STDs

(Newser) - A lot more people in the US have HIV than previously thought. A new CDC study suggests that the US has undercounted by about 15,000 cases a year for 15 years or so, the New York Times reports. That would add 225,000 cases to the current estimate of about 1 million. The new figures are likely to have a big impact on decisions about AIDS policy in the US and fuel criticism about prevention measures, the Times notes. More »

(Newser) - Although global AIDS infection rates have remained constant, deaths from the disease dropped by 10% last year as more patients got access to drugs, the United Nations finds. The UN attributes the drop in deaths—from 2.7 million to 2 million—to better help for HIV-positive mothers, increased condom use, and fewer teens having sex before age 15, Bloomberg reports. More »

(Newser) - A revolution in drug treatments for people with HIV has dramatically increased survival rates in the West, reports the Independent . A patient diagnosed today at the age of 20 can expect to live to nearly 70 by taking cocktails of drugs. Life expectancy improved by an average of 13 years between 1996 and 2005, and has continued to rise. More »

(Newser) - HIV-positive journalist Andrew Sullivan is “ecstatic” over yesterday's passage by the Senate of a bill that would lift a US ban on visitors and immigrants with the virus that causes AIDS, he writes in his Atlantic blog. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's one of the happiest days of my whole life," writes the openly gay, British Sullivan, who plans to pursue citizenship. More »

(Newser) - A gene extremely common among Africans but almost unknown other ethnic groups may be rendering people of sub-Saharan Africa more susceptible to HIV and AIDS, the Times of London reports. The gene variant—common because it provides malaria protection—makes carriers 40% more likely to contract HIV and could be responsible for 11%, or 2.5 million, of the AIDS cases in Africa, the continent hardest hit by the disease. More »

(Newser) - A move by Sen. Elizabeth Dole to honor former Republican colleague Jesse Helms by adding his name to a bill that would combat AIDS has Pandagon blogger Pam Spaulding seeing red. "Dole spits in the face" of gay activists, Spaulding writes, by attaching the stridently anti-homosexual Helms to a measure that could save thousands of lives. More »

(Newser) - The Senate moved today to repeal a ban on allowing immigrants and vistors who are HIV-positive to enter the country, the AP reports. The measure was part of a $50 billion bill to combat AIDS worldwide. The US is one of only a dozen countries—including Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Libya—that forbids the entry of visitors with AIDS. More »

(Newser) - HIV infection rates are rising by 12% annually among young gay men aged 13 to 24—and even more among young black men, the Washington Post reports. That's 10 times higher than the overall gay community, possibly because younger men have “not been personally affected by AIDS in the same way that their older peers were," suggests one expert. More »