Chimps Can Get AIDS: Study

Still, some 2.6M were infected in 2009

(NEWSER) - Good news in the fight against AIDS: The annual rate of new HIV infections dropped by almost a quarter between 2001 and 2009, AIDS-related deaths have fallen, and the world has seen “unprecedented advances” in prevention and treatment accessibility, the UN AIDS agency says. Still, the unevenly-spread advancements are highly "fragile," and global targets haven’t been reached. At the end of last year, more than 34 million were living with HIV; some 2.6 million were infected in 2009, the AP reports. More»

(NEWSER) - The parasite that causes malaria almost certainly jumped from chimpanzees to humans much like the AIDS virus did, National Geographic reports. Scientists initially believed that the malaria parasite that kills over a million people annually was older than humanity. But new research has found that it is a mutant version of one of many strains that affect chimpanzees. They believe it may have jumped between species as recently as 10,000 years ago. More»

An advantage 4M years ago is a weakness now

(NEWSER) - Humans are more susceptible to HIV than other primates because our ancestors evolved a protein that could fight off a different retrovirus that infected chimps, says Scientific American. The most conspicuous difference between the chimpanzee genome sequenced in 2005 and the human one, says a Seattle virologist, was 130 copies of a retrovirus that inserted its DNA into cells, as HIV does today. 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 could create drug-resistant HIV strain

(NEWSER) - A drug designed to block HIV infection comes with a little hitch: Used incorrectly, it could invite infection or create a resistant strain that renders the drug useless. The very FDA panel that recommended approval for the drug, Truvada, tangled with these dilemmas, the New York Times reports: What if people at risk of contracting HIV take Truvada intermittently—even as an occasional party drug—and contract the disease? And what if a drug-resistant strain emerges? More»