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Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News Archive - August 2023
SIGN Positive Impact hosts barbecue for National HIV Testing Day
August 31, 2023 - By Josh Bugera - SIGN (Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours) Positive Impact held a series of engaging and educational barbecue events about National HIV Testing Day.
SIGN (Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours) Positive Impact held a series of engaging and educational barbecue events across three locations. The gatherings took place at the Yorkton Public Library on the 27th of June, in Kamsack on 28th, and at the Melville food bank on the 29th. The events were organized in collaboration with the Turning Point Program by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), public health nurses from Kamsack, and the mobile community health nurses of Indigenous Services Canada.
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Dectin-1 stimulation promotes distinct inflammatory signature in HIV and aging
BUFFALO, NY- August 31, 2023 - IMPACT JOURNALS LLC - “To our knowledge, our study is the first to evaluate the specific function of Dectin-1 in the setting of aging and HIV-infection.”
A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 16, entitled, “Dectin-1 stimulation promotes a distinct inflammatory signature in the setting of HIV-infection and aging.”
Could a cancer drug hold the key to a HIV cure?
31 August 2023 - WEHI - An existing blood cancer drug has shown promise in killing ‘silent’ HIV cells and delaying reinfections – a significant pre-clinical discovery that could lead to a future cure for the disease.
Hidden HIV cells, known as latent infection, are responsible for the virus permanently remaining in the body and cannot be treated by current therapy options. These hibernating, infected cells are the reason why people living with HIV require life-long treatment to suppress the virus.
Heading to USCHA 2023? Here’s Inspiration for You.
Aug 30 2023 - By Mark S. King - You know what a fan I am of the annual United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA), produced by NMAC. I’ve been writing about it for years, and providing videos and photo essays for those of you who couldn’t make it or wanted to relive the highlights.
If you’re starting to pack for your trip to Washington DC for USCHA next week, here’s some inspiration to get you jazzed up for the experience ahead.
On National Grief Awareness Day, Remembering the AIDS Caregivers
AUGUST 30 2023 - By JOHN CASEY - Today is National Grief Awareness Day. To me, I think a day devoted to acknowledging grieving is more suitable for the gloomier days of fall or winter, rather than a sunny August day in summer; however, it only goes to show that grief is not bound by months or seasons. Grief can be fleeting. It can be consuming, everlasting, and debilitating.
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DAF Updates HIV prevention medication guidance
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) - Aug. 29, 2023 - Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs - The Department of the Air Force Medical Standards Working Group made updates to the official Air Force Aerospace Medicine Approved Medication Lists and the Medical Standards Directory, removing certain barriers for Airmen and Guardians taking HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).
HIV PrEP is a preventative medication used by HIV-negative individuals to reduce the risk of becoming infected. According to the CDC, HIV PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV when taken as prescribed and reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%.
Biostax Corp. Signs Collaboration Agreement with Immgenuity, Inc. to Pursue Remission in HIV
Orlando, FL, Aug. 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Immune Therapeutics, Inc. d/b/a Biostax Corp. (OTC Pink: IMUN) (“Biostax”), a hub-and-spoke biotech development engine, announces the signing of a research collaboration agreement with Immgenuity, Inc. The joint research will focus on using Immgenuity’s IMTV014 and Biostax’s Lodonal™ and JKB-122 both independently and together to determine if the immune modulatory effects of Biostax’s drug therapies combined with Immgenuity’s IMTV014 can achieve remission with HIV patients.
Condoms Go Bananas in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- August 29, 2023 – “Just Use It” campaign rejected everywhere but LA; “No Judgmental Bull” edited to run in 15 states
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) continues to promote condom use and free HIV testing with its latest outdoor advertising campaigns, but the billboards featuring a condom-covered banana with the “Just Use It” slogan and the “useacondom.com” URL only will appear in Los Angeles after several national out-of-home advertising companies refused the artwork.
AIDSVu Releases 2021 Data and Interactive Maps Visualizing HIV Data Across the U.S.
ATLANTA – AUGUST 29, 2023 - Also released: new local data indicators tracking homelessness/unstable housing and HIV-related stigma.
Today, AIDSVu released interactive maps and data that visualize the HIV epidemic at the state– and county– levels for 2021. In addition to state and county levels, these data can also be viewed across different demographic groups such as age, sex, and race/ethnicity as well as different social determinants of health including poverty, income inequality, and lack of health insurance.
This year, AIDSVu partnered with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Medical Monitoring Project (CDC MMP) to include new data on our local profiles for people experiencing homelessness/unstable housing and HIV-related stigma. These new data highlight the impact of HIV on individual quality of life and are key indicators in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States (NHAS), which aims to reduce both stigma and homelessness among people living with HIV by 50% by 2025.
Lenacapavir: Drug Offers New Hope for Multi-drug Resistant HIV
August 29, 2023 -Viviana Sofía Flores Rivera - The FDA approved the drug based on Yale research
Onyema Ogbuagu, MD, gets excited about finding new ways to treat HIV—and he is very enthusiastic about lenacapavir, an injection recently approved by the FDA for multi-drug resistant HIV for which he was the principal investigator. He is pleased that, throughout his career, he has seen HIV go from a “deadly disease” to a “very easy, manageable disease.”
New study uses technology to protect children from preventable infections
August 29, 2023 - Jan Ostermann, associate professor of health services policy and management, is leading a new project to increase vaccination uptake among children in rural and underserved areas. Collaborating with Lavanya Vasudevan (Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University), Nathan Thielman (Duke University), and Ester Ngadaya (National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania), Ostermann will use a $3 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to implement a community-based digital intervention in Tanzania that could be applied in settings around the world.
Ottawa issues travel warning for LGBTQ Canadians headed to the U.S.
Ottawa - August 29, 2023 - By Raisa Patel - A new statement from Global Affairs Canada is advising two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other Canadians to check unspecified U.S. state and local laws before they visit the country’s southern neighbour.
The federal government is warning sexual- and gender-diverse Canadians that they may be impacted by laws and policies targeting their communities if they travel to the United States.
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Calgary’s Tribe of Lambs is fundraising to help alleviate HIV epidemic for youth in India
August 28, 2023 - By Aryn Toombs - Thinking locally and acting globally to help alleviate the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS afflicting children in India, is Calgary based charity Tribe of Lambs.
The registered Canadian charity, co-founded by Bobbi Paidel, has worked for the past eight years to combat an epidemic of the disease that has disproportionately affected children and youth under 15 in that nation.
New journal Rapid Reviews\Infectious Diseases fights against health disinformation
August 28, 2023 - The editors of Rapid Reviews\COVID-19 will apply their successful preprint review model to new research on infectious diseases
The MIT Press and UC Berkeley School of Public Health proudly announce the launch of Rapid Reviews\Infectious Diseases (RR\ID). Building on the accomplishments of Rapid Reviews\COVID-19 (RR\C19), the Rapid Reviews editorial team is now setting their sights even higher.
“RR\C19 launched at a critical moment in global history and we are incredibly proud of the impact the journal has had so far,” said Stefano Bertozzi, editor-in-chief of RR\ID and professor of Health Policy and Management at Berkeley Public Health.
A trial is underway that could be ‘the last roll of the dice’ for an HIV vaccine this decade
August 27, 2023 - By Thomas Page, CNN - A novel trial that has been described as “the last roll of the dice” for a generation of HIV vaccines has entered its latter stages.
Called PrEPVacc, the trial is testing two vaccines alongside two forms of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to test vaccine efficacy while offering protection to prevent the spread of HIV.
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Showcasing Taiwan's Spirit of Personal Freedom and Equity, and Paying Homage to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, "Gen U: Self Portrait Action" Is to Be Exhibited in Canada
TAIPEI, Aug. 27, 2023 /CNW/ -- Voices of inclusion from Taiwan are being showcased across the Pacific in North America thanks to the "Gen U: Love the Voice" project, co-organized by the Taiwan AIDS Society and Taiwan AIDS Nurses Association. Featuring 19 self-portraits by amateur Taiwanese artists and a portrait of an elderly woman living with HIV by renowned artist Kristy Chu, the project is exhibited at TAIWANfest Toronto and will be exhibited in Vancouver. The exhibit brings Taiwan's dynamic and diverse culture to the world through sharing Taiwanese feelings and stories about equality.
The phrase "Gen U" is inspired by the concept of U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable), now scientifically proven and accepted worldwide. U=U means that people living with HIV can control their viral load with just one pill a day, so that the virus cannot be detected in their bodies and it is impossible for them to transmit the virus. These people will not develop AIDS and can live their lives just as they did before infection.
Nigerians with HIV are stigmatised: study shows support from family and friends is crucial to well-being
August 27, 2023 - Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions most affected by HIV. In Nigeria alone, an estimated 1.8 million people are living with the virus.
Antiretroviral therapy has made strong gains in reducing HIV-related deaths. But people living with HIV in resource-constrained settings, like Nigeria, still face psychological challenges and poor health outcomes that are attributed to HIV-related stigma.
National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2023
August 25, 2023 - By Trent Straube - This year’s theme is “Faith Fighting for Freedom and Fairness.” #FaithHIVDay is held the last Sunday of each August.
Sunday, August 27, marks National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NFHAAD) 2023. “NFHAAD is an opportunity to rally all U.S. communities representative of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Baha’i and Indigenous faiths to take a stand against stigma and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS,” the organizers explain in a recent Facebook post.
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Top 5 stories on co-infections and co-morbidities in people with HIV from IAS 2023
24 August 2023 - Abbey Stanford - Cardiovascular and metabolic health was a major theme at the 12th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2023) which took place in Brisbane in July. This round-up from the conference also includes key studies on mpox and COVID.
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Top 5 HIV treatment stories from IAS 2023
24 August 2023 - Abbey Stanford - At the recent 12th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2023) in Brisbane, researchers presented the latest data on antiretrovirals, their side effects and how to best use them in medical care. Here are five highlights from this year’s conference.
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Gut microbiome can increase acquisition and disease risk for HIV and Epstein-Barr virus
August 25, 2023 - by Jeff Hansen - The gut microbiome, the mix of microbes in the gut, can increase the risk of infection by HIV and Epstein-Barr virus, researchers Angela Wahl, Ph.D., and J. Victor Garcia, Ph.D., and their University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine colleagues report in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Wahl is now an associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Microbiology, and Garcia is the incoming chair of the UAB Department of Microbiology.
Diaries from the 2023 IAS Conference
24 August 2023 - The 2023 International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference for HIV Science held in Brisbane in July, attracted over 5,000 participants from all over the world. Doherty Institute researchers who were part of this important gathering share a personal account of their experience.
University of Melbourne Rory Shepherd, Postgraduate researcher in the Lewin Lab at the Doherty Institute, writes:
Compared to the dreary winter days of Melbourne, the balmy 22-degree sunny days of Brisbane made an absolute treat for my first attendance at the IAS conference. The 12th biennial HIV science-focused meeting was chaired by Professor Charles Gilks, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland, and Professor Sharon Lewin, President of the IAS and Director of the Doherty Institute.
WORLD AIDS DAY – 1 DECEMBER 2023 — A PREVIEW
August 23, 2023 - Let Communities Lead
The world can end AIDS, with communities leading the way. Organisations of communities living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV are the frontline of progress in the HIV response. Communities connect people with person-centred public health services, build trust, innovate, monitor implementation of policies and services, and hold providers accountable.
U of M research team successfully tests new antifungal therapy for fungal meningitis
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (08/22/2023) - This study aims to understand the relationships between public health practioners and people living with HIV. Out of this project, we hope to provide an opportunity for people living with HIV to share their experiences and develop best practice guidance to help support the work of public health practioners.
The research team tested a new oral formulation of the antifungal medication amphotericin among people who had HIV and cryptococcal meningitis—a common fungal infection around the brain. Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common cause of central nervous system infection in people living with HIV worldwide.
Study: Public Health, Risk and HIV
HAVE YOU HAD INTERATIONS WITH PUBLIC HEALTH RELATED TO YOUR HIV+ STATUS?
Do you live in Ontario of British Columbia?
Are You HIV+?
This study aims to understand the relationships between public health practioners and people living with HIV. Out of this project, we hope to provide an opportunity for people living with HIV to share their experiences and develop best practice guidance to help support the work of public health practioners.
Gilead Sciences and Meharry Medical College Highlight Five-Year Impact of Gilead COMPASS Initiative® on HIV in the Southern United States
August 18, 2023 - FOSTER CITY, Calif. & NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE) -- - Journal Of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved Supplement Details COMPASS Progress at the Halfway Mark of the Ten-Year Initiative -
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) and Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s oldest and largest historically Black academic health science centers, today announced the publication of a new supplemental issue of Meharry Medical College’s Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. It details the impact of the Gilead COMPASS Initiative® – the company’s 10-year, more than $100 million collaborative initiative that seeks to eradicate underlying serious and systemic challenges that contribute to the HIV epidemic in the Southern United States.
Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2023
August 18, 2023 - By Trent Straube - #SHAAD is Sunday, August 20. In 2021, the South comprised 38% of the U.S. population but 52% of new HIV diagnoses. Here’s why.
Sunday, August 20, marks Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (#SHAAD) 2023. Founded by the Southern AIDS Coalition in 2019, SHAAD “is a powerful reminder of the need for an unwavering commitment to southern communities,” write the organizers on SouthernSolution.org, urging everyone to raise awareness and advocate for “new and necessary resources and solutions to turn the tide of HIV/AIDS in the South.”
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Ottawa Public Health confirms two new cases of mpox in the capital
Aug. 18, 2023 - By CityNews - Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is advising eligible residents at risk of contracting mpox to complete a two-dose vaccination series of Imvamune as soon as possible.
The health unit confirmed on Thursday, Aug. 17 that it is investigating two new cases of mpox in Ottawa.
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How Does the HIV Reservoir Avoid Destruction?
August 17, 2023 - By Jeffrey Laurence, M.D. - Researchers define new ways HIV-infected cells evade targeted attacks
Research question
Cooperation between antibodies and immune cells leads to a potent defense against infection known as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, or ADCC. ADCC appears to be an important component of the immune system’s attempts to suppress HIV reservoirs, whose persistence despite antiretroviral therapy is the main barrier to a cure.
Exploring how uncertainty motivates actions in epidemics
Aug 17, 2023 - Sociology professor’s new book based on HIV research in Malawi
In an epidemic, we often focus on three staple metrics: Who does or doesn’t have the disease, the rate at which people are contracting the disease, and the mortality rates. What’s often left out, as explored in a new book by Jenny Trinitapoli, a professor in the Department of Sociology, is the role of uncertainty in the way individuals make decisions. The book, "An Epidemic of Uncertainty: Navigating HIV and Young Adulthood in Malawi," recently was published.
MSF refuses to sign ViiV’s last-minute NDA for access to most-effective HIV prevention drug CAB-LA
Aug 17 2023 - Signing confidentiality clauses on supply & pricing blocks transparency and accountability
Today, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières(MSF) asked ViiV Healthcare to withdraw conditions in negotiations for a purchase agreement that are holding up procurement of the preventative HIV drug cabotegravir long-acting (CAB-LA) for key and vulnerable populations*, due to the pharmaceutical corporation’s last-minute insertion of terms that are not acceptable in MSF purchase agreements. This includes conditions that undermine supply security for patients because ViiV retains the power to terminate the contract or refuse the purchase order without just reasons, and a confidentiality clause, akin to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), on the drug’s price and supply terms.
Study Uncovers Relationship between HIV-1 Infection and Neurodegeneration
Aug 17, 2023 - By Olivia Dimmer - Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered how HIV hijacks intracellular processes to proliferate and contribute to neurodegeneration, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.
More than 39 million people globally were living with HIV at the end of 2022, according to data from the World Health Organization. Treatment for people living with HIV currently consists of anti-retroviral medications which reduce the amount of the virus in the body, but do not necessarily prevent the spread of or cure the infection.
Novel Treatment Based on Gene Editing Safely and Effectively Removes HIV-Like Virus from Genomes of Non-Human Primates
August 17, 2023 - Temple Health - A single injection of a novel CRISPR gene-editing treatment safely and efficiently removes SIV – a virus related to the AIDS-causing agent HIV – from the genomes of non-human primates, scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University now report. The groundbreaking work complements previous experiments as the basis for the first-ever clinical trial of an HIV gene-editing technology in human patients, which was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2022.
The preclinical study, published online in the journal Gene Therapy, tested EBT-001, an SIV-specific CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing therapy, in rhesus macaques.
ECDC EPIDEMIOLOGICAL UPDATE: CLASSIFICATION OF NEW SARS-CoV-2 VARIANT OF INTEREST AND INCREASE IN COVID-19 TRANSMISSION
Stockholm, 17/08/2023 - ECDC has classified all XBB.1.5-like lineages with additional amino acid change F456L as variants of interest. This due to a rapid increase in the proportion of these variants presently in circulation, which may have immune-escape properties compared to the variants which were previously in circulation. Epidemiological indicators also show an increase in COVID-19 transmission in the EU/EEA and abroad, following several months of very low rates of infection. There is currently no sign of increased hospitalisations or pressures on health systems.
Accurate Media Crucial In Combating AIDS: Lessons From Covid-19
KUALA LUMPUR, August 17 - By Alifah Zainuddinr - Malaysia’s goal to eradicate AIDS by 2030 hinges on factual and evidence-based media reporting, a lesson evident from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) Red Ribbon Media Award 2023 here last Tuesday, MAF chairwoman Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman highlighted the impact of misinformation on health outcomes and policy implementation, drawing parallels from the Covid-19 misinformation crisis.
Moffitt Awarded $5.5 Million to Study Virus-Associated Tumors Among Those Living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa
AUGUST 17, 2023 - Moffitt Cancer Center - The Center for Immunization and Infection Research in Cancer at Moffitt Cancer Center is expanding its viral infection research in Africa. The cancer center has received a $5.5 million, five-year specialized research center grant (U54CA277834) from the National Cancer Institute to investigate virus-associated tumors that disproportionately impact men and women living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Racism, Poverty, and Illiteracy Increase the Risk of Contracting and Succumbing to AIDS in Brazil
16-Aug-2023 by Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal - A retrospective study of 28.3 million people has assessed the effects of social determinants of health on HIV/AIDS incidence and mortality in Brazil
This is the main conclusion of a new study carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, and published in The Lancet Regional Health.
Long-term HIV survivors fighting for their lives all over again
August 16, 2023 - by John Ferrannini - "As HIV gets older, so are we getting older," Hulda Brown, a 79-year-old straight ally, said in a recent interview. "We need different housing, safer housing, and chairlifts. You may need to walk with a cane. As you get older, we've had to adjust. We need a place to go to find services to explain to us the changes happening in our body, and how we can adapt."
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Xiaofei Jia awarded two NIH R01 grants to study HIV-1 eradication
Biochemistry professor wins two R01 grants in two months
Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Xiaofei Jia, PhD was recently awarded a four-year R01 grant with a first-year budget of $701,761 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for, "Developing Cyclopeptide Nef Inhibitors to Facilitate HIV-1 Eradication." The project was originally awarded an R56 grant from the NIH in August 2022.
AUGUST 15, 2023 - By UMass Dartmouth - This marks Jia's second R01 grant awarded by the NIH in the past two months. In July, he was awarded a five-year grant for a related project, "Elucidating the Structural Bases of HIV-1-Induced CD4 Degradation," with a first-year budget of $531,301.
 
Creating HIV/AIDS Awareness 20 Years: “Bradford McIntyre Positively Positive Living with HIV/AIDS” website
www.PositivelyPositive.ca
20TH ANNIVERSARY
AUGUST 15, 2023 - By Bradford McIntyre - On August 15, 2003, I launched my website: “Bradford McIntyre Positively Positive Living with HIV/AIDS” (www.positivelypositive.ca), designed to create awareness around the many HIV and AIDS issues and promotes messages of positive living with HIV/AIDS. When you visit, you discover a wide variety of life affirming and supportive topics; my personal story living with HIV, HIV/AIDS articles, HIV/AIDS Videos, HIV/AIDS News, HIV/AIDS Lnks & Resources, and more.
As a long–term survivor living with HIV since 1984, my first HIV activism to combat stigma was made on national TV, in Canada, being interviewed on the Dini Petty Show, World AIDS Day, December 1, 1994. An HIV activist, living positively with HIV to combat stigma and discrimination, shame and fear, and to encourage disclosure, treatment, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Canada among 10 countries reporting highest cumulative mpox cases, WHO reports
Aug. 15, 2023 - Sissi De Flaviis - While not the most affected of countries, Canada finds itself among the top 10 nations grappling with the illness.
As of July 28, 2023, the government of Canada has received detailed case reports on 1,440 confirmed cases of mpox in the country, and is reporting a total of 1,503 confirmed cases on its dashboard.
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Alarming Antibiotic Resistance Discovered in Ukraine
AUGUST 11, 2023 - By IDSE News Staff - Researchers have assisted microbiologists in Ukraine in investigating bacterial resistance among the wounded patients treated in hospitals since Russia invaded the country. The results reveal that many of the patients were affected by bacteria that exhibited an extremely high level of antibiotic resistance (Lancet Infect Dis 2023;23[7]:784-786).
Nick Harrison, Serviceman With HIV, Becomes a Commissioned Officer
August 11, 2023 - By Trent Straube - Until recently, service members living with HIV faced discharges and bans on commissioning and deployment.
August 5, 2023, was a “historic day” in the fight against HIV discrimination. Nick Harrison, a serviceman living with HIV, was commissioned as an officer in the U.S Army. It marked a striking victory for the man who in 2018 legally challenged the Pentagon’s policy of banning service members with HIV from being appointed as officers; at that time, members with HIV were also considered non-deployable and faced discharge.
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MP calls for zero discrimination in HIV fight
11 August 2023 - PEKAI KOTOISUVA - Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu says stigma and discrimination were two main reasons why millions lost their lives to HIV-related illnesses.
Speaking during the handover of $290,000 worth of antiretroviral (ART) therapy treatment by the High Commission of India to the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, he said Fijians needed to work together towards zero discrimination and stigmatisation of individuals affected and infected with HIV.
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Gut Microbiome Can Increase Risk, Severity of HIV, EBV Disease
August 10, 2023 - UNC School of Medicine researchers Angela Wahl, PhD, Balfour Sartor MD, J. Victor Garcia, PhD, and colleagues created a germ-free mouse model to evaluate the role of the microbiome in the infection, replication, and pathogenesis of HIV and Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that can cause mononucleosis and other serious diseases.
Over the past decade, the gut microbiome has gained significant interest by scientists and non-scientists alike. Recent research has shown that the bacteria and other microbes in our gut play a supporting role in immunity, metabolism, digestion, and the fight against “bad bacteria” that try to invade our bodies.
Friends for Life Bike Rally marks quarter century
Aug 10, 2023 - Catherine Orth - Mayor Matt Wren greeted the cyclists at noon Wednesday at St. Lawrence Park. Joining the ride, the mayor biked with the riders to their Brockville Railway Tunnel rest stop, where he congratulated Friends for Life co-chairs Gaby Harvey and Robb Walker and presented them with a scroll, honouring the organization’s twenty-five years of dedicated fundraising and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS.
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amfAR Head Kevin Frost Talks About Gene-Therapy HIV Cure Research That the Nonprofit Is Funding
Aug. 10, 2023 - Tim Murphy - In July, amfAR (the American Foundation for AIDS Research, founded in 1985) announced that it was giving a total of $2.4 million to prominent research teams in Germany, Denmark, and the U.S. that are exploring the use of gene therapy (replacing genes in the body in order to produce a therapeutic outcome) in service of possible functional cures for HIV.
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RESEARCHERS FIND NEW PATHWAY FOR HIV INVASION OF CELL NUCLEUS
Aug 10, 2023 - A study published on August 10, 2023 in the journal Nature Communications has identified a new pathway that human immune deficiency virus (HIV) uses to enter the nucleus of a healthy cell, where it can then replicate and go on to invade other cells.
The researchers also identified three proteins that are needed for the virus to carry out the invasion and have in turn synthesized molecules (potential drugs) that can target one of the proteins, potentially leading to new treatments for AIDS.
an estimated 37.7 million people were affected by H.I.V. at the end of 2020
New York, Aug. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)-- Virology Specimen Collection Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028. Segmented by Product Type (Viral Transport Media, Specimen Collection Tubes, Swabs, Blood Collection Kits), By Sample (Blood Samples, Cervical Samples, Nasal Samples, Nasopharyngeal Samples, Throat Samples, Oral Samples, Other Samples), By Region, and By Competition.
Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Virology Specimen Collection Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028".
Virology Specimen Collection market is anticipated to witness impressive growth during the forecast period.This can be ascribed to the development of advanced viral specimen collection technologies such as immunoassay, nucleic acid-based amplification testing methods or PCR-based methods, mass spectrometry, and NGS methods for accurate, quick results for different viral infections across the globe.
City of Hope receives $32.3 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to advance innovative therapies for patients
LOS ANGELES - Aug. 09, 2023 - By Zen Logsdon.- The CIRM funds will support cell and gene therapy clinical trials for HIV, leukemia and a bone marrow disease
Researchers at City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, were awarded $32.3 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support three novel Phase 1 clinical trials evaluating innovative cell and gene therapy treatments for patients with HIV, acute myeloid leukemia and severe aplastic anemia.
Traditional and complementary medicine, including acupuncture and naturopathic medicine, has a mixed picture of regulation and eligibility for reimbursement across the US
August 9, 2023 - The World Health Organization has called on nation-states to statutorily govern, and integrate into state-funded healthcare systems, practitioners of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) (whose therapeutic approaches that fall outside the boundaries of conventional biomedicine). To date, however, there exist few rigorous reports of the degree to which individual nations have responded to this call. This study, an environmental scan, comprehensively documents the statutory governance and government reimbursement of T&CM practitioners in the United States (US).
Treatments for poxviruses – including those causing mpox and smallpox – may already exist in licensed drugs
09 Aug 2023 - Scientists have discovered how poxviruses evade natural defences in living cells, and realised that drugs to stop them doing this are already available.
Scientists studying how poxviruses evade natural defences in human cells have identified a new approach to treatment that may be more durable than current treatments.
This follows their discovery of how poxviruses exploit a cellular protein to evade the host cell defences, and thereby replicate and spread effectively.
Addimmune™, a Clinical Stage HIV-Focused Gene Therapy Company, to Go Public Through Business Combination with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp. III
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK and ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, Aug. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK and ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, Aug. \ 9, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – American Gene Technologies International Inc. \ (“AGT”) and 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp. III (“10X III”) (NYSE: VCXB),\ a special purpose acquisition company, today announced that they have entered into a merger agreement for a business combination that would result in the \ combined company being a publicly listed company (the public company following \ the business combination to be renamed “Addimmune”). The combined company is \ expected to trade under the ticker symbol “HIV”. Addimmune is a clinical-stage\ gene and cell therapy company developing a functional cure for HIV. Prior to\\ the combination, the non-HIV assets will spin-off into an entity that will \ retain the American Gene Technologies name.
Global Clinical Laboratory Molecular Diagnostic for Infectious Disease Research Report 2023: Multiplex Assays - The Game-Changer in Diagnosing and Treating Infectious Diseases - ResearchAndMarkets.com
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- August 9, 2023 - The "Global Clinical Laboratory Molecular Diagnostic for Infectious Disease Markets. Strategies and Trends. Forecasts by Application (Transplant, Respiratory, etc.) by Country. With Market Analysis & Executive Guides. 2023 to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The Molecular Diagnostics - Infectious Disease sector of the clinical diagnostics industry is poised for record growth. A market that just keeps on growing but is becoming more complex and segmented. Find out what's happening in this informative report. And find out about the impact of multiplex assays which threaten to change diagnosis and treatment forever.
Curing the Most Deadly Communicable Disease on the Planet
8 August 2023 - Michelle Gamage - THE TYEE - BC has joined the global movement to eradicate hepatitis C by 2030.
The hepatitis C Virus kills more people than most other communicable diseases, including AIDS and tuberculosis, says Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre. Conway was recently named an Elimination Champion for his work fighting the disease.
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R.I.P. Stephaun Elite Wallace, PhD, HIV Scientist and House Ballroom Legend
August 8, 2023 - By Trent Straube - An epidemiologist who addressed HIV and COVID-19 disparities, Stephaun Elite Wallace loved music and founded the House of Marc Jacobs.
Stephaun Elite Wallace, PhD, an epidemiologist, social justice and HIV advocate and legend of the house ballroom scene, died Saturday, August 5, 2023. He was 45. A cause of death was not disclosed.
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New guidance on safe injection practice in hospitals emphasises the importance of prefilled and labelled syringes in avoiding medication errors
8 August 2023 - New guidance published in Anaesthesia (the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) provides clear advice to reduce avoidable errors on all steps of the pathway involving injectable medications used routinely in anaesthesia care. The guidance has been written by a working party of UK anaesthesia experts that include Dr Mike Kinsella, Honorary Consultant, Department of Anaesthesia, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston, Bristol, UK and Chair of the Working Party.
Can Better Data Predict Opioid Overdoses and Slow Infectious Disease Rates?
August 8, 2023 - Tufts University School of Medicine teams and collaborators are running multiple projects that seek to reduce overdoses and the spread of infections, such as HIV and hepatitis C, in people who use drugs
In much the same way that meteorologists have become more sophisticated in forecasting the weather, researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine, led by professor Thomas J. Stopka in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, are using their research to better predict spikes in opioid-related overdoses and address HIV and hepatitis C infections.
Amida Care Celebrates 20 Years of Improving Health Outcomes for New Yorkers Impacted by HIV
NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - New York's largest Medicaid Special Needs Health Plan was launched by seven community-based healthcare providers in August 2003
Amida Care currently serves over 9,000 New Yorkers affected by HIV, including 2,800 members who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary
Amida Care is the expert in HIV and gender-affirming care
This month, Amida Care, a not-for-profit health plan specializing in providing comprehensive health coverage and coordinated care to people affected by HIV, celebrates 20 years of serving New Yorkers. The visionary plan was formed in August 2003 by community-based HIV service providers and has grown into New York's largest Medicaid managed care Special Needs Health Plan (SNP). Since its founding, Amida Care has taken a unique and innovative approach, thinking outside the box to put the needs of its members above all else, working in partnership with the providers who serve them, and playing an instrumental role in efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Global Fund, PEPFAR and Unitaid Collaboration Paves Way to Accelerate Approval of African-Manufactured HIV Rapid Tests
Geneva, Switzerland - August 8, 2023 - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Unitaid are partnering to accelerate the manufacturing of health products in Africa, with HIV rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) as the initial focused product category.
With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Fund, in partnership with PEPFAR and Unitaid, is launching a pilot, open Expert Review Panel for Diagnostic Products (ERPD) call for Expression of Interest (EOI) for African manufacturers of HIV RDTs to accelerate the availability of quality assured RDTs in Africa.
Meet Andrea de Lange
| Artist, Activist and Social Services Volunteer
August 7, 2023 - SHOUTOUT LA - We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrea de Lange and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Andrea, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
I love the quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” This is a beautiful concept. By being good to other people, other species, the environment, and ourselves we are doing so much. Our actions, which may be as simple as smiling at a stranger or giving a compliment, create ripples of positivity.
God’s Love We Deliver’s 17th Annual Golden Heart Awards Will Honor Scarlett Johansson and Ben Platt
August 7, 2023 - BY ELISE TAYLOR - Today, God’s Love We Deliver—the New York-based nonprofit that home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves—announced they will honor Scarlett Johansson and Ben Platt for their work on behalf of AIDS, cancer, food, hunger and inclusion at the 17th Annual Golden Heart Awards on October 16.
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Traditional healers in rural Mpumalanga help diagnose HIV
August 7, 2023 - AIDS FOUNDATION CHICAGO - Research project in Bushbuckridge empowers traditional healers to conduct HIV testing, refer those positive for treatment, thereby curbing new infections.
An initiative of Wits University’s MRC/Wits Agincourt Research Unit, the Traditional Healers Project convened two ‘open houses’ at local primary healthcare facilities – Rolle Clinic and Thulamahashe Community Health Centre in rural Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga – in March 2023.
An ‘open house’ is a community and stakeholder gathering hosted at a public health facility in partnership with the Department of Health.
VANCOUVER NURSES NAMED TO ORDER OF BC FOR THEIR CARE OF DTES RESIDENTS
August 7, 2023 - AIDS FOUNDATION CHICAGO - Home-care nurses Evanna Brennan and Susan Giles, who have worked closely with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and St. Paul’s Hospital, have been named to the Order of British Columbia.
The honour marks their long careers providing life-saving care to people living with HIV/AIDS and significant health issues in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES).
The Order, BC’s highest recognition, honours those who have served their communities with distinction and have excelled in their fields.
Show Up and Show out for AIDS Run Walk Chicago 2023
August 7, 2023 - AIDS FOUNDATION CHICAGO - AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) invites you to Show Up and Show Out with us at AIDS Run & Walk Chicago on Saturday, September 30th at Soldier Field! This annual event has been bringing together people from all across Chicagoland to raise awareness and funds for those affected by HIV and AIDS since 1991 and has been managed by AFC since 2001. This year, we are encouraging participants to be bolder than ever before as we raise awareness and funds for AIDS Foundation Chicago and its 30+ CommunityDirect partners.
Greg Louganis Praises ‘Bold’ New Book about Love, Sex and Survival
August 7, 2023 - By Mark S. King - It felt presumptuous of me to believe I have much in common with historic Olympian Greg Louganis. His level of fame, his record-shattering sports career, and the worldwide scrutiny he faced when he went public with his HIV status in 1995 are all beyond anything I could imagine.
And yet, I also knew Greg to be achingly human in his vulnerability and his desire to be heard and understood. I can relate to those traits.
More gay men can give blood as ‘one of the most significant changes in blood banking history’ gets underway
Aug 7, 2023 - By Jen Christensen - CNN - Starting Monday, the Red Cross, the organization that provides about 40% of US blood and blood components, will use a more inclusive risk-based individual assessment to determine if someone is eligible to give blood, regardless of their sexual orientation.
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GOP Declares War on HIV Program as Dr. Fauci Rings Alarm
Aug 06, 2023 - By JOHN CASEY - After demonizing abortion services and marriage rights, Republicans now take aim at PEPFAR, which has saved millions of lives.
You might assume that Dr. Anthony Fauci, after 54 years working at the National Institutes of Health and helping save countless lives, has retired so he can rest. However, Dr. Fauci doesn’t have time to retire.
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Baranyai: Funding for AIDS treatment should be unconditional
Aug 06, 2023 - Robin Baranyai - At the time he introduced it, George W. Bush didn't get a lot of recognition; at least not at home.
At the time he introduced it, George W. Bush didn’t get a lot of recognition; at least not at home. Nevertheless, the U.S. President’s emergency program for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) proved to be Bush’s greatest legacy, hands down. For a president whose tenure more often leaned into division, PEPFAR was a rare achievement of lasting bipartisan support. (The other was his signature education initiative, No Child Left Behind.)
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Stratford HIV specialist honored by International AIDS Society for his research
Aug 05, 2023 - By: News 12 Staff - A Stratford HIV specialist was honored by the International AIDS Society in Australia for what experts call “groundbreaking research” into how patients take HIV drugs.
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Genetic variant linked to lower levels of HIV virus in people of African descent
03 August 2023 - by Jack Stewart - Genetic study identifies Africa-specific variant near CHD1L gene associated with lower HIV-1 viral load in populations of African descent.
New research has found a genetic variant that may explain why some people of African ancestry have naturally lower viral loads of HIV, reducing their risk of transmitting the virus and slowing progress of their own illness.
The paper, published today in Nature, demonstrates the first new genetic variant related to HIV infection discovered in nearly 30 years of research. It could, in the future, help direct the development of new treatments and approaches for those living with HIV.
New, simple and accessible method creates potency-increasing structure in drugs
AUGUST 3, 2023 - By Gail McCormick - Previously undescribed chemical process may offer safer, more practical way to create cyclopropanes — a key feature in many drugs and drug-candidates.
Chemical structures called cyclopropanes can increase the potency and fine-tune the properties of many drugs, but traditional methods to create this structure only work with certain molecules and require highly reactive — potentially explosive — ingredients. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State has identified and demonstrated a safe, efficient and practical way to create cyclopropanes on a wide variety of molecules using a previously undescribed chemical process. With additional development, the new method — described in a paper publishing tomorrow (Aug. 4) in the journal Science — could transform how this important process occurs during drug development and creation.
New HIV Drug Formulation Could Improve Treatment Outcomes for Children Worldwide
August 3, 2023 - by Laura Kelley - CU Anschutz researchers helped evaluate a new drug formulation for children with HIV
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have helped confirm the dosing, safety and effectiveness of a drug formulation designed for treating children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The study was published today in a new dispersible formulation and an immediate-release tablet containing three medications - dolutegravir, abacavir and lamivudine - in a single fixed dose combination (FDC) formulation is safe, well tolerated, and effective for treating children with HIV.
Médecins sans frontières (MSF) closes HIV/AIDS project after 25 years in Malawi
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 3, 2023/APO Group/ - The project set a precedent and helped pave the way to advocate for cheaper drug prices and ensure access to ART in low-income countries
In July 2023, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) closed the chapter on one of its longest-standing projects in Malawi, launched 25 years ago in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem awarded amfAR grant for research on HIV gene therapy
AUGUST 2, 2023 - BY LAURIE FRONEK - FRED HUTCH NEWS SERVICE - The most meaningful HIV cure will be not only safe and effective but also widely accessible for the 39 million people infected worldwide, no matter who they are or where they live.
Hans-Peter Kiem, MD, PhD, is pursuing such a cure in the form of in vivo gene therapy that confers HIV resistance to a specific subset of a patient’s hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs, the building blocks of our blood and immune systems. He was awarded $480,000 by amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, to support the next stage of his work.
'Deeply upsetting': AIDS Memorial at Barbara Hall Park vandalized
Aug 2, 2023 - By Michael Talbot - The AIDS Memorial at Barbara Hall Park near Church and Wellesley streets has been vandalized with black paint.
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Scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada make a major breakthrough on HIV genetic research
August 2, 2023 | Winnipeg, MB | Public Health Agency of Canada - Scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, and Imperial College London are leading a global effort to better understand the genetics of people living with HIV, who are of African ancestries, as they are a key population that is disproportionately affected by HIV. Scientists at the NML and their international partners have discovered new genetic variants that may explain why certain people in these populations naturally have a lower viral load, which slows down the virus from replicating and transmitting. Their findings were published today in the scientific journal Nature. This is the first new genetic variant discovered in nearly 30 years of HIV research. It is a major breakthrough in our understanding of the virus and may lead to new HIV treatment and prevention strategies.
The Challenge of Understanding China’s Mpox Outbreak
2 August 2023 - by Candice Clark - Almost a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) a public health emergency, the outbreak has shifted from the US and Europe to Asia, with China experiencing a concerning increase in cases. The Chinese government’s response to the outbreak has not been as proactive as its measures against Covid-19, and there has been no mention of using mpox vaccines, despite their proven effectiveness in other countries.
Injectable HIV treatment unlikely to be arriving soon in the global south
2 August 2023 - Roger Pebody - While there is a path to injectable PrEP becoming available in the next five years, the widespread use of injectables to treat people living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries is unlikely in the near future. The combination of injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine has only been approved by a handful of countries, it’s not clear whether rilpivirine will be available as a generic, and the regimen has complexities which make it less attractive than the preferred oral regimens.
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Austin-Area HIV Planning Council Calls for Nominations for 2023 Community Star Awards
Aug. 01, 2023 - Nominations should be submitted by August 31, 2023.
The Austin Area HIV Planning Council is accepting nominations for the 2023 Community STAR Awards honoring professionals and community volunteers whose work has significantly impacted the HIV/AIDS community in Austin and Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties. The Austin Area HIV Planning Council wishes to bring public attention to the important work of these extraordinary individuals.
Clients of private Richmond Hill clinic advised to test for HIV, hepatitis
Aug 1, 2023 - By Michael Ranger - York Region is out with a warning for any clients who received specific services at a Richmond Hill health clinic, advising them to get tested for hepatitis or HIV.
A notice issued on Tuesday concerns a private clinic running out of a house at 150 Berwick Crescent, in the area of 16th Avenue and Yonge Street. Clients who had wet cupping, micro-needling or derma rolling services done between October 2015 and June 7, 2023, are being told to get tested for blood-borne infections, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
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U=U Benefits All Sexual Identities
August 1, 2023 - By Tim Murphy - Undetectable Equals Untransmittable is a fact that everyone can celebrate.
In 2019, the Positive Perspectives Survey found that people living with HIV in several countries who had been informed about U=U by their providers adhered better to their HIV medications and hence remained undetectable, reported better sexual health and were more likely to tell sexual partners about their HIV status because they could also share the news of their inability to transmit the virus. The study found that folks who heard about U=U through other means also benefited, but the optimal mode of learning about it was via a talk with one’s doctor.
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