subject in the news.

Developing countries are key

Reports on AIDS in Germany have declined in number and have primarily focused on the epidemic as a problem of developing nations and eastern Europe. TV stations’ willingness to show anti-AIDS spots for free has declined dramatically, also within the public broadcasting networks.

Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul added that Germany would spend about 400 million euros this year on measures to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis world-wide.

“It’s our task to ensure, together with the World Bank and other institutions, that health centers in developing countries have enough personnel to do a good job," she said.

"Within the European Union we must agree on a code of conduct which would keep us from luring medical staff from Africa to our countries.”

Increasing drug-resistance

Schmidt said it was important to increase research into drug-resistant HIV strains. About 15 percent of newly infected Germans develop such dangerous strains.

Their upsurge is threatening to nullify many of the recent medical advances in AIDS treatment. It is expected that drug-resistant strains will continue to be on the rise over the next few years.

A special government program allocates 3 million euros until 2009 to study drug-resistant strains in the hope to better understand their nature and find cures for them.

source DW World

Raltegravir Shows Promise in Patients With Drug-Resistant HIV: Presented at CROI

2007-03-07T12:22:14Z

LOS ANGELES, CA -- March 6, 2007 -- Raltegravir could be a viable therapeutic option for people with highly drug-resistant strains of HIV, according to findings from 2 studies presented here at the 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).

The drug inhibits the enzyme HIV-1 integrase, making it effective against multi-drug resistant strains of HIV-1 and particularly CCR5-tropic and CXCR4-tropic strains, said investigator David Cooper, MD, director, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

In a presentation on February 28th, Dr. Cooper discussed the study -- Blocking integrase in treatment Experienced patients with a Novel Compound against HIV: MeRcK, MK-0518 (BENCHMRK)-1 -- which included patients in Europe, Asia/Pacific, and Peru.]]> In addition, Roy T. Steigbigel, MD, professor of medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, United States, presented the findings from BENCHMRK-2, which involved patients from North America and the remainder of South America.

Both studies were randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparisons in which patients took optimised background therapy (OBT) -- which could include enfuvirtide and darunavir -- plus raltegravir 400 mg twice daily or a placebo plus OBT.

The 2 studies combined a total of 462 patients taking raltegravir and 237 patients taking placebo. Key inclusion criteria were HIV RNA >1,000 copies/mL and documented genotypic or phenotypic resistance to at least 1 protease inhibitor, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Patients were evaluated at 16 weeks for viral load, CD4 count, and adverse effects.

The 2 studies yielded almost identical virological responses at 16 weeks: HIV RNA levels <400 copies/mL were achieved by 77% of patients in the raltegravir groups and 42% of the placebo groups (P < .001). CD4 levels increased by an average of 85 cells/mm3 from baseline among in the raltegravir groups and 36 cells/mm3 in the placebo groups (P < .001).

The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between the experimental and control groups in either study. In both studies, 1.7% of patients taking raltegravir discontinued due to adverse events compared with 3.4% of the placebo group in BENCHMRK-1 and 0.8% in BENCHMRK-2. Diarrhoea, injection site reactions, nausea, and headache were the most common complaints.

These findings suggest that raltegravir in combination with OBT exerts a potent and superior antiviral effect compared with placebo in patients who fail other antiviral therapies and have drug-resistant HIV, and is generally well tolerated, the investigators said.

via DGDispatch

Half Of HIV Spread By Newly Infected

2007-03-07T12:13:10Z

Science Daily — A new study led by McGill University researchers shows that half of all HIV transmissions happen when newly infected people don’t know they are carrying the virus and may not even test positive for it.

The study, published in the April edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases and already available online, followed 2,500 patients in eight Montreal HIV clinics over eight years. It showed that newly infected patients are eight times more likely to transmit the virus than those in the chronic stage of AIDS given the same behaviour.

]]> Dr. Mark Wainberg, Director of the McGill AIDS Centre and internationally respected AIDS researcher, presented the findings at an academic AIDS conference in Los Angeles March 1 with lead author Dr. Bluma Brenner of the McGill Faculty of Medicine and the Jewish General Hospital.

“The most alarming thing is the confluence of a highly infectious state and the lack of awareness of that state,” said Dr. Wainberg. “It means we have to reconsider a lot of what we’re doing, both on the public education front and on the early intervention front.”

McGill Professor of Medicine and McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) AIDS researcher Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy, who was also instrumental in the study, said the Montreal urban population provided the ideal sample for the groundbreaking survey. “We had the infrastructure and the data here to get a comprehensive picture.” The study also involved researchers at Université de Montréal and at private and public AIDS clinics in the city.

The findings could change not only how soon people get tested after engaging in high-risk behaviour, but how they view that behaviour. “It has been shown that an HIV-positive diagnosis modifies high-risk behaviour,” said Dr. Wainberg. “So the more actively we can seek out and find newly infected people for testing and counselling, the better.”

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by McGill University.

source Science Daily

CD4 Count Predicts Non-Opportunistic Diseases in HIV

2007-03-01T13:40:39Z

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 -- Like the traditional HIV-associated opportunistic infections, the toll of conditions such as heart and liver disease is also affected by the immune status of a patient, researchers reported here.

Most of us have previously assumed that prolonged survival and advancing age explain much of the increase in these common end-organ diseases" among HIV patients, said Jason Baker, M.D., of the University of Minnesota at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections here.

But in fact, he told an oral abstract session, the increase is related to a patient's CD4 count.

]]> The finding comes from an analysis of data from the FIRST trial, a large randomized study of 1,397 patients -- who had never been treated for HIV -- that evaluated different treatment strategies, Dr. Baker said.

The study was used because it collected CD4 and HIV RNA levels at the start and every four months during 60 months of follow-up, as well as collecting data on both the traditional opportunistic infections and "non-opportunistic" illnesses, Dr. Baker said.

The non-opportunistic diseases included:

Liver -- cirrhosis, grade 4 elevations in liver enzymes, and death from liver failure.
Cardiovascular -- myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary intervention, death from chronic atherosclerotic disease.
Renal -- end-stage renal disease, insufficiency, or death.
Cancer -- and malignancy other than Kaposi's sarcoma or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Across all the treatment groups, therapy was effective, Dr. Baker said, in that the median CD4 count rose from 163 cells per microliter of serum to 399.

Over the course of the study, Dr. Baker said, there were 226 opportunistic infections and 86 deaths, compared with 166 non-opportunistic events and 25 deaths.

A multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that every increase of 100 CD4 cells reduced the risk of an opportunistic infection by 53%, which was significant at P<0.01.

At the same time, every 100-cell increase reduced the risk of a non-opportunistic event by 16%, he said, which was also significant at P<0.01.

In other words, he said, as the CD4 count rises, the rates of non-opportunistic diseases decline -- but not as quickly as the traditional opportunistic infections.

"The fact that it's associated with CD4 levels starts to build the case that it's not just that people aren't dying from other causes," Dr. Baker said.

"Traditionally, we've looked at the benefits of therapy in terms of AIDS-defining illnesses," he said, "and now we may have to include other outcomes" in treatment decisions.

The study didn't have enough power to reliably estimate the risk for individual non-opportunistic diseases, Dr. Baker said. Judith Currier, M.D., of the University of California at Los Angeles, commented that the study starts to "help define what's AIDS-related and what's not." Dr. Currier, who was not involved in the FIRST study, said a key message is that it's better to treat HIV patients than not.

source MedPage Today

Breastfeeding safer for some HIV-infected mothers

2007-02-27T14:27:15Z

Breast-feeding, which helps build a baby's immune system, may be the best option for HIV-infected mothers in developing countries, despite the risk of transmitting the virus that causes AIDS to their babies, according to new studies presented on Monday.

HIV-positive mothers generally are counseled to feed their babies formula to limit the risk of transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus, but that has caused problems in nations where clean water and other needs may not be met.

Dr. Hoosen Coovadia a pediatrician at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal, told the 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections that instructing HIV-infected mothers in developing nations to breast-feed would result in about 300,000 children becoming infected with HIV, but would save 1.5 million from dying of other diseases.

]]> "Breast milk is a cornucopia of immune factors," he said. "Breast-feeding should still be promoted, protected and preserved despite the risk of HIV."

Coovadia suggested that HIV-positive women in countries with an infant mortality rate of 25 percent or higher be urged to breast-feed.

Women with HIV infection are at risk of passing the virus to their infants during pregnancy, birth or breast-feeding. Without intervention, 20 to 45 percent of babies would contract the virus that causes AIDS from their mother, according to the World Health Organization.

"It is a dilemma for HIV-positive women," said Peggy Henderson, a scientist at the World Health Organization's department of child and adolescent health, citing studies showing a six-fold relative risk of death from infectious diseases in babies fed formula compared to those exclusively breast-fed.

BREAST MILK PROTECTS BABIES

In industrialized countries, including the United States, that rate has been cut to less than 2 percent by drug treatment, birth by Caesarean section and other methods.

Coovadia's 4-year study out of Durban, South Africa, found that 4 percent of babies who were exclusively breast-fed contracted HIV.

"By all means, if you have the resources to prepare hygienic milk -- clean water, access to electricity and so on -- that's for formula. If you don't have that, then the need is for exclusive breast-feeding," Coovadia said.

A study out of Botswana, which Coovadia called "the most stable, democratic country in Africa," found that most of the more than 500 children who died during a 2006 flood-related outbreak of diarrhea were being fed formula.

The "very surprising" findings show that in some settings the risk of dying from other infectious disease offsets the risk from HIV, said co-author Dr. Grace Aldrovandi, an associate professor at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

A trial of 958 women in Zambia found that babies who become infected with AIDS also did better and were less likely to die when they continued to breast-feed.

The WHO recommended in October that HIV-infected mothers exclusively breast-feed for the first six months unless substitute milk is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe for them and their infants.

UN rep expelled after comment on Gambian president's AIDS cure

2007-02-27T14:24:13Z

The government of The Gambia gave the most senior United Nations official in the country 48 hours to leave the country starting Friday, following remarks she made criticising Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s widely-publicised cure for HIV/AIDS.

Dadzai Gwardzimba, UN Resident Coordinator in the capital Banjul, is due to travel to New York, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

President Jammeh announced he had a cure for AIDS in January. It is reportedly made from herbs and bananas. He said he can eliminate the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from people living with the virus and heal people with AIDS in a matter of days. Footage of the president applying his treatment has been widely broadcast on state-run television.

]]> Doctors and journalists in The Gambia told IRIN they fear the consequences of openly criticising the president’s claim, which has not been independently verified. But Gwardzimba spoke out last week telling IRIN, “To date, no cure for AIDS has been announced internationally.” She also said, “Once a person has been infected with HIV, he or she remains infected for life”.

“As far as WHO is concerned there is no cure for HIV/AIDS,” said Nestor Shivute, the WHO representative in The Gambia.

The president’s claim has been roundly denounced by AIDS activists around the world who are concerned that it could influence people with HIV to stop taking anti retroviral medicines. This would increase their resistance to the drugs if they start taking them again later, thus raising the prospect of many people dying.

source SpiritIndia

Russia: $2.9Bln to Go Toward Combating Disease

2007-02-26T16:26:09Z

The Cabinet has tentatively approved a $2.9 billion program aimed at raising the country's life expectancy by tackling AIDS, diabetes, tuberculosis and other diseases.

Health and Social Development Minister Mikhail Zurabov trumpeted the HIV portion of the program as "an essential step forward."

Under the program, the state would provide medical treatment for 30,000 people living with HIV. "A couple years ago, only 700 people with HIV or AIDS could get treatment," Zurabov told the Cabinet while presenting the five-year program Thursday.

]]> Now, 18,000 of the 58,000 people who need treatment are receiving it, according to the Federal AIDS Center. The official number of HIV cases in Russia is 380,000.

The draft program would put Russia on par with the United States in treatment, said Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the Federal AIDS Center. "We plan to supply the drugs to half of those who need them, which is roughly how they do it in the United States," Pokrovsky said by telephone.

The count of 380,000 HIV-positive people, however, reflects only those who have registered with the health system. The actual number of infected people was believed to be 940,000 in late 2005, said Yelena Tomazova, a spokeswoman for UNAIDS. Nearly 13,500 new cases were registered in the first six months of 2006.

The state also needs to educate the public about prevention and treatment services, some of which are hard to reach in remote areas, said Mikhail Rukavishikov, head of the Society of People Living With HIV, a nongovernmental organization.

"Many people who need treatment just do not know about it," he said. At the same time, the treatment itself is complicated, Rukavishikov said. "It is impossible to do it by yourself," he said.

This may be one reason why people discontinue treatment -- an interruption that can be dangerous as it leads the body to build resistance to the drugs.

About 1,000 people gave up treatment last year, the country's chief epidemiologist, Gennady Onishchenko, said at a news conference Feb. 12.

The treatment of about 60 people was interrupted in the Leningrad region alone last summer due to a drug procurement problem, said Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Front AIDS, a nongovernmental organization in St. Petersburg.

"Expanding access to antiretroviral therapy is good as such, but people still will suffer and die because of HIV-related illnesses," he added.

About 32,000 people are infected in St. Petersburg, and about 80 percent of them are ill with hepatitis. But "the city has only 350 sets for hepatitis treatment available," Rumyantsev said.

Ensuring regular treatment will be a challenge for the federal program, said Corinna Reinicke, coordinator of the World Health Organization's HIV-AIDS program in Russia.

Also at the Cabinet meeting, Zurabov said one in 10 migrant workers suffers from infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis or hepatitis. "We were shocked with the numbers," he said, citing a recent investigation.

He said his ministry was checking ordinary Russians, migrants and prisoners to establish the nature of the problem and find ways to deal with it.

source The Moscow Times

Herpes treatment may help HIV patients: study

2007-02-22T22:31:52Z

Treating genital herpes may slow the progression of the AIDS virus in those infected with both viruses, researchers reported on Wednesday.

The test involving 140 women in the West African country of Burkina Faso found that when herpes was being treated with 500 milligrams of the drug valacyclovir twice daily for three months, the women were less likely to shed, or spread, the AIDS virus.

In addition, the treatment reduced the levels of AIDS virus in the blood, the research group led by Dr. Nicolas Nagot of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found.

]]> The drug's effect increased steadily over time, so "a longer duration of treatment might have led to an even greater reduction" in the amount of HIV detected, the researchers conclude in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Valacyclovir, made and sold by GlaxoSmithKline under the brand name Valtrex, is one of several drugs that can treat herpes.

Among people already infected with HIV, up to 70 percent in Europe and 90 percent in Africa also carry the virus for genital herpes, HSV-2.

Until now, doctors have placed less emphasis on genital herpes because it is not as dangerous as HIV.

The new study may change that, said Dr. Philip Keiser, who runs the AIDS clinic at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was not connected with the research.

With existing HIV treatments, "the best we can do right now is to get 70 to 80 percent of patients to the point where we totally suppress the virus. That means that 20 to 30 percent, right off the bat, will not do well," he said in a telephone interview.

He said he would change the way he treats patients who have both HIV and herpes.

"I'll be more aggressive in treating their herpes and keep them on the valacyclovir for a long time," Keiser said. "This may be one of those small refinements that add something to that (success rate) and help our patients do better over the long haul."

Researchers already knew that treating sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis could help make people less likely to become infected with HIV, which is passed most commonly through sex.

3 given organs from HIV-positive donor

2007-02-21T15:49:37Z

Three patients at hospitals in Tuscany were mistakenly given organs from an HIV-positive donor, raising serious concerns about transplant procedures in Italy.

A 41-year-old woman's kidneys and liver were taken after she died of a brain hemorrhage at Florence's Careggi hospital and were implanted due "to a tragic human error," the hospital said in a statement Monday. The director of the regional transplants agency said the patients' chances of infection are high.

The HIV test on the organs had come back positive, but "unfortunately the expert who did the report wrote down 'negative' for all the tests, including this one," said Careggi director Mauro Marabini.

]]> The three patients have been told of the mistake and will undergo tests to determine if they have been infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The three were receiving anti-retroviral drugs.

"They asked immediately if the transplanted organ was working, and it was working perfectly," Marabini said. "They reacted quite calmly."

Franco Filipponi, director of the regional transplant agency, told the news agency ANSA that the likelihood of infection is high. "Even if the implanted organs do not carry blood the virus can still be present in some cells and can therefore be transmitted," he said.

Prosecutors in Florence opened an investigation, ANSA reported.

Health Minister Livia Turco pledged to improve safety measures once the inquiry was completed, but stressed that the transplant system has saved many lives. "I cannot hide my preoccupation for an excessive alarm that could reduce trust in this system and slow the growth of donations, leading to further damage for other patients," Turco said.

Italy's public health system is not new to scandal. Last month, authorities ordered nationwide inspections after a magazine report on Rome's largest hospital showed images of corridors soiled with dog feces and garbage, unguarded radioactive material, abandoned medical records and workers smoking next to patients.

Police found that about 17 percent of hospitals, mostly in southern and central Italy, had problems serious enough to recommend possible judicial investigations against 111 people.

Gambia's leader claims prayer, green paste can cure AIDS

2007-02-21T15:45:36Z

BANJUL, Gambia -- From the pockets of his billowing white robe, Gambia's president pulls out a plastic container, closes his eyes in prayer and rubs a green herbal paste onto the ribcage of the patient -- a concoction he claims is a cure for AIDS.

He then orders the thin man to swallow a bitter yellow drink, followed by two bananas.

''Whatever you do, there are bound to be skeptics, but I can tell you my method is foolproof,'' President Yahya Jammeh told a reporter. ''Mine is not an argument, mine is a proof. It's a declaration. I can cure AIDS and I will.''

]]> No cures, says U.N. expert

In a continent suffering from the AIDS epidemic, Jammeh's claims of a cure are alarming public health workers already struggling against faith-healers dispensing herbal remedies. The biggest concern is that he requires patients to cease anti-retroviral drugs.

Since January, when he announced his cure, Jammeh has thrown his government behind the claim. Radio and TV addresses publicize the treatment and the Health Ministry has declared its support.

Although Gambia's HIV rate is relatively low compared to other African nations -- 1.3 percent of the country's 1.6 million people are infected -- Jammeh's claim puts international health groups in a bind.

Dr. Antonio Filipe Jr., head of the World Health Organization in neighboring Senegal tried to be diplomatic, but added: ''As the World Health Organization, we would like to state quite clearly the following -- No. 1: so far there is no cure for AIDS.''

source AP

South Africa: Aids spending to top R5bn

2007-02-21T15:40:28Z

SPENDING on dedicated HIV and Aids programmes by national and provincial government departments will exceed R5bn within the next two years, according to today’s budget.

The Treasury says in its budget review that an additional R1,65bn has been committed to provinces over the next three years for their Aids treatment programmes.

The programmes are currently being run at 272 sites, and the health department says over 210,000 patients there are on antiretorviral (ARV) treatment.

]]> "Additional funding should allow treatment numbers to double over the next three years," the Review says.

"Spending on dedicated HIV/Aids programmes by health, education and social development departments will exceed R5bn annually by 2009/10."

Funding to the Medical Research Council for HIV/Aids research and vaccine development, which peaked this year at R121m, drops to an average of R109m over the next three years.

SA is second to India as the country with the highes number of HIV-positive people in the world.

About 5,5 million people in a population of 47 million are living with HIV or Aids.

Researchers say in addition to those already on treatment, another 540,000 are sick with Aids but are not getting the ARVs they need.

source - Business Day

Mobile phones: the new tool to combat AIDS in Africa

2007-02-20T15:18:17Z

Mobile phones will be used to help fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, it was announced at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

A public-private partnership between five member groups of the mobile phone industry and the US government has formed the Phones for Health initiative.

Phones for Health is a $10m scheme aimed at using mobile phone coverage to strengthen health systems in 10 African countries.

Firms working on the project include the GSM Association, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Accenture, Motorola, MTN and Voxiva.

]]> GSM Association’s chief executive, Rob Conway, said: “Rapid and accurate communications channels are crucial to tackling the many health problems faced by African countries and other parts of the developing world.

“The roll out of this health management software in Africa will clearly demonstrate how governments can exploit the expanding mobile infrastructure to enhance the well-being of their citizens.”

Phones for Health will allow health workers in Africa to use a standard Motorola phone equipped with a downloadable application to enter health data. The data will then be sent to a database using GPRS technology.

If GPRS is not available, then the software will use SMS technology instead to transmit the information. Once received, the data is then mapped and analysed by the system, and is immediately available to health authorities at multiple levels via the web.

Voxiva, mobile healthcare specialists, developed HealthNet, an information management solution that allows organisations to strengthen their capacity to manage major health programmes such as those combatting HIV/AIDS.

The system facilitates real time data collection from field workers and health care staff and supports structured two-way communication to facilitate feedback and supervision.

Voxiva’s chairman, Paul Meyer, said: “Health workers will also be able to use the system to order medicine, send alerts, download treatment guidelines, training materials and access other appropriate information.”

The initial deployment of Voxiva HealthNet, known locally as TRACnet, was implemented to support the Rwandan Government's rapid scale up of its anti retroviral treatment program. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, the Treatment Research and AIDS Centre (TRAC), and the Centers for Disease Control, TRACnet is increasing the efficiency of Rwanda's HIV/AIDS program management and enhancing the quality of patient care.

Rwanda’s National AIDS Control Commission’s executive secretary, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, said: “With TRACnet, we have a powerful tool to manage the HIV and AIDS programme and deliver care to Rwanda’s patients affected by HIV and AIDS. Health care workers use something as simple as a cellphone – even when there is no electricity – to report on the number of patients on treatment, drug stock levels and the other key data we need.”

Phones for Health hopes to build on this success at Rwanda and believes it is a useful solution to the HIV crisis where fixed-line internet connections are rare and paper-based records are mainly used.

However, more than 60% of the population in Africa now lives in areas with mobile phone coverage and this is predicted to rise to 85% by 2010 making it feasible for Phones for Health to use mobiles to send information directly into health authorities’ computer systems, allowing rapid interventions for those at risk, when necessary.

Ambassador Mark Dybul, the US global AIDS coordinator, said: “People living with HIV in the developing world deserve high-quality treatment and care, and this innovative partnership will ensure that health workers and program managers get the timely, relevant information they need – even when they serve patients in the most remote areas.”

MTN, the African mobile operator, will be supporting the roll out of handsets and the underlying data service. Group president and CEO, Phuthuma Nhelko, said: “The Phones for Health Partnership is at once an acknowledgement of the strength and depth of mobile communications in emerging markets, as well as the push to use technology to help solve the serious health problems across the globe.”

The partnership is also likely to be extended further in Africa and Asia to address tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases.

Links

GSM Association

MTN

Voxiva

US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief