FDA Approves First At-Home HIV Test

This past May an FDA advisory panel unanimously approved a test for HIV that people can perform at home. Relatively easy to use, the at-home test could greatly increase the number of people being tested for HIV, and thus enable treatment for many who would otherwise remain undiagnosed. The test, called OraQuick and made by Pennsylvania-based OraSure Technologies, works by detecting antibodies generated as part of the body’s response to HIV-1 or HIV2 viruses. A testing stick includes a flat pad at the end which the user uses to swab the upper and lower gums. The pad is then placed in a developer vial for 20 to 40 minutes after which, like a pregnancy test, one or two lines are formed: one line is negative, two lines indicates the presence of antibodies to HIV-1 and/or HIV-2.

1 in 5 gay, bisexual men in U.S. cities has HIV

Nearly one in five gay and bisexual men in 21 major U.S. cities are infected with HIV, and nearly half of them do not know it, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

Young men, and especially young black men, are least likely to know if they are infected with HIV, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study found that 28 percent of gay black men infected with HIV, compared with 18 percent of Hispanic men and 16 percent of white men. Black men in the study were also least likely to be aware of their infection, with 59 percent unaware of their infection compared with 46 percent of Hispanic men and 26 percent of white men. Age also plays a role. Among 18 to 29-year-old men, 63 percent did not know they were infected with HIV, compared with 37 percent of men aged 30 and older, the team reported in the CDC's weekly report on death and disease. "This alarming new data provides further evidence that prevention efforts for gay men have not been adequate to meet the growing epidemic and should be dramatically scaled up," said Carl Schmid of the nonprofit AIDS Institute.

HIV vaccine: doubts over trial

Just a few weeks ago, some scientists thought they were one step closer to finding a vaccine for HIV/Aids.

In the large-scale trial in Thailand, a combination of vaccines seemed to give volunteers a protective effect of 31%. However, new data, being published at a conference in Paris, is believed to question that assertion.

HIV positive: Annie Lennox

Fonte: aqui.

Mistificações na China

Ninguém tem orgulho em possuir HIV/ SIDA. É evidente.

Muita gente evita fazer o teste de SIDA. É lamentável.

Não compreendemos, contudo, a persistência em reconhecer situações que eventualmente nos possam envergonhar. Mas, este síndroma é global, na era da Globalização.

O governo chinês teima em querer escamotear a enorme bolha de SIDA, pois parece mal (!) a um país que cresce tanto económicamente, estar conotado com uma doença pouco recomendável.

Vejamos a realidade: The number of people estimated to be living with HIV in China has risen to 700,000, says a report released Thursday by the United Nations and the Chinese government.

E mais detalhadamente, ficamos a conhecer melhor a realidade:

• There were 50,000 new cases in 2007, mainly among intravenous drug users and sex workers, says the report by Unaids.
• The report also notes that the number of HIV cases officially reported still remained at 223,501 - far lower than the estimated total in part because of people's reluctance to seek testing in China.
• HIV gained a foothold in China largely due to unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted transfusions in hospitals.
• After years of denying that AIDS was a problem, China's leaders have shifted gears dramatically in recent years, confronting the disease more openly and promising anonymous testing, free treatment for the poor and a ban on discrimination against people with the virus.
• Khalid Malik, the UN coordinator in China, said HIV/AIDS remained a "large challenge" in China. "The issue of stigma and discrimination is really a complex challenge," he said. "We have to address this challenge at many different levels, including general education and general media."

É difícil esconder a realidade no mundo da comunicação virtual.

SIDA: a triste realidade em 2007

A ONU emitiu o seu Relatório Anual sobre a evolução da SIDA/HIV. Os números são maus, vejamos alguns deles:

• Number of people living with HIV in 2007: 33.2 million.
• People newly infected with HIV in 2007: 2.5 million.
• AIDS deaths in 2007: 2.1 million.

Vejamos alguns números por regiões do globo:

• Sub-Saharan Africa: 22.5 million.
• Middle East and North Africa: 380 000.
• South and South-East Asia: 4.0 million.
• East Asia: 800 000.
• Oceania: 75 000.
• Latin America: 1.6 million.
• Caribbean: 230 000.
• Eastern Europe and Central Asia: 1.6 million.
• Western and Central Europe: 760 000.
• North America: 1.3 million.

Quanto a Portugal, esta referência não é muito abonatória:

• In Western Europe (excluding the United Kingdom), the number of annual reported new HIV diagnoses almost tripled between 1999 and 2005 (from 7497 to 19 476), but declined significantly in 2006 (to 16 316).
• The largest number of diagnoses were reported in France (where routine reporting only started in 2003 and where 5750 HIV infections were newly diagnosed in 2006), Germany (2718) and Portugal (2162).

Impressionante

Fonte: aqui.

4ª Conferência Mundial sobre a SIDA/ HIV

Está a decorrer em Sydney, Australia, entre dia 22 e dia 25 de Julho de 2007, a 4ª Conferencia mundial, promovida pela International Aids Society.

Deixamos alguns temas do Programa, que serão abordados na Conferência:

• Tibotec: New Breakthroughs for Treating HIV: Enhanced Opportunities for Tailoring Treatment to meet Patient Needs.
• New Data and International Antiretroviral Treatment Guidelines: Interactive, State-of-the-Art Session.
• Neurological Complications of HIV Infection.
• Female-Initiated HIV Prevention Technology.
• Paediatric HIV Infection – What’s New?
• Treatment of Early HIV Disease.