MetaFilter posts tagged with AIDS and virus

Not there yet, but cause for hope...

eviemath — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 07:57:08 -0800

Fourteen adults have also been "functionally cured" after they were given combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) for their HIV infection. [Warning: autoplay] They have been able to stop taking the treatment while still keeping their infection under control, according to a new study in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

There is an important distinction between 'functionally cured' and 'HIV negative'.

MedPageToday pointed out that while the 14 adults still technically have HIV in their bodies, it's only barely detectable when using highly sensitive laboratory methods. Therefore, they are considered "functionally cured" instead of being completely rid of the virus.... The findings suggest that anywhere from 5 to 15 percent of people are able to be "functionally cured" of HIV, the study researcher, Dr. Asier Saez-Cirion, told BBC News. "They still have HIV, it is not eradication of HIV, it is a kind of remission of the infection," Saez-Cirion told BBC News.

In other words, it's too soon to know yet if these individuals can still transmit HIV to others (though at least the likelihood of transmission would be lowered), and 85-95% of infected adults in the study were not functionally cured. This report follows that of a baby who was pronounced functionally cured of HIV recently (previously). Some skeptical researchers noted that, while the baby was certainly exposed to HIV, there's some doubt about whether the child had been infected with HIV:

In the case of the Mississippi baby, we know she was exposed to HIV, had HIV in her blood, and that at least some cells in her blood were found with sleeping virus—though we will likely never know if those cells were from the child or maternal cells that had been transmitted during pregnancy or birth. Was the baby infected with HIV and, thus, cured? To many of the researchers at the conference, the answer is "no." It seems more likely that her treatment prevented her, after exposure to HIV, from being infected. The reason we give medicines to both pregnant women and their newborns is precisely to prevent HIV exposures in children from becoming established infections, an intervention that can decrease the rate of transmission from about 30% to less than 1% in optimal conditions.

...and this one actually looks respectable.

jaduncan — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:03:34 -0800

Researchers have apparently found a way to prevent HIV from damaging the immune system. Johns Hopkins and Imperial reseachers have developed a chemical that breaks down the cholesterol membrane around HIV. This stops the virus intererfering with immune response, and may allow a vaccine that prevents infection. For those that can get to it: Adriano Boasso, Caroline M. Royle, Spyridon Doumazos, Veronica N. Aquino, Mara Biasin, Luca Piacentini, Barbara Tavano, Dietmar Fuchs, Francesco Mazzotta, Sergio Lo Caputo, Gene M Shearer, Mario Clerici, David R. Graham. Over-activation of plasmacytoid dendritic cell inhibits anti-viral T-cell responses: a model for HIV immunopathogenesis. Blood, 2011 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2011-03-344218 I am curious what the MeFi hive mind thinks of this research; consider this a bat signal, people with expertise in the area.

HIV vaccine shows promise

borkencode — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:48:35 -0800

A new HIV vaccine is showing promising results, reducing the risk of contracting the virus by 32 percent. While further tests are still needed, the vaccine is a combination failed HIV vaccines AIDSVAX and ALVAC, based on the Canary Pox virus. The study itself faced criticism from the outset.

Imported beats domestic

dances_with_sneetches — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:41:42 -0800

Luc Montagnier, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Harald zur Hausen take the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discoveries of the AIDS virus and HPV, respectively. Take that Gallo.

Not cool Rome, not cool at all.

Lizc — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:46:56 -0800

New Scientist reports today that inhabitants of the former Roman Empire have much lower levels of a gene variant that protects against the virus that causes AIDS - CCR5-Delta32 to be exact. Previously, this genetic mutation had been attributed to the spread of the Black Death.

The struggle of a Botswana village with AIDS

Gyan — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 21:26:14 -0800

The Nata village blog - "A unique opportunity to witness the battle to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in an African village."

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus & Animal Lentiviruses

y2karl — Sun, 01 Dec 2002 15:51:05 -0800

But what about the kitties? Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. FIV has been recognized as a syndrome since 1986, and as with AIDS, has been found in stored blood samples dating back to the 60s. Unlike HIV, however, for FIV there's a vaccine. Not that everyone is excited about it.

Originally, this was to be a post intended to provide something lighter until this appeared:

In addition, over 25 large cat species including, cheetahs, lions, and panthers have their own strain of the virus. Despite similarity among these viruses, transmission among species has never been documented. Scientists think that FIV is an old virus and may be the grandfather of all immunodeficiency viruses. Comparison of its' genetic code point to a virus that is millions of years old.

Googling led to several topics.

A quick HIV test is about to hit the US market.

o2b — Fri, 08 Nov 2002 10:04:45 -0800

A quick HIV test is about to hit the US market. An HIV test that is easy to administer and provides results in 20 minutes has just been approved by the FDA. This is a big deal partly because almost 250,000 Americans are infected and don't know it. The ease of this fast-response test will help identify some of them.

HIV Can Persist in Rectum During Drug Treatment

Alwin — Sat, 01 Dec 2001 20:50:34 -0800

HIV Can Persist in Rectum During Drug Treatment "The lining of the rectum may contain a significant reservoir of HIV even when drugs are holding down blood levels of the virus, results from a small study show. The findings suggest that HIV in the mucosal membrane of the rectum "might constitute a considerable obstacle" to the complete suppression of a patient's infection, according to the report.'' In a related study, women were found to have high levels of HIV in their genital tracts even when they had good control of their serum levels of HIV.

Bug Chasers

ivey — Fri, 02 Feb 2001 08:50:51 -0800

Bug Chasers : According to this article at Alternatives Magazine, there are gay men who are looking for HIV+ partners who will infect them. In fact, it even claims that some people "fetishize" the virus. I'm absolutely stunned. Can anyone confirm that this is really happening?

mathowie — Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:31 -0800

Today is World AIDS Day, and to commemorate this event (and the day without art and day without weblogs), I'll be posting AIDS/HIV-related links and I ask you all to do the same. A good information resource for today is the CDC's FAQ on AIDS. And I bet you've never seen the virus' life cycle before.