The AIDS Beacon™

A study published this month in the journal PLoS One shows that how quickly an HIV infection turns into AIDS is linked to a specific set of human genes as well as certain genes of the virus. The research confirms earlier studies that showed human genetics can be important for disease progression. The new research also shows more clearly how genes of the virus influence HIV infection.

HIV infections can vary widely in the amount of time they take to…

Clinical trials for several types of therapeutic HIV vaccines are currently ongoing or recruiting participants.

Therapeutic HIV vaccines work by enhancing the body’s natural immune response, helping to control HIV in people already infected with the virus.

This is in contrast to preventative vaccines, which are used in HIV-negative individuals to prevent infection.

Researchers hope therapeutic vaccines will decrease dependence on antiretroviral drugs, which must be taken for life and often have serious side effects.

“A vaccine that enhanced the…

A study published this week in Science Translational Medicine showed that genetically modified blood stem cells transplanted into HIV patients successfully produced antiviral material, which could theoretically suppress the virus long-term without antiretroviral drugs.

However, the amounts were too low to actually show anti-HIV activity.

Scientists believe that stem cell-based gene therapy is a promising prospect to eventually replace highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) (see related AIDS Beacon news).

“We hope to provide patients with long term protection from…

Dab Garner has come a long way since first learning of his HIV status. Sometimes, his journey still seems a bit unreal.

“I never dreamed I would be on the cover of magazines, interviewed on radio and television programs, testify to Congress, meet with elected officials, and speak to huge groups of people,” marveled Garner in an interview with The AIDS Beacon.

He probably never imagined his name would become such a symbol of hope, either. As a leading HIV…

Long touted as a potentially powerful weapon against HIV, stem cell therapy may be moving one step closer to reality. Researchers may soon begin using stem cell therapy in clinical trials for patients not responding to antiretroviral drugs (see related AIDS Beacon news).

At the Society for General Microbiology’s spring meeting in Edinburgh, University of Amsterdam Professor Ben Berkhout spoke of his investigations into the novel therapy.

Meant for individuals no longer responding to the traditional regimen of antivirals,…

Despite being homeless and having battled kidney cancer and sickle cell anemia, Kengi Carr, now 41, got the kind of reassurance one could scarcely expect when he was diagnosed with HIV in 2008.

“HIV would be a blessing,” Carr recalls being told at the clinic where he had been tested. Testing positive, they told him, meant eligibility for a whole range of social services. Finally, he was told, “My homelessness would be over. I would have access to medical care,…

Kenn Chaplin is a 50 year old Toronto blogger and former radio news reporter who has lived with HIV for over 20 years. He was first diagnosed as HIV-positive in May 1989.

“I think I was kind of numb at first – suspicious that I might be positive, but hardly prepared to be given the news,” he said of his initial diagnosis.

Unfortunately, it was not his family’s first experience with HIV. Chaplin’s brother Craig was also diagnosed as HIV-positive…

Scientists and researchers from around the globe met last week for the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), a four-day conference presenting the latest research about prevention, treatment, and insight into HIV/AIDS and its complications.

Topics ran the gamut from novel therapies to public health strategies aimed at the global pandemic.

What follows are a few of the developments from the conference.

The View From NIAID

On the first day of the conference, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of…

Two articles published by American researchers in the January issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) showed that HIV-infected adults and children are living longer than they did in the mid-1990s.

One study monitored mortality rates and causes of death in HIV-infected children from 1993 to 2006, a period of time when highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) was introduced.

The other study estimated life expectancy and average years of life lost in adults following HIV diagnosis.

Researchers…

Dating While HIV-Positive: Should I Date Only Others With HIV?

HIV-positive individuals face two options regarding dating: date another individual who is infected with the virus, or date an individual who is HIV-negative.

A greater understanding of the infection, and the use of condoms, has reduced the likelihood of an HIV-negative individual acquiring the virus, if they are in a romantic relationship with someone who is HIV-positive.

These couples are known as serodiscordant partners.

However, dating while infected with the…