dec. 1 st, world aids day

[strollingbones]

An estimated 34 million people are living with HIV around the world, with over 100,000 people who have the virus in the UK. Despite HIV only being identified in the early 1980s, more than 35 million people have died of the condition or Aids, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

More is understood about HIV and Aids than ever before due to scientific advances. Even so, around 6,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with HIV each year, people are still unaware of how to protect themselves from transmission and stigma is still a major problem for those living with it. On World AIDS Day, we look at 10 key facts and statistics about HIV and Aids.

1. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus and it weakens a person's immune system by destroying cells that fight infection and disease.

2. The best way to prevent HIV is to use a condom during sex and to never share needles or other injecting equipment – including syringes, spoons and swabs. Knowing your HIV status and that of your partner is important.

3. HIV cannot be transmitted through sweat, saliva or urine.

4. Only 53% of people living with HIV are estimated to know their status, according to the World Health Organization.

5. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) consists of the combination of antiretroviral drugs to suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease – advances in access to ART means HIV-positive people now live much longer and healthier lives. It has also been confirmed that ART prevents onward transmission of HIV.

6. By mid-2015, there were 15.8 million people living with HIV who were receiving ART globally.

7. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region, with around 25.8 million people living with HIV in 2014. The region also accounts for almost 70% of the global total of new HIV infections.

8. Emergency anti-HIV medication called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) may stop a person becoming infected but treatment must be started within three days of coming into contact with the virus.

9. Between 2000 and 2015, new HIV infections have fallen by 35% globally, while Aids-related deaths have fallen by 24%.

10. Aids is a syndrome caused by the HIV virus, which is when a person's immune system is too weak to fight off many infections. It develops when HIV infection is very advanced and is the final stage of HIV infection. If HIV is left untreated, it can take around 10 to 15 years for Aids to develop, when the immune system is severely compromised.

World Aids Day 2015: 10 key facts and statistics about HIV and Aids



okay thats a lot to read...but it is basically this...you can be hiv positive now and live a mostly normal life...with the drugs etc....but you have to seek treatment...so you need to be tested...who needs to be tested...anyone who is sexually active...

anyone who is sexually active...i know you are only doing one person and you are willing to risk your life on your sexual partner or partners being loyal.....but use common sense and get tested...

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Should ditch world AIDS day and replace it with world HPV day. 80 mil in just the US have HPV, less than 1 million have HIV/AIDS.

 

[strollingbones]

i am for safe sex...period

 

[Delta4Embassy]

i am for safe sex...period

Better to be tested regularly, and especially before a sexual relationship than trust to condoms.

 

[waltky]

HIV on the decline...

HIV Diagnoses Plummet by 19 Percent
December 07, 2015 - The number of HIV diagnoses in the U.S. has fallen by 19 percent since 2005, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The drop was driven largely by “dramatic and continuing” declines among heterosexuals, intravenous drug users and African Americans, but gay and bisexual men have not seen the same reductions, the CDC said. “Although we are encouraged by the recent slowing of the epidemic among black gay and bisexual men – especially young men – they continue to face a disproportionately high HIV burden and we must address it,” said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “Much more must be done to reduce new infections and to reverse the increases among Latino men. There is hope that the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and other efforts are beginning to pay off, but we can’t rest until we see equal gains for all races and risk groups.”

Reggie Batiste (l) program manager with AIDS Healthcare Foundation, administers a free HIV test as part of National HIV Testing Day​

For male gay and bisexuals, the picture is much more nuanced, depending on race and ethnicity, the CDC said. Among white gay and bisexual males, diagnoses fell by 18 percent, but for Latinos and blacks, diagnoses were up 24 and 22 percent respectively though the CDC noted positive diagnoses among blacks had leveled off since 2010.

Age also appeared to be a factor with young black gay and bisexual men aged 13 to 24 seeing an 87 percent jump in diagnoses between 2005 and 2014. That too has appeared to level off after 2010. The CDC said that HIV testing levels have “remained stable or increased among the groups experiencing declines in diagnoses in recent years,” leading them to believe the decreases in diagnoses reflects a drop in new infections.

HIV Diagnoses Plummet by 19 Percent

 

[SeniorChief_Polock]

According to Public Health England, 95% of people diagnosed with HIV in the UK in 2011 acquired HIV through sexual contact.

Gee. Aren't there other legitimate causes to focus on where innocent people are being slaughtered? How about 1.06 million abortions for starters.

 

[AmericanFirst1]

An estimated 34 million people are living with HIV around the world, with over 100,000 people who have the virus in the UK. Despite HIV only being identified in the early 1980s, more than 35 million people have died of the condition or Aids, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

More is understood about HIV and Aids than ever before due to scientific advances. Even so, around 6,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with HIV each year, people are still unaware of how to protect themselves from transmission and stigma is still a major problem for those living with it. On World AIDS Day, we look at 10 key facts and statistics about HIV and Aids.

1. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus and it weakens a person's immune system by destroying cells that fight infection and disease.

2. The best way to prevent HIV is to use a condom during sex and to never share needles or other injecting equipment – including syringes, spoons and swabs. Knowing your HIV status and that of your partner is important.

3. HIV cannot be transmitted through sweat, saliva or urine.

4. Only 53% of people living with HIV are estimated to know their status, according to the World Health Organization.

5. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) consists of the combination of antiretroviral drugs to suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease – advances in access to ART means HIV-positive people now live much longer and healthier lives. It has also been confirmed that ART prevents onward transmission of HIV.

6. By mid-2015, there were 15.8 million people living with HIV who were receiving ART globally.

7. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region, with around 25.8 million people living with HIV in 2014. The region also accounts for almost 70% of the global total of new HIV infections.

8. Emergency anti-HIV medication called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) may stop a person becoming infected but treatment must be started within three days of coming into contact with the virus.

9. Between 2000 and 2015, new HIV infections have fallen by 35% globally, while Aids-related deaths have fallen by 24%.

10. Aids is a syndrome caused by the HIV virus, which is when a person's immune system is too weak to fight off many infections. It develops when HIV infection is very advanced and is the final stage of HIV infection. If HIV is left untreated, it can take around 10 to 15 years for Aids to develop, when the immune system is severely compromised.

World Aids Day 2015: 10 key facts and statistics about HIV and Aids



okay thats a lot to read...but it is basically this...you can be hiv positive now and live a mostly normal life...with the drugs etc....but you have to seek treatment...so you need to be tested...who needs to be tested...anyone who is sexually active...

anyone who is sexually active...i know you are only doing one person and you are willing to risk your life on your sexual partner or partners being loyal.....but use common sense and get tested...

Pretty sad when a disease that is spread by immoral behavior has its own day.

 

[Ame®icano]

Is Sheen celebrating or... ?

 

[waltky]

Must abstain from sex for one year before giving blood...

US ends ban on blood donations by gay men
Wed, Dec 23, 2015 - ‘RIDICULOUS’: Advocates said the FDA’s policy remains discriminatory, as even men in monogamous gay relationships must abstain from sex for one year before giving blood

The US Government on Monday overturned its 30-year ban on blood donations by gay men, saying they can now donate 12 months after their last sexual contact with another man. Its decision to reverse the policy was based on an examination of the latest science which shows that an indefinite ban is not necessary to prevent the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. “Ultimately, the 12-month deferral window is supported by the best available scientific evidence, at this point in time, relevant to the US population,” FDA biologics division deputy director Dr Peter Marks said in a statement.

The move brings the US into line with countries such as Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, which also have 12-month deferral periods. Gay-rights advocates said the policy remains discriminatory. “It is ridiculous and counter to the public health that a married gay man in a monogamous relationship can’t give blood, but a promiscuous straight man who has had hundreds of opposite sex partners in the last year can,” Democratic Congressman and Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus co-chair Jared Polis said.

The FDA said it has worked with other government agencies and considered input from outside advisory bodies and has “carefully examined the most recent available scientific evidence to support the current policy revision.” During Australia’s switch from an indefinite blood donor deferral policy on gay men, essentially a ban, to a 12-month deferral, studies evaluating more than 8 million units of donated blood were performed using a national blood surveillance system, the FDA said. “These published studies document no change in risk to the blood supply with use of the 12-month deferral,” the agency said. “Similar data are not available for shorter deferral intervals.”

People with hemophilia and related blood clotting disorders would continue to be banned from donating blood due to potential harm they could suffer from large needles, the agency said. Previously they were banned due to an increased risk of HIV transmission. It has put in place a safety monitoring system for the blood supply which it expects to provide “critical information” to help inform future FDA blood donor policies, the agency said, adding that its policies have helped reduce HIV transmission rates from blood transfusions in the US from 1 in 2,500 to 1 in 1.47 million.

US ends ban on blood donations by gay men - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

Early clinical trial successful...

New Antibody Treatment for HIV Passes First Hurdle
December 23, 2015 - An experimental treatment providing a new approach in the fight against HIV has cleared the first hurdle.

VRC01 is a so-called monoclonal antibody, a relatively recent development in the arsenal of bioengineered therapies. Monoclonal antibodies are similar to the antibodies produced by the human immune system, which are proteins that go after and destroy disease-causing organisms. But monoclonal drugs contain antibodies explicitly engineered by scientists to target a specific disease. They now include drugs designed to suppress the immune system so autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis can be treated, and rev up the body's natural defenses to fight cancer.

An early clinical trial shows that passive immunization with an HIV-1 neutralizing antibody can help lower the amount of virus in the blood of an HIV-1-infected subject.​

While they don't always result in a cure, in many instances, monoclonal antibodies significantly slow disease progression. In an early clinical trial involving just over 20 HIV-infected individuals, VRC01 was extremely effective in attacking and destroying the AIDS virus. "It was safe,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose scientists designed the HIV antibody. “There were no problems with doing it. And (number) two, it temporarily decreased the level of virus in the people who were not receiving anti-retroviral therapy."

Trial details

He says there was no response in the 15 patients who were taking anti-AIDS drugs, perhaps because that therapy had already driven the virus down to virtually undetectable levels. But among the others, an infusion of VRC01 totally knocked out the virus for 20 days in two participants. Others saw their virus load significantly drop for up to three weeks. However, a couple of patients in this group saw no effect, and scientists determined they were infected with drug-resistant strains of HIV. The results were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Since the virus re-emerged a few weeks after treatment, Fauci says future trials will look at whether HIV can be suppressed with repeat infusions. "This is an important first step toward determining the feasibility of using monoclonal antibodies for prevention and treatment of HIV," he said. Researchers have not ruled out using VRC01 to shield high-risk individuals against HIV infection. Fauci says it's likely the second phase of clinical trials — further testing the safety and effectiveness of the anti-AIDS monoclonal antibody — will take place next year.

New Antibody Treatment for HIV Passes First Hurdle

 

[waltky]

Curing HIV with gene-editing...

Gene-editing Technique Could Cure HIV
March 25, 2016 - For the first time since the start of the AIDS epidemic, it appears scientists are on the verge of a cure.

Antiretroviral drugs do such a good job of suppressing the AIDS virus and keeping it from reproducing, that levels of HIV are virtually undetectable in infected individuals. But the memory of the virus always remains in human T-lymphocytes — immune system cells that are the target of the virus. These reservoirs can spring to life and begin churning out the AIDS pathogen the moment antiretroviral drugs are stopped. Now, researchers appear to have found a way to eliminate the viral reservoirs from cells altogether, so they can never reproduce.

Scientists have engineered a gene-editing technique called CRISPR/Cas9 to cut out the viral DNA, effectively curing the disease. "The excision molecules that we have developed inactivate a large population of … the cells containing the virus and then it's basically dropped — the virus replication — almost 90 percent in … patients or even [in] infected cells in the lab," said Kamel Khalili, lead researcher and chair at the Department of Neuroscience at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A DNA double helix is seen in an undated artist's illustration. Scientists have engineered a gene-editing technique called CRISPR/Cas9 to cut out the HIV-infected DNA from cells.​

Khalili and his colleagues have not actually cured any patients, but they have scrubbed infected human T-cells in the laboratory of any trace of HIV. The work was described in the journal Scientific Reports.

Khalili believes the gene-editing technology has the potential to cure AIDS. "It's an exciting time and the reason is the technologies are available and the methods are in place and our knowledge has increased and hopefully there will be funding to take us toward this exciting moment toward the cure of the disease," he said. Khalili predicts human clinical trials could get underway in two to three years.

Gene-editing Technique Could Cure HIV

See also:

Report: Botswana Leads World in HIV Diagnosis, Treatment
March 24, 2016 - The tiny southern African nation of Botswana is leading the way in treatment and containment of the virus that causes AIDS. It is exceeding goals for addressing the HIV crisis, well ahead of a deadline set by the United Nations.

Botswana, with HIV infection rates of up to 25 percent of the adult population, has moved ahead of other countries — both Western nations and the economically disadvantaged — in tackling the AIDS epidemic. The United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS has called on countries to strive to ensure that 90 percent of their citizens know their HIV status and that 90 percent are treated with ant-retroviral therapy to achieve 90 percent viral suppression. A new report published in The Lancet HIV has found that Botswana is exceeding those goals, well ahead of a 2020 deadline.

Botswana has reached a viral suppression rate of 96 percent among its infected citizens, mostly between the ages 15-49, according to Max Essex, chair of Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health AIDS Initiative. The reason? Essex said the middle-income country has been open to letting in international AIDS researchers and clinicians to assist in the fight. Botswana also started the battle early in 2001 with a goal of testing high-risk populations and making sure anti-AIDS drugs were available to people who needed them, even in remote villages. “So you can’t say it can’t be done even in sub-Saharan Africa where there are very high rates of infection and where there’s not a lot of pre-existing number of physician AIDS specialists and that sort of thing,” he said.

A mother carries a child on her back as she visits an exhibition on HIV/AIDS in Gaborone, Botswana. The country has reached a viral suppression rate of 96 percent among its infected citizens.​

Countries in the West, according to Essex, are lagging behind Botswana in the fight to suppress the virus that causes AIDS, reaching anywhere from 60 percent of their HIV-infected citizens in Europe and just 30 percent in the United States. In the absence of a cure for AIDS, Essex said the U.N. estimates that suppression of the virus through identification and treatment could result in a dramatic drop in HIV transmission rates. “In the way the World Health Organization set up those goals," he added, "they stated that if all countries or the world could reach those guidelines by 2020, then within 10 years of that, rates of new infections should go down by 90 percent in the world.”

Botswana's experience seems to show the validity of that approach, and Essex said he is optimistic that other countries will eventually catch up to it. “It will certainly take other countries considerably longer to," he said, "but I have no doubt that most countries can reach those goals if they want to and I certainly hope they want to.” The hope continues for researchers to find an effective HIV vaccine to halt transmission. Without that, Essex said reaching as many infected people as possible, and treating them with anti-retroviral drugs, offers the best hope of stopping the spread of the virus.

Report: Botswana Leads World in HIV Diagnosis, Treatment

 

[waltky]

India transfusions infect many with HIV...

India hospital transfusions infect thousands with HIV
Tue, 31 May 2016 - At least 2,234 people contracted HIV while getting transfusions using contaminated blood in hospitals in India in the past 17 months.

The information was revealed by the country's National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) in response to a petition filed by information activist Chetan Kothari. Mr Khothari told the BBC that he was "shocked" by the revelation. India has more than two million people living with HIV/Aids.

The highest number of patients who had been infected with HIV as a result of contaminated blood in hospitals, were from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh with 361 cases, Mr Kothari's RTI (Right to Information) query revealed.

A sculpture by Indian sand artist Sudersan Pattnaik on the eve of World Aids Day on Golden Sea Beach in Puri, in Orissa state​

The western states of Gujarat with 292 cases and Maharashtra with 276 cases rank second and third respectively. The Indian capital Delhi is at number four with 264 cases. "This is the official data, provided by the government-run Naco. I believe the real numbers would be double or triple that," Mr Kothari told the BBC.

Under law, it is mandatory for hospitals to screen donors and the donated blood for HIV, hepatitis B and C, malaria and other infections. "But each such test costs 1,200 rupees ($18; £12) and most hospitals in India do not have the testing facilities. Even in a big city like Mumbai, only three private hospitals have HIV testing facilities. Even the largest government hospitals do not have the technology to screen blood for HIV," Mr Kothari said. "This is a very serious matter and must be addressed urgently," he added.

India hospital transfusions infect thousands with HIV - BBC News

 

[Snouter]

..who needs to be tested...anyone who is sexually active...

In all honestly, since the mid-80's when the establishment began hyping this bullshit, not one of anyone I know who is heterosexual while multiple sexual contacts contracted that disease. I think there was one qu33r I know who got it, but I think it was actually diabetes that he suffered from. I personally do not use rubbers because even the Magnum XL is uncomfortable.

 

[Skull Pilot]