Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

What are the symptoms of HIV? In the period immediately after infection has taken place there aren't any specific symptoms. Within two to four weeks after exposure to HIV, a person might have flu-like symptoms such as fever, swollen glands, muscle aches, diarrhea, fatigue or ... Full story

First the basics: what is AIDS? AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is a condition caused by a virus called HIV. This virus attacks the immune system, the body's "security force" that fights off infections. When the immune system breaks down, you lose this protection and can develop many serious, often deadly infections and ... Full story

Hong Kong in 2008 recorded 435 new HIV cases, the highest number of annual new cases since record-keeping began in 1984 and a 5% increase from the 414 cases reported in 2007, Hong Kong's The Standard reports. Wong Ka-hing, a consultant for the Center for Health Protection, said ... Full story

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand plan to meet with officials to urge the government not to restrict its compulsory license program, which allows people in the country to access low-cost, generic versions of drugs such as antiretroviral medications, AFP/Google.com reports. The program suspends patent protections for brand-name drugs to ... Full story

Mar 02, 2009 Although the response to HIV/AIDS in China has evolved from "denial and inertia to pragmatic prevention and treatment programs," there still are "massive challenges" to addressing the disease in the country, a Lancet editorial says. Chinese health officials recently reported that in 2008, HIV/AIDS was the country's "leading killer among infectious diseases for the ... Full story

The Washington Post on Monday examined a project in India in which health workers "re-spin" safer-sex messages to emphasize the pleasure-related benefits of such practices. The initiative was launched by Anne Philpott, founder of the Pleasure Project. According to the Post, Philpott began the program after promoting female condoms in India, Sri Lanka, Senegal and Zimbabwe as an ... Full story

A majority of HIV-positive prison inmates in Texas do not fill their prescriptions in an appropriate amount of time after release, creating a threat to public health, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Houston Chronicle reports. According to researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston, Baylor ... Full story

"A combination of two antiobiotics already in use to treat other bacterial infections could potentially treat extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB), scientists from New York’s Yeshiva University report today in the February 27 edition of Science. "If the results are replicated in human studies due to begin later this year in South Africa and South Korea, “this discovery could be one of the most promising developments ... Full story

Young people in Costa Rica's coastal cities of Limon and Puntarenas have limited knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention methods, and many practice unsafe sexual behaviors, according to a report released Tuesday, Xinhua News Agency reports. Costa Rica released the report during an event launching an agreement between the government and UNICEF to implement a joint ... Full story

Providing a synthetic form of the immune system protein interleukin-2 (IL-2) to HIV-infected individuals already taking combination antiretroviral therapy boosts their numbers of CD4+ T cells, the key white blood cells destroyed by HIV, but fails to reduce their risk of HIV-associated opportunistic diseases or death compared with combination antiretroviral therapy alone. "These are the findings of ... Full story