News (Updated November 13, 2005)
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Sun Nov 13, 5:15 AM ET
A British man is believed to have become the first person in the world to get rid of the HIV virus.
Andrew Stimpson, 25, was diagnosed as HIV-positive in August 2002. However, tests 14 months later showed that the virus had completely gone from his body, despite taking no medication to combat it.
His doctors are adamant there were no mix-ups with his tests and the sandwich maker will now offer his body for medical research to help doctors in their quest to find a cure for HIV, which leads to full-blown AIDS.
"I remember after the repeat tests my doctor came into the room saying, 'You've cured yourself! This is unbelievable, you're fantastic!'
"It's so amazing to think that one day I was staring death in the face and now I am waving it goodbye," he told the News of the World Sunday.
The Mail on Sunday reported that in two previous cases of "spontaneous clearance", it was impossible to prove that both the positive and negative tests came from the same person.
Stimpson was all the more surprised given that on hearing he had tested HIV positive, he gave up safe sex with his infected boyfriend, 44-year-old Juan Gomez.
On hearing of the negative tests, he considered sueing his hospital with this in mind over what he thought must have been bungled earlier tests.
The hospital launched an investigation and Stimpson received a letter last month saying that DNA testing had confirmed it was his blood in all the samples.
"There had been no error in the labelling or testing of the samples", it added.
Both newspapers printed the letter from the National Health Service Litigation Authority.
"The fact that you have recovered from a positive antibody result to a negative result is exceptional and medically remarkable," the letter read.
"I understand the (hospital authority) Trust have written to you highlighting your importance to other HIV patients."
Stimpson said: "I will do anything I can if it will help find a cure for HIV."
Dr George Kinghorn, an HIV specialist from Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital, said Stimpson could provide vital clues in the battle to beat AIDS.
"For an individual to have been infected with a virus, cleared of it and then become antibody negative is highly unusual.
"If we can better understand what happened inside Andrew's body it could prove to be a step towards a breakthrough in beating the HIV virus."
Stimpson, from the Scottish coast west of Glasgow, went for tests in May 2002 after feeling weak and feverish. They came back negative. However, the virus can take three months to appear in the blood after contraction.
Tests in August that year found an exceptionally low level of HIV anti-bodies.
Because he was in the early stages, he did not require medication, but doctors were surprised by his continuing good health.
Repeat tests in October 2003 and ever since have come back negative.
Although the research is still at an early stage, they hope it could eventually lead to a practical and cost effective new way to combat the virus.
As of December 2004, there are 39.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS.
The research, by the US National Cancer Institute, is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Most HIV transmission occurs on the surfaces of the gut and reproductive areas which are normally coated with a layer of bacteria.
The researchers modified one of these bacteria - a form of E.coli - so that it began to secrete proteins that block HIV from infecting its target cells.
When the modified bacteria were introduced in mice, they successfully colonised parts of the lower gut, and were also found in lower concentrations in the vagina.
Better method
Writing in the journal, the researchers said there was an urgent need for new ways to prevent the spread of HIV, especially in the developing world.
Scientists have been working on microbicide creams and gels which can be applied to the genitals to block HIV infection.
However, the researchers say the fact they need to be regularly applied before sex is likely to limit their use.
They believe their approach has the potential to offer more lasting protection.
"Bacteria are simple and practical to manufacture, store, distribute and administer, and they are far less expensive than protein-based microbicides," they write.
They also believe the method could be adapted to deliver bacteria secreting different proteins to different parts of the body.
Although primarily designed to prevent new HIV infections, they believe it could also be used, in combination with drug therapy, to treat people already carrying the virus.
Work needed
Dr Tim Farley, of the World Health Organization, said: "In principle a technique such as this which enhances the body's defences against HIV sounds like a great idea.
"Clearly there are many steps to be completed in the development and clinical testing of the product, and there may be special safety concerns over unexpected side effects due to deliberately colonising the gastrointestinal tract with genetically engineered bacteria."
Lisa Power, of the Terrence Higgins Trust said: "This research is promising and is based on a clever idea, using naturally occurring bacteria to improve resistance to transmission.
"However, we are a very long way off its practical use in humans, and until then, condoms are the best defence we have against HIV and most other sexually transmitted infections."
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- People taking highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, for HIV infection may be less susceptible to tuberculosis, say U.S. researchers.
Although opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis can be fatal for immunocompromised patients, HAART not only reduces the viral load of HIV, but it also often helps to keep other infections such as tuberculosis under control.
In fact, previous studies indicate that HAART can reduce the risk of tuberculosis in HIV patients by 70 percent to 90 percent.
A group of European and U.S. researchers followed patients with HIV for three years after they began HAART. The rate of tuberculosis was highest within the first three months of therapy, but declined after longer HAART exposure. Patients' risk of developing tuberculosis more than doubled if HAART did not successfully control their HIV.
The findings are published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Fri Nov 11, 2005 9:06 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New draft guidelines for male latex condoms published on
Thursday call for packaging to include information they reduce, but do not
eliminate, the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines also specifically say condoms that contain the spermicide nonoxynol-9 must specify that they can cause irritation and increase the risk of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
They also specify that consistent condom use may help protect against some other sexually transmitted diseases, such as human papilloma virus, or HPV, that are transmitted through skin contact.
The draft labels, required by law, also address incorrect or inconsistent use, saying condoms should be thrown away -- not flipped over -- if not unrolled correctly.
Condom packaging is already required to carry certain warnings about the risk of pregnancy and disease.
Congress called for the new FDA proposal to ensure condom labels were "medically accurate," but there has been debate between lawmakers and FDA scientists about what should be included.
Some health activists have also expressed concern that too many warnings may discourage use altogether.
The agency's recommendations give specific language manufacturers can use to meet the FDA's current labeling rules. They are not mandatory, but most companies follow them.
"The new guidance for condom labels issued today by the FDA recognizes that current condom claims do not meet this medical standard," said Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and physician who has pressed for the changes.
Coburn said he welcomed the new nonoxynol-9 warning but rejected the claims about HPV, a virus that can cause cervical cancer. "The agency continues to promote inconclusive assurances that put women unknowingly at risk for cervical cancer, or worse," he said.
Other lawmakers, including California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, have said that government studies support condom use to prevent HPV.
FDA officials said they suggested the labeling after conducting an "extensive review" of relevant medical literature in consultation with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Studies have shown nonoxynol-9 can irritate the vagina and rectum, allowing HIV to more easily pass through the tissue.
One AIDS activist group, which has lobbied manufacturers to stop including nonoxynol-9 in condoms, welcomed the warning but said it should have come sooner.
"It's behind the times. Condoms in today's world are much more used for disease prevention than pregnancy prevention," AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said.
The public can comment on the guidelines for 90 days before the FDA makes its final recommendation.
Wed Nov 9, 2005 5:41 AM GMT
ATLANTA (Reuters) - The number of U.S. syphilis cases rose for the fourth
straight year in 2004, fueled by increases among men, while the gonorrhea
disease rate reached a historic low, federal health researchers said on Tuesday.
The annual report on sexually transmitted diseases (STD) by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also showed a rise in chlamydia cases, but the increase is believed to reflect better screening and not a rise in new infections.
The rate of primary and secondary syphilis, the earliest and most infectious stages of the disease, rose 8 percent to 2.7 cases per 100,000 people last year, the fourth straight year of increase since an all-time low in 2000, the CDC said. In 2003, the rate was 2.5 cases per 100,000 persons.
Though syphilis is rarer in the United States than gonorrhea and chlamydia, health officials said its rise was occurring primarily among men who have sex with men. Syphilis can cause insanity and death if left untreated.
A separate CDC analysis estimated men with male sex partners accounted for 64 percent of early-stage syphilis cases in 2004, up from just 5 percent in 1999. Cities with large gay populations had some of the highest rises in syphilis cases, topped by San Francisco.
"We do have good evidence that men are engaging in higher risk behaviors," said Ronald Valdiserri, acting director of the CDC's HIV, STD and Tuberculosis prevention programs.
At the same time, the data showed syphilis declined among groups that had been hardest hit in the past. For women and blacks, syphilis rates fell 55 percent and 37 percent, respectively, from 1999 to 2004, the CDC said.
The nation's gonorrhea rate fell to 113.5 cases per 100,000 people last year, down 1.5 percent from 2003 and the lowest level on record since reporting began in 1941.
But officials said gonorrhea was under-reported, and noted that higher rates among U.S. ethnic minorities and rising resistance to antibiotics were hurdles to treatment and prevention. If left untreated, gonorrhea can cause infertility in men and a serious infection of the reproductive tract in women.
The CDC said chlamydia, a bacterial infection that can cause infertility in women, rose 5.9 percent to 319.6 per 100,000 people between 2003 and 2004. The agency said the rise likely reflects broader screening and better diagnostic tests rather than an increase in new infections.
STDs, which are spread through vaginal, oral and anal sex, result in medical costs of $13 billion annually and can increase the risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the CDC noted.