MetaFilter posts tagged with hiv

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.

A Whole New Meaning to 'Forefathers.'

Lutoslawski — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:58:03 -0800

The Circumcision v. HIV debate rages on. [previously and previously-er and previously-er still] The debate has been rekindled due to new findings. It is expected to be one of the main topics during the CDC's National HIV Prevention Conference this week, as the CDC is considering endorsing routine circumcision. The American Academy of Pediatrics is also considering revising their circumcision policy, thus making it covered under Medicaid. Naturally, there is a lot of criticism of the evidence. In related news, it appears that there is a modicum of the so-called 'Birthers' who believe Obama's citizenship can be proven by his penis.

Needle Exchange in the USA

circle_b — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:37:16 -0800

The history of needle exchanges in the United States starts in 1986 with Jon Parker, a dyslexic Yale medical student and former IDU (intravenous drug user), who was arrested time and time again for providing sterile needles and supplies to drug users, to prevent infection and spread of disease. David Purchase started the first organized (and illegal) needle exchange in Tacoma Washington in 1988, which still exists 21 years later. Needle Exchanges fit into a harm reduction model of public health policy and drug treatment. Harm reduction approaches are being embraced by religious groups as a moral imperative, and are even recommended for jail administrators, showing that this evidence-based practice is gaining traction. Despite scientific evidence and support demonstrating utility and cost [pdf] effectiveness, there has been no federal funding for clean needle exchanges because of this text, in every House Appropriations funding act for the fiscal year, for the last 20 years: Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no funds appropriated in this Act shall be used to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug. One of President Obama's campaign promises has been to remove this text from the apropriations bill: however, the initial 2010 bill maintained the original language preventing needle exchanges from receiving federal funding. This language was then repealed, allowing federal money to go to needle exchange and disease prevention programs for the first time in 20 years. Days later, a highly restrictive amendment was added to the House Appropriations bill, which may jeopardize funding in urban areas, particularly the DC metro area. This amendment prohibits funding of needle exchanges in any area within 1,000 feet of almost any location where children gather.

Publicizing HIV cases in the porn industry

hpliferaft — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:54:53 -0800

After one performer tested positive this week, 16 previously unpublicized cases of HIV in the porn industry have emerged. Last time this happened, government officials called it an outbreak and porn production grinded to a halt for two months.

We Will Illuminate Dark Places

netbros — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:57:36 -0800

Live Hope Love — Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica.

women must be the sex workers, if they're the ones who go on strike...

mdn — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:37:32 -0800

Kenyan women call to mind Greek comedy, though perhaps they have other reasons to take a week off...

Intended Consequences: Rwanda's Children of Rape

itchylick — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:28:59 -0800

Intended Consequences. It is estimated that 20,000 children were born as the result of rape during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that claimed the lives of over 800,000 Tutsis. Many of these women also contracted HIV/AIDS as a result. Not only do the mothers have to live with memories of this incredibly horrible event, but they along with their children are shunned by other Tutsi survivors. Photographer Jonathan Torgovnik photographed and documented the stories of several of these women and their children in his new book Intended Consequences. He has also created Foundation Rwanda to help these families pay the $150 annual fee for their children's educations. Disclaimer: The title of this post and some of the content is based on an article in the current issue of American Photo which is currently only in print and not yet online.

The Doctor Will Sue You Now

xchmp — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:11:34 -0800

"If you’re ever looking for a warning sign that you’re on the wrong side of an argument, suing Medecins Sans Frontieres is probably a pretty good clue." Science journalist and blogger Ben Goldacre has released the missing chapter of his book, Bad Science, telling the story of Matthias Rath, vitamins and the AIDS crisis in South Africa. [Previously. Also.]

Are We About to Eliminate AIDS?

andoatnp — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 23:40:53 -0800

New Scientist:

What if we could rid the world of AIDS? The notion might sound like fantasy: HIV infection has no cure and no vaccine, after all. Yet there is a way to completely wipe it out - at least in theory. What's more, it would take only existing medical technology to do the job.

Here's how it works. If someone who is HIV positive takes antiretroviral-drug therapy they can live a long life and almost never pass on the virus, even through unprotected sex. So if everyone with HIV were on therapy, there would be little or no transmission. Once all these people had died, of whatever cause, the virus would be gone for good. It's a simple idea, but the obstacles to implementing it worldwide are enormous. Persuading everyone with HIV to start therapy purely for public health reasons could be ethically dubious. To identify everyone who is HIV positive would require such widespread testing that some may feel it breached their civil liberties. Then there is the question of who would fund such a massive undertaking.

Much much more in the article.

Christine Maggiore has died

lalex — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:52:23 -0800

HIV/AIDS denialist Christine Maggiore has died. Maggiore, who tested HIV+ in 1992, was a prominent skeptic of the scientific consensus that HIV causes AIDS. In 2005, she sparked a debate on parental medical obligations after her 3-year-old daughter was found to have died of AIDS-related pneumonia. Orac at Respectful Insolence mourns both the personal tragedy of the Maggiore family and the larger public health tragedy of HIV/AIDS denialism. Sympathetic journalist Celia Farber, who defended Maggiore in 2005, offers a personal recollection. (previously)

Out of Africa

netbros — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:55:43 -0800

Out of Africa. As award-winning Globe and Mail Africa correspondent Stephanie Nolen bids farewell to a place she's come to love, she reflects on how it has changed, and how it changed her. Africa photo gallery

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 plague is over, lets party.

seanyboy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:26:41 -0800

The plague is over, lets party. Article by Elizabeth Pisani describing the troubling consequences of a gay scene in a world where HIV is treatable and AIDS is avoidable.

Hot or not? No, Pos or not!

ThePinkSuperhero — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:13:00 -0800

Think you can guess HIV status just by looking? Via NYTimes article

Tales of the City

loquacious — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:20:49 -0800

In 1974 - or 1976, depending who you ask - Armistead Maupin began writing "an extended love letter to a magical San Francisco” in the form of a serialized, fictional drama published originally in the Pacific Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner, originally called "The Serial" which then became collectively known as Tales of The City. It is a suprisingly beautiful, deep, emotional, cosmopolitan and lasting tale about life in San Francisco in the turbulent, heady days of the 1970s and 1980s. Widely credited with and cherished for helping spread a little of the openess, tolerance and acceptance that San Francisco is now famous for. It then became a series of books - Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You - and lastly, the spin-off tale of Michael Tolliver Lives. Almost exactly twenty years after first publishing, it then became an excellent miniseries from the United Kingdom's Channel 4, which aired in the United States on PBS, but not without protest or limitations. San Francisco... this post is for you. All of you. More than the Mission burritos, more than the diverse weather, more than the beautiful, breathtaking views and the odd experience of falling deeply in love with a place - and only slightly less than the many real people I've met - this has touched me the most. Thank you. (Get your YouTube samples here.)

If after 20 years you don't succeed.

three blind mice — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:58:38 -0800

Maybe it's time to give up. Last year's failed clinical trial for Merck's HIV vaccine (which once appeared so promising) led many to claim that AIDS vaccine research is in crisis. According to an unprecedented poll conducted by The Independent most scientists involved in AIDS research believe that a vaccine against HIV is further away than ever and some have admitted that effective immunisation against the virus may never be possible. Nearly two thirds believed that an HIV vaccine will not be developed within the next 10 years and some of them said that it may take at least 20 more years of research before a vaccine can be used to protect people either from infection or the onset of Aids. Worse, the animal model – which uses genetically engineered simian and human immunodeficiency viruses in a combination, known as SHIV – failed to predict what will happen when a prototype vaccine is moved from laboratory monkeys to people. "We've learnt a few important things [from the clinical trial]. We've learnt that one of the animal models, the SHIV model, really doesn't predict very well at all." Of course animal advocates have been saying this for years.

A Shot of Bleach Ought to Dew It!

ericb — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:34:39 -0800

"Some Florida teens believe drinking Mountain Dew or smoking marijuana will prevent pregnancy and that swallowing a capful of bleach will prevent HIV/AIDS."^* As a result, lawmakers are pushing "for an overhaul of sex education in the state. State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education"^* "On Tuesday, a bill that would 'require a more comprehensive approach' to sex education narrowly won approval from a state Senate committee."^*

In search of Aids

hadjiboy — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:12:36 -0800

Manipur, which has a population of 2,388,634, has the highest rate of HIV in the country, which is also the reason why it has the most number of NGOs working in the area. However, what is disturbing is that a day or two ago, one of these NGOs bribed a group of children into getting their blood tested, so that they could increase their chances of garnering more funds.

13-Year-Old Ambassador of Hope

ericb — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:42:13 -0800

Austin Gutwein first became aware of the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS from a pen pal in Africa.“‘My pen pal [2006 video - 2:48]^*...was the first one to open my eyes to the world outside of my own backyard,’ Austin says. One of the harsh realities that struck a chord with Austin was the fact that many kids become orphaned as a result of a parent contracting HIV. ‘I started to think about what it would be like if I lost my parents,’ says Austin. ‘I just felt called to help.’...On World AIDS Day [December 1] 2004, at age 10, Austin shot 2,057 free throws to represent the number of children who would be orphaned because of AIDS during that school day....Austin approached individuals in his community to sponsor his endeavor. That year [he] raised $3,000, which he gave to World Vision to be used to help eight orphans in Africa.” Three years later his non-profit, Hoops of Hope, raised $100,000 [2007 video - 2:32] which was used to build a residential school in Zambia for those orphaned -- and many infected -- by HIV/AIDS. Next year's goal -- to build a hospital. Previous World AIDS Day posts - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

ten second rule...

Flashman — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:24:34 -0800

Raven and Jason live together in Vancouver's downtown East Side. A touching short documentary about life on the edge.

AIDS Invaded U.S. in 1969, Study Finds.

ericb — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:09:11 -0800

Long before storied 'Patient Zero' Gaëtan Dugas [previously] scientists now believe that HIV/AIDS "invaded the United States in about 1969 from Haiti, carried most likely by a single infected immigrant who set the stage for it to sweep the world in a tragic epidemic." A new study to be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that researchers conducted a genetic analysis of stored blood samples from early AIDS patients and now believe that HIV first entered the United States in the 1960s -- and not the 1980s. Other "studies suggest the virus first entered the human population in about 1930 in central Africa, probably when people slaughtered infected chimpanzees for meat."

Where there is no doctor

Avenger — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:34:33 -0800

"Where there is no doctor", a "village health-care handbook", was originally published by Mexican health activists in 1973 as a response to a critical lack of medical care among Mexico's poor. Now available for free download, the book covers such topics as "Family Planning" [pdf], Healing without Medicines [pdf], Common Medicines, their uses and doses [pdf], the right and wrong uses of modern medicines [pdf], and (in the midwives edition) DIY abortion [pdf]. Other topics include: Where Women have no doctor, violence against women, mental health for women, Female genital cutting, Where There Is No Dentist, HIV health and your community and more. Special thanks to MetaFilter's own mr. bill for introducing me to this resource and providing a the downloads in convenient single-pdf format.

Life still enjoyable after 30, experts say

Avenger — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:05:02 -0800

The elderly are staying sexually active [WaPo], and this is a good thing. Although there is a sex-education gap among America's seniors. Play it safe, old folks!

Nothing Is Perverse

veronica sawyer — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:39:18 -0800

How to Market a Deadly Disease: Ten provocative examples of AIDS awareness campaigns from around the world. Here are some more [YouTube]. NSFW. Via. [Previously/related: 1, 2]