September 10, 2010
Study Confirms Immune Response to HIV Treatment Is Poorer in Older People
While age doesn’t appear to affect a person’s likelihood of controlling HIV after starting antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, older people are less likely to see a significant CD4 cell recovery. These data, from the largest study of its kind conducted so far, were published online September 8 in AIDS.
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 17, 2009; Page B01
A report showing that 3 percent of D.C. residents are infected with HIV or AIDS is probably an undercount, and the prevalence of the disease is probably worse than is known, according to Shannon L. Hader, director of the city's HIV/AIDS Administration.
History of Advance HIV Disease *
GAY CANCER = 1969 (cancer only seen in gay men)
*
GRID = 1980 (Gay Related Immune Deficiency)
*
AIDS = 1982 (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) |
Act Against AIDS
04-08-2009
CDC announced a new 5-year communication campaign, Act Against AIDS, which aims to combat complacency about the HIV crisis in the United States. The campaign – which highlights the alarming statistic that every 9½ minutes another person in United States becomes infected with HIV – features targeted messages and outreach to the populations most severely affected by HIV, beginning with African-Americans.
CDC also announced the Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative, a partnership with 14 of the nation's leading African-American organizations to integrate HIV prevention into each organization's outreach programs.
According to CDC data released last year, about 56,000 Americans become newly infected with HIV each year – significantly more than was previously known – and more than 14,000 people with AIDS die each year in the United States.
The first phase of the Act Against AIDS campaign, called "9½ Minutes" uses a series of video, audio and print materials to increase knowledge about the severity of the epidemic in the United States. The materials direct Americans to "get the facts" by going to the Web site http://www.nineandahalfminutes.org as a first step toward learning how they can help protect themselves and others. The site provides basic education about HIV as well as referrals to HIV prevention and testing services and organizations throughout the nation.
July 29, 2011 / 60(29);985-988
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is categorized into two types, HIV-1 and HIV-2. Worldwide, most HIV infections are HIV-1, whereas HIV-2 largely has been confined to persons in or from West Africa (1,2). HIV-1 and HIV-2 have the same routes of transmission, and both can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (3); however, HIV-2 infections should be differentiated from HIV-1 infections because they are less likely to cause AIDS and their clinical management differs (4,5). CDC's current surveillance case definition for HIV infection applies to both variants of HIV (6) but lacks criteria for differentiating between HIV-1 and HIV-2. To enumerate and describe HIV-2 cases reported in the United States, a working case definition was developed. During 1988--June 2010, a total of 242 HIV-2 cases were reported to CDC. Of these, 166 met the working definition. These HIV-2 cases were concentrated in the Northeast (66%, including 46% in New York City) and occurred primarily among persons born in West Africa (81%). Ninety-seven of the HIV-2 cases also had a positive HIV-1 immunoblot antibody test result (e.g., Western blot). Immunoblot antibody tests currently used to confirm HIV reactive screening tests do not contain reagents specific to HIV-2 and thus are not reliable for identification of HIV-2 infections (7). Additional testing specific to HIV-2 should be considered if HIV-1 test results are atypical or inconsistent with clinical findings, especially for persons from West Africa. If an HIV case is reported to the health department but subsequently identified as HIV-2, health-care providers should update the case report to reflect the correct type.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6029a3.htm?s_cid=mm6029a3_e&