Diseases

They emerge in Asia and eventually disappear in South America. The findings should help improve vaccines.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 17, 2008

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Doctors and nurses on the go often skip soap and water in favor of an alcohol-based hand gel, thinking the quick-acting goo will kill bacteria on their hands and curb the spread of infection.

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The answer, they say, has to do with the virus itself. It is more stable and stays in the air longer when air is cold and dry, the exact conditions for much of the flu season.

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HIV can trigger learning and memory deficits by launching a double attack on the brain, research shows.

It was already known that a protein on the surface of the virus could kill off mature brain cells.

But the latest study shows it also prevents the production of replacements by crippling cells with the potential to step in and take their place.

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The vast majority of women do not know that most cervical cancer is caused by a sexually transmitted infection.

In a survey of 1,600 women only 2.5% cited human papillomavirus as a risk factor for cervical cancer.

Around 80% of sexually active women can expect to have an HPV infection at some point in their lives.

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The common scientific wisdom on how HIV infection proceeds to full-blown AIDS might be wrong, two U.S. researchers say.

They hope that their new insights, if proven, will lead to exciting new treatment targets down the line.

Working from a complex mathematical model of viral replication and immune cell death, the researchers now suspect that AIDS begins when one especially fast-killing strain of HIV gains the upper hand over a less-lethal, but more prolific, strain.

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A longstanding theory of how HIV slowly depletes the body's capacity to fight infection is wrong, scientists say.
HIV attacks human immune cells, called T helper cells. Loss of these cells is gradual, often taking many years.

It was thought infected cells produced more HIV particles and that this caused the body to activate more T cells which in turn were infected and died.

Imperial College London modelling suggests that, if that was true, cells would die out in months not years.

The Imperial findings have been published in journal PLoS Medicine.

  "If the specific process by which HIV depletes this kind of white blood cell can be identified, it could pave the way for potential new approaches to treatment,"  said Professor Jaroslav Stark

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Taking daily selenium supplements may block the build up of HIV in a patient's blood, research suggests.
The University of Miami found a lower HIV viral load in patients who took selenium supplements for nine months.

Selenium deficiencies have been recorded in HIV patients, and evidence suggests the mineral can improve the function of the immune system.

The Archives of Internal Medicine study suggests the supplements may be a cheap and easy way to help keep HIV in check.

  This research suggests that selenium supplements may be useful in addition to traditional combination therapy

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