AIDS Victim Infected by Dad Vows to Fight On

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.

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»

Study findings could present a 'major health crisis'

(NEWSER) - Alarming new research out of eastern and southern Africa, where both unplanned pregnancies and AIDS wreak havoc: The most popular contraceptive used by women there appears to double their risk of contracting HIV—and if a woman already has HIV, it doubles her risk of transmitting it to her partner compared to women who use no contraception. The study centers around a hormone shot given once every three months, which is the best contraception available in Africa today, one expert tells the New York Times : “If it is now proven that these contraceptions are helping spread the AIDS epidemic, we have a major health crisis on our hands.” More»

Without its cholesterol, virus can't harm immune system

(NEWSER) - A group of US and European scientists have discovered a way to prevent the HIV virus from harming the immune system, in a breakthrough that could lead to an entirely new approach to fighting AIDS. They discovered that by extracting cholesterol, they could render the virus a sitting duck for the immune system’s adaptive response. “It’s like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognize it and attack it,” the study’s leader explained to Reuters . More»