Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 53 038 312 at 8pm on Wednesday July 23
Drug-resistant: An international collaboration to monitor the transmission of drug-resistant HIV has found that a significant number of HIV-positive Europeans carry a drug-resistant strain of the virus even before they have taken HIV treatment.
The prevalence of resistance mutations in people infected for less than one year was not significantly different to that observed in people infected for longer, suggesting transmitted resistance persists.
Resistance mutations were more common in people infected with HIV subtype B, the strain found most often in Europe, than with a non-B subtypes (11,3% versus 3,3%). This is to be expected given the longer history of exposure to HIV treatments in the industrialised West than in those regions where non-B subtypes are predominant.
Resistance was detected in 157 patients. About 17% were resistant to 3TC and close to 40% showed resistance to AZT and d4T.
The data support those who propose a role for resistance testing before selecting HIV therapy.
Source: Aidsmap.com
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 52 932 020 at 11am
on Wednesday July 16
Pill ills: Hormonal contraceptives increase the risks of women being infected with the HI virus, according to research conducted among prostitutes that was presented to the Second International Aids Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Paris on July 14.
Investigators presented the results of a 10-year study on a group of prostitutes in Mombasa, Kenya.
Hormonal contraceptives have been shown to cause systematic changes in the genital tract that have the potential to interact with HIV and increase the chance of
infection.
The study involved 1 272 HIV-negative prostitutes who attended a clinic every month for screenings and HIV tests. A total of 248 women were infected by HIV during the study. Unprotected vaginal sex was the only HIV risk factor reported by almost all the women. Other factors included sexual behaviour, condom use and sexually transmitted infections.
The researchers found the risk to be as great whether the women received birth control pills or injections.
Source: Aids Map
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 52 833 209 at 2.11pm on Wednesday July 9
Tonsils out: The oropharynx, the middle part of the throat that includes the soft palate, the base of the tongue and the tonsils, could be a source of infectious HIV in individuals with a high viral load and intact tonsils, according to a study published in the latest edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Infectious HIV is rarely detected in saliva, but the investigators wished to establish the frequency and quantity of HIV shedding in the middle part of the throat.
Between 1999 and 2001, 64 HIV-positive gay men were recruited in Seattle, United States, and in Lima, Peru. Only use of anti-HIV therapy, CD4 cell count and removal of the tonsils were found to be significantly associated with a lower pharyngeal viral load. A man who had had his tonsils removed would have a lower viral load than a man with a similar CD4 cell count even if he was also taking anti-HIV drugs.
The investigators note that use of anti-HIV therapy and the absence of tonsils were the strongest predictors of lower pharyngeal HIV viral load.
Source: www.aidsmap.com
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 52 733 140 at 3.26pm on Wednesday July 2
Brittle bones: HIV-positive patients have lower levels of a protein associated with bone density, according to a small Brazilian study published in the July 4 edition of AIDS.
Decreased bone density in HIV-positive individuals is thought to be caused by the HIV infection and treatment with protease inhibitors may reduce bone mineral density.
The Brazilian investigators wished to establish the effects of HIV infection on the levels of osteocalcin, a protein associated with bone formation.
Reduced osteocalcin levels were found in 43,5% of the HIV-positive patients and 16% of the uninfected controls. Though the three groups of HIV-positive patients had significantly different CD4 cell counts and HIV viral loads, osteocalcin levels were not significantly different.
The investigators suggest that these osteocalcin abnormalities may well lead in time to clinically significant bone loss and have called for further studies to assess the magnitude of bone and mineral alterations in HIV-infected patients.
Source: www.aidsmap.com