New HIV Study Shows Disease Accelerating

Time to wake up to needs of at-risk Americans

(NEWSER) - This year has seen big advancements in the battle against AIDS, and the US has made “great progress” fighting the disease abroad, as George W. Bush noted in a World AIDS Day op-ed . But “why aren’t we more committed to end AIDS at home?” asks Cornelius Baker in the Boston Globe , particularly when it comes to prevention among African Americans, “who comprise nearly half of all new HIV infections?” More»

Figures raise concerns after positive trends

(NEWSER) - After declining in 1991-2005, the US teen birth rate climbed in 2006 and 2007, HealthDay News reports. Crunching numbers from 2002-07, the Centers for Disease Control found a number of trends had flatlined or worsened after a period of improvement.

• 2004 saw 745,000 pregnancies among females under 20, including 16,000 among girls 10 to 14 years old.
• One-third of adolescents had no birth-control education before age 18.

New testing method discovers infection spreading faster

(NEWSER) - AIDS is spreading faster among Americans than had been thought, the Washington Post reports. A new method of testing that distinguishes recent infections from older ones shows that the number of people becoming infected each year in the US is 50% higher than previously estimated, for an average of 60,000 rather than 40,000 new cases. More»

FDA panel gives OraQuick thumbs up; final decision expected later this year

(NEWSER) - About 240,000 HIV carriers in the US are unaware of their infection—and they may soon have a quick and easy way to test for the virus at home. The over-the-counter OraQuick test requires a mouth swab and delivers results in 20 minutes, and though it is likely slightly less accurate than a professionally-administered test, the FDA's advisory panel has determined that the benefits of expanding testing outweigh any risks. The panel’s 17 members voted unanimously in favor of the test yesterday, and the FDA will make a final decision later this year. More»

Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences, is for healthy people at risk

(AP) - A panel of federal health advisers has endorsed the first drug shown to prevent HIV infection in healthy people, clearing the way for a potentially landmark approval in the 30-year-old effort against the virus that causes AIDS. In a series of votes, the FDA advisory panel recommended approval of the daily pill Truvada for healthy people who are at high risk of contracting HIV, including gay and bisexual men, and heterosexual couples with one HIV-infected person. More»