Starting antiretroviral therapy early not only prevents serious AIDS-related diseases, but also prevents the onset of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other non-AIDS-related diseases in HIV-infected
Low cholesterol in immune cells slows HIV progression – Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have identified why some HIV-infected people experience much slower disease progression, even without medication, and it has to do with cholesterol levels in specific immune cells.
UNAIDS reports a 52% reduction in new HIV infections among children and a combined 33% reduction among adults and children since 2001 – UNAIDS shows dramatic acceleration towards reaching 2015 global targets on HIV. New HIV infections among adults and children were estimated at 2.3 million in 2012, a 33% reduction since 2001. New HIV infections among children have been reduced to 260 000 in 2012, a reduction of 52% since 2001.
Toddler ‘functionally cured’ of HIV infection, NIH-supported investigators report — Discovery provides clues for potentially eliminating HIV infection in other children – This is the first well-documented case of an HIV-infected child who appears to have been functionally cured of HIV infection. A two-year-old child born with HIV infection and treated with antiretroviral drugs beginning in the first days of life no longer has detectable levels of virus using conventional testing despite not taking HIV medication for 10 months.
FDA approves first anti-diarrheal drug for HIV/AIDS patients — Fulyzaq is the second botanical drug approved by the agency – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Fulyzaq (crofelemer) to relieve symptoms of diarrhea in HIV/AIDS patients taking antiretroviral therapy, a combination of medicines used to treat HIV infection.
Design help for drug cocktails – Harvard researchers create a mathematical model that helps to design efficient multi-drug therapies – Pooling data from thousands of tests of the antiviral activity of more than 20 commonly used anti-HIV drugs, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities have developed what they say is the first accurate computer simulation to explain drug effects.
PEPFAR HIV/AIDS programs linked to uptick in babies born at health facilities in sub-saharan Africa – While HIV programs provide lifesaving care and treatment to millions of people in lower-income countries, there have been concerns that as these programs expand, they divert investments from other health priorities such as maternal health. Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health assessed the effect of HIV programs supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on access to maternal health care in sub-Saharan Africa for women who are not infected with HIV.
Investments for children must be at top of African HIV and AIDS agenda – All children, particularly the poorest and most marginalized, should have access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. Against the background of reduced funding for HIV/AIDS activities, partners and decision makers must sustain their contributions to make this world HIV free.
Too many Americans don’t know they have HIV. – An estimated 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States. Of those, as many as 1 in 5 people (about 240,000) don’t know they have HIV.
Nearly 50% of people who are eligible for antiretroviral therapy now have access to lifesaving treatment – New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have fallen to the lowest levels since the peak of the epidemic. New HIV infections were reduced by 21% since 1997, and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses decreased by 21% since 2005.
