A
research team based in Queensland state said proteins taken from the
mosquito-borne Kunjin virus had the potential to provide either gene therapy
treatment or preventive vaccines for a range of deadly diseases.News (Updated April 3,
2005)
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Fri Apr 1, 2005 04:44 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Now is the time to implement routine, not
risk-based, HIV testing, according to an editorial published in the medical
journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
"Establishment of routine testing for HIV infection is essential to reduce the number of persons...in the United States who are infected with HIV but are unaware of their HIV (status)," state Dr. Curt G. Beckwith from Brown Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
The authors explain that significant numbers of persons with newly diagnosed HIV infection are diagnosed late in the course of the disease, not only worsening their prognosis but also increasing the likelihood of that they have transmitted HIV to others.
Moreover, the researchers write, current recommendations for testing are impractical, because few physicians working in the community can really know if they are working in a high-prevalence area or not.
Also, assessing patients' risk for infection is often hampered by inaccurate information supplied by patients, the physicians suggest.
Even without these factors, health-care providers may not offer HIV testing for a variety of reasons, ranging from failure to obtain informed consent from the patient to time constraints.
The authors propose instituting a new policy in which health-care providers routinely offer HIV testing, regardless of the patient's perceived risk. To make this workable, the authors say, counseling needs to be streamlined and rapid HIV testing implemented.
"Early diagnosis provides an opportunity for linkage to care, with the goal of preventing (AIDS-related) infections and the development of severe" immune deficiency, the researchers point out. "Early diagnosis also allows for risk-reduction counseling, which can reduce transmission of the...virus."
HIV testing "should be performed routinely for all sexually active persons, to diagnose HIV infection and to prevent AIDS," they conclude.
SOURCE: Clinical Infectious Diseases, April 1, 2005.
Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:51 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A rare disease found in gay men in the Netherlands two
years ago, and since reported in France, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and the
United States, has now found its way into Britain, according to a report on
Thursday.
The disease, lymphogranuloma venereum, affects the rectum and can, if not treated early, affect part of the immune system, according to the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Thirty-four cases have been reported in Britain -- all in gay men, of whom more than half were HIV-positive and a handful also were infected with hepatitis C.
A bacterial infection caused by a particularly aggressive strain of Chlamydia trachomatis, it was considered relatively rare until 2003 when some 100 cases were reported in gay men in Rotterdam, according to the journal.
Since then it has been found in Antwerp, Hamburg, Paris, Sweden and several U.S. cities including New York, San Francisco and Atlanta.
If treated early it can responds to antibiotics. But if overlooked, surgery is often necessary, the journal noted.
The risk of being infected seems to be more closely linked to the age a person reaches sexual maturity than starting to have sex when young.
The researchers, from the University of Manchester, believe that girls who mature early may be protected to some extent by their hormones.
Details are published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
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It is important that young women entering a new relationship do
emphasise the use of contraception Dr Simon Barton, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV |
The researchers studied 127 young women from three sexual health clinics.
All of them had started having periods within the preceding five years or were aged 17 years and under.
The women were screened for genital infections, including chlamydia, human papillomavirus (HPV) and bacterial vaginosis.
Almost two thirds of the young women tested positive for HPV - half of which were the high risk types associated with the development of cervical cancer.
Over half of those infected with HPV had at least one other infection.
About one in four tested positive for chlamydia, which is associated with infertility.
Oestrogen aid
The researchers found that specific behaviour patterns had specific effects on particular infections.
A recent new partner or use of a condom was associated with a lower risk of chlamydial infection, while the use of emergency contraception doubled the risk.
Sex during a period also increased the risk of bacterial vaginosis, while smoking conferred protection against HPV.
But sexual maturity had a significant impact on all three infections.
More sexually mature women were significantly less likely to have any of the infections.
The association held good even after other factors, such as number of sexual partners were taken into account.
The researchers believe the key may be that girls who reach sexual maturity early have high levels of the female sex hormone oestrogen.
Researcher Dr Loretta Brabin said this might help to reduce the risk of infection by accelerating physical development.
'Myth dispelled'
There are a number of defence mechanisms which are mobilised when a woman becomes sexually mature.
The production of cervical mucus can help block infections from penetrating the cells of the vagina and cervix, while the environment in the vagina becomes more acidic and thus less hospitable to infections.
In addition, cells from the cervix, called columnar cells, which protrude down into the vagina before sexual maturity and which are particularly vulnerable to infections such as chlamydia, mature and lose their vulnerability.
Dr Brabin told the BBC News website: "Our findings dispel the myth that vulnerability to sexual infection is all about the age of onset of sexual activity and high risk behaviour."
But she stressed no young woman should indulge in risky sexual behaviour - particularly as this research suggested they were more likely to contract multiple sexual infections.
Dr Simon Barton, of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, said the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection were influenced by a number of factors, including a person's genetic make up and whether they already had other infections.
He added it was "important that young women entering a new relationship do emphasise the use of contraception".
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Thu Mar 31, 2:45 AM ET
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SYDNEY (AFP) - A virus found in northern
Australian mosquitoes could provide the basis for vaccines to prevent AIDS
and cure cancer.A
research team based in Queensland state said proteins taken from the
mosquito-borne Kunjin virus had the potential to provide either gene therapy
treatment or preventive vaccines for a range of deadly diseases.
Australia's Department of Health says the Kunjin virus is closely related to the West Nile virus.
Andreas Suhrbier, head of The Queensland Institute of Medical Research, said genes drawn from the Kunjin virus had been used to cure cancer cells in laboratory mice.
"We're delivering a gene that alerts the immune system to the fact that this is a bad cell to have hanging around and we are teaching the immune system to wipe out cancer cells," he said.
"So this is a generic technology that allows us to transport genes into cells... we're basically using this Kunjin system to deliver medicines into cells," he said.
Another team member, Russian-born molecular virologist Alex Khromykh of the University of Queensland, said that while the results in mice were promising, human trials were at least five years away.
"The ultimate hope is we can develop a system that can help people to be immune to the nasty virus infections like HIV or ebola or any other infections," Khromykh said.
"Hopefully we can also cure cancer, which is also a very big problem.
"But research is one thing and getting the vaccine to the market is a different thing."
Suhrbier said the Kunjin virus was an ideal vaccine vehicle because it had not infected a wide cross-section of the population.
"The fact that it is limited to northern Australia is great because it means that the rest of the population of the planet can be treated with this gene therapy vector and not wipe it out immediately with their immune system," he said.
Kunjin virus was first isolated from mosquitoes collected in north Queensland in 1960.
The Queensland institute and university, backed by the state government, on Thursday launched the Replikun Biotech company to commercialise the new technology, baptised KUNrep.
State Health Minister Gordon Nuttall said the researchers' discovery and the launch of Replikun Biotech could have wide-ranging implications.
"Hopefully, as a result of the new company that's been formed, we'll be able to produce great results that will enhance the well-being of all, not just Australians but also people around the world," Nuttall said.
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Fri Apr 1,12:11 PM ET
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NAIROBI (AFP) - The vast majority of Kenyan firms are ignoring problems caused by AIDS by not developing workplace policies to combat the deadly virus here, where the disease kills more than 500 people a day, according to a survey.
Only 28 percent of companies in Kenya have established guidelines for dealing with HIV/AIDS infected employees, acccording to the survey by audit and business consulting giant PriceWaterHouseCoopers.
"Most companies have not attempted to establish what proportion of their workforce might be infected by HIV/AIDS and those that have attempted to hazard a guess have been overly optimistic about having low HIV/AIDS prevalence among staff," it said.
The survey, entitled "View from the Board: The Business Community's Response to HIV/AIDS in Kenya," said only nine percent of company boards of directors were active in monitoring the disease and that there was "clearly very little discussion" about it among executives.
"The inability to generate both internal and external information that would help companies develop sustainable intervention programs is, in the opinion of many CEOs ... still a major challenge," said PriceWaterHouseCoopers chief representative in Kenya, Charles Muchene.
The survey, conducted late last year, questioned executives from 30 large Kenyan firms and said the results squared with a similar poll done throughout east Africa in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia in 2003.
Both studies revealed a "lack of insight" into HIV/AIDS despite th deaths of company employees from the disease that is rapidly smothering sub-Saharan Africa.
"This region is well behind the pack," Muchene said. "Most companies (in the four countries) do not appreciate that a mortality rate of one to two percent per annum may signify a high level of HIV/AIDS infection."
In Kenya, AIDS has killed about 1.5 million people since 1984.
The government says it has cut HIV/AIDS prevalence from 14 percent of its 32 million population in 2000 to seven percent this year (from 2.5 million AIDS patients to about 1.4 million), a claim that has drawn skepticism in the past.
Of the 39.4 million people in the world living with AIDS or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), nearly two-thirds -- 25.4 million -- live south of the Sahara and the epicentre, southern Africa has about 11.4 million people with the killer virus.
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Wed Mar 30, 9:05 AM ET
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MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia has slashed the cost of AIDS treatment by more than two-thirds from 10,000 to 3,000 dollars after successful talks with multinational drug companies, Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov said.
The country, which by most accounts has close to one million people infected with or suffering from AIDS, hopes to cut treatment costs further, by one-half, he said at an international meeting here on the disease.
"We are counting on reducing the costs to between 1,400 and 1,700 dollars (1,100-1,300 euros)," the minister, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency, said after negotiations with pharma companies to drop their prices for the vital drugs to fight AIDS.
Several hundred HIV positive people in Russia last December protested to press the government to make treatment free of charge.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Yukov stressed that the spread of HIV/AIDS was far more than just a health issue.
"In the current demographic situation it has become a question of strategic, social and economic security," he said.
The World Bank has estimated that the number of those infected with the AIDS virus in Russia could leap to 2.3 million by 2010, and top 5.4 million in 2020 if the government does not take concerted action.
In five years, Russian GDP could be 4.5 percent less than if AIDS did not exist, Jean-Louis Sarbib, a World Bank vice president, said, highlighting the "severe economic consequences."
Officially, there are some 305,000 HIV positive people registered in Russia, but experts estimate the true figure is at least three times higher.
Health officials have identified several patients potentially infected with a rare strain of highly drug-resistant HIV, but are not sure if the cases are related.
The first case of the strain was reported last month in a man who had unprotected sex with dozens of other men while under the influence of crystal methamphetamine.
Officials then contacted sex partners identified by the infected man, and began surveying city HIV laboratories for patients with possibly related strains, The New York Times reported in Wednesday editions.
City officials would not say how many patients had been identified as possibly being infected with the strain, and said it could take months to determine for sure whether their infections are related to the first case.
"The extent to which this strain has spread remains under investigation," the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement.