A unified behavioral, biomedical and structural approach is needed to check the spread of the HIV epidemic, according to researchers speaking at the Lancet special symposium on HIV prevention, held during the International AIDS Conference here. Reuters Health Information
Treating all HIV-positive individuals with HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) could result in a nearly two-thirds reduction in annual incidence of new HIV infections and help curb the AIDS epidemic, researchers from Canada report. Reuters Health Information
Results of the CASTLE study, a comparison of the HIV protease inhibitors atazanavir and ritonavir or lopinavir and ritonavir, "clearly favor" atazanavir, principal investigator Dr. Donnie McGrath announced at the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008) in Mexico City this week. Reuters Health Information
Certain dermatologic conditions indicate CD4+ cell counts of less than 200/microliter among patients with HIV, researchers from Peru reported at the International AIDS Conference underway here. Reuters Health Information
Rates of tuberculosis testing among patients living with HIV are "unacceptable," researchers from the ACTION (Advocacy to Control Tuberculosis Internationally) coalition said during a press conference at the International AIDS Conference underway here. Reuters Health Information
Long-term treatment of HSV-2 infection with acyclovir does not reduce the rate of new HIV infections, researchers reported at the International AIDS Conference here last week. They said the findings are surprising, because prior HSV-2 infection has been reported to increase the risk of HIV many fold. Reuters Health Information
In chronic untreated HIV infection, the total number of HLA-associated polymorphisms in the viral gene encoding the Gag protein is inversely associated with plasma viral load, according to a report in the July 11th issue of AIDS. Reuters Health Information
In treatment-naive HIV-infected patients, a small percentage of viruses may harbor resistance mutations that are undetected by conventional genotyping. However, these minority HIV resistance mutations are associated with reduced treatment efficacy, according to a report in the July issue of PLoS Medicine. Reuters Health Information
Infants with perinatal HIV infection despite single-dose nevirapine therapy respond well to a four-drug/three-class antiretroviral treatment regimen, according to a feasibility study conducted in South Africa. Reuters Health Information
Limb fat loss is less frequent in patients with HIV who receive lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) therapy compared to efavirenz plus zidovudine/lamivudine, according to North American and Spanish researchers. Reuters Health Information
