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The Search for an HIV vaccineEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I'm Paige Bates and this is The AIDS PandemicThe RV144 study was a phase III HIV vaccine trial conducted by the US Army and Thai government over seven years on 16,402 volunteers—all HIV negative men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 in parts of Thailand. For ethical reasons, all participants were taught HIV prevention behaviors, given condoms, and promised lifelong antiretroviral treatment if they contracted HIV. Half of the volunteers were given a prime-boost vaccine regimen and half received placebo vaccinations. The prime-boost approach utilizes Sanofi Pasteur’s ALVAC-HIV vaccine as a prime and AIDSVAX (origin...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - November 11, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Intersecting Epidemics: HIV/AIDS and TuberculosisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Hi, I’m Justin Eusebio.While tuberculosis is one of the world’s oldest surviving plagues and HIV-1 infection is one of medicine’s newest challenges, there is an undeniable relationship between HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Independently, Mycobacteria tuberculosis and HIV are formidable pathogens but in concert, the prospects for controlling either epidemic are jeopardized. TB-HIV coinfection and interaction complicate all aspects of each disease: pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and even social and economic issues. Not only are individuals more likely to undergo tuberc...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - October 16, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Preventing Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Mwandi, Zambia- A SuccessEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of the AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dave Wessner of the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I am Sarah Bertram. This past summer, I traveled to Mwandi, Zambia through a Davidson biology and pre-medical program. Mwandi is a predominantly Lozi village of about 7,000 people and the catchment area totals about 25,000 people. We spent 5 weeks in Africa, 3 of which were spent working in the Mwandi Mission Hospital, the Mwandi AIDS clinic, the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s center, and the Mother and Child Health Center. We all went with a research topic to study that was based on som...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - October 1, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The Case for Thai MSM and MSWEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in certain high risk groups is on the rise today as government funding for prevention campaigns nears an all-time low in Thailand, a country once touted the ‘poster-child’ for HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. Hello, I am Devynn Birx-Raybuck and this is The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. Dave Wessner, associate professor of biology, and his students at Davidson College. Though Thailand’s initial response to the AIDS epidemic was weak in its early years, in 1991, the new Prime Minister made HIV prevention and treatment a national priority. However, the country’s grip on the disease seem...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - March 27, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The Dissidents' Views of HIV TestsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Momentum for the alternate HIV/AIDS explanation started in 1987 when Dr. Peter Duesberg, a professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley and initial demonstrator that the influenza virus has a segmented genome, published a paper claiming that HIV cannot be the cause of AIDS. Four years later, a number of scientists formed “The Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis” which later established itself as an official non-profit organization. Within another four years, 32 scientists with advanced medical degrees published a statement in Science asking for the rec...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - March 4, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS Orphans in Sub-Saharan AfricaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
More than twenty-five million people have died from AIDS since it was first recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in history. It is undeniable however, that sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest hit and most affected area in the world. Of the global 2.9 million AIDS related deaths in 2007, 72% occurred in this area. AIDS has devastated the social and economic framework of societies in sub-Saharan Africa by mostly infecting people in the age group of 15-49, while 63% of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS today live in Sub-Saharan Africa. What is also startling is that, of the 2.9 million pe...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - February 19, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

US Travel Ban on HIV-infected IndividualsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study not only shows the inefficacy of the travel ban, but shows the harm presented to HIV positive individuals who desire to visit the United States. The study showed that patients on anti-retroviral therapy (212 patients) were more likely to go off their medication, increasing their chances of developing drug-resistant HIV strains or developing AIDS. The study concluded that people do so “with insufficient planning and advice.”Only about a dozen countries around the world maintain a travel ban on people living with HIV. These countries are: Iraq, China, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Moldova, R...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - February 10, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Ryan White CARE ActEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I'm Utsha Khatri. The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, was the first piece of comprehensive AIDS legislation created to provide funding for people living with AIDS (PWAs) to access care and treatment. Ryan White was a young, Caucasian hemophiliac who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion. He was diagnosed with AIDS at age thirteen and died six years later. Prior to the media’s coverage of the Ryan White story, it was widely held that HIV/AIDS only affected marginalized sectors of society namely homosexuals, intravenous drug users, and racial minorities. However, because of the widespread...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - January 9, 2009 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Time to Prepare for “PrEP”Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It all began with a 1994 study that showed antiretrovirals given to HIV-positive pregnant women before and during childbirth – as well as to the child upon delivery – reduced the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission by 50%. Next were the post-exposure prophylaxis guidelines issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 1998, recommending an antiretroviral regimen for healthcare workers after unintended HIV exposure. Then, 2006 brought exciting data gleaned from a study of monkeys who remained uninfected after repeated exposure to a HIV-like virus as a result of taking the antiretroviral drugs tenofovir...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - December 17, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

New Leadership in South Africa brings hope for AIDS ReformEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
72% of the 5.5 million South Africans who are HIV-positive are in need of antiretroviral (ARV) drug treatment. In leading the movement against ARV drugs, recently removed South African President Thabo Mbeki denied millions of his people HIV treatment. He believes that the AIDS pandemic was created by Western pharmaceutical companies to take advantage of Africans and maximize their profits. Mbeki also sides with dissident scientists in denying that the HIV virus causes AIDS and in 2003 he was quoted as saying, “Personally, I don’t know anybody who has died of AIDS” and when asked if he knew anyone infected with HIV he...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - December 9, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

World AIDS Day – The Power of OneEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Today is the 20th annual World AIDS Day, a day set aside to remember those who have died of HIV/AIDS and those who are living with HIV/AIDS. It’s also a day to remind ourselves that we all are affected by this disease. Today, many of us are wearing red ribbon pins. Many of us have placed red ribbon photos on social networking sites. Many of us will be attending HIV/AIDS breakfasts or seminars. Many of us are blogging about HIV/AIDS.Do any of these events really matter? Roughly 35 million people worldwide are infected. 14,000 people become newly infected every day. Will wearing a red ribbon or attending a breakfast change...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - December 1, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The role of concurrent relationships in the spread of HIV in AfricaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I'm Courtney Sanders.According to the 2008 UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to bear a disproportionate share of the global HIV/AIDS burden. In all, an estimated 67% of people living with HIV reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2007, three-quarters of all deaths resulting from AIDS occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa. Though the first HIV cases in the United States were noted in 1981, HIV was not seen in African countries until the late 80s. From its first appearance, the infection rate has soared with unequivocal momentum. Currently, the infection rate in Sub-Saharan Africa falls ...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - November 21, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The reality of HIV/AIDS: It hasn't gone awayEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In a recent episode of the television show South Park, one of the main characters is infected with HIV. In an attempt to find a cure, he must continually deal with the public opinion that AIDS is no longer a threatening condition. He is told that his disease is “a disease of the 80s and 90s” and even that he is “retro” for being infected with HIV. But has this retrovirus truly become retro to Americans? If we take South Park as a social barometer, then it seems that the disease has been marginalized in the public eye. Public interest on the Internet regarding AIDS is declining as well. A recent government blog abou...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - November 11, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Past, Present, and FutureEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I’m Kara Earle.Since the diagnosis of the first case of HIV in 1982, infection rates in South Africa have skyrocketed. It is currently estimated that one in five South Africans, or approximately 5.7 million people, are living with HIV. In addition, there are nearly 1,000 AIDS-related deaths occurring daily. Many AIDS experts around the world blame the South African government for their lack of appropriate response to this nationwide epidemic. Until 2003, South Africans using the publ...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - October 27, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty and HIV/AIDSEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Today is Blog Action Day 2008, a day in which bloggers throughout the world are blogging about a single issue - poverty. It is the hope of the organizers that this concerted effort will raise awareness about this important issue, lead to increased donations to groups combating poverty, and, ultimately, lead to some real changes. I am happy to be a part of this year’s effort.While many of us this week are concerned about our shrinking 401(k) accounts, the situation is much more dire for millions of people throughout the world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37.3 million Americans were living in poverty in 2007 and o...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - October 15, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

AIDS-related dementiaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I’m Bevin EnglishSince the early stages of the AIDS pandemic, doctors have known about an important neurological complication of HIV infection. This condition, known as AIDS-related dementia, AIDS dementia complex (ADC), or HIV-associated dementia (HAD), is a complex and poorly understood disease, and has the potential to greatly impact many people’s lives, including HIV-positive individuals and their families and close friends. In the United States, HIV-1 is the most common cause of dementia in adults under the age of 40. Also, neurological impairment affects roughly 60% of HIV-positive patients throughout the world. ...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - September 19, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The Presence of HIV/AIDS in Prison PopulationsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I'm Ali Cundari.U.S. prison populations are at a record high today, with barely enough room to house incarcerated individuals. Due to the close proximity and high-risk behaviors of inmates, as well as a lack of intervention from authorities, the transmission of HIV in prisons is a major problem today. A combination of both pre-existing and new infections plague prison populations, making them one of UNAIDS’ four major at-risk groups for HIV/AIDS.In 2005, 1.8% of all state inmates and 1.0% of all federal...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - September 11, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Impacts of HIV/AIDS on Economic DevelopmentEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In 2000, the United Nations created a list of 8 Millennium Development Goals to help promote economic growth and development among developing countries. One of these goals is to combat HIV/AIDS by stopping and reversing its spread and providing universal access to drugs for those infected. While this is definitely a worthwhile goal, why is it included among a list of targets to support growth? Well it turns out, that the impact of HIV/AIDS on the economy can be substantial.The first immediate effect of HIV is a drop in household productivity as the working members of the household succumb to the disease. One study by UNAID...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - August 29, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS: The role of abstinence only programsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I’m Amy Jendrek.In fiscal year 2005, President Bush requested $270 million to fund abstinence-only education programs in the U.S. While Congress did not appropriate the full amount requested, they did allocate $167 million to support these programs. There are three principal programs that use federal funds to support abstinence-only education.The first of these is SPRANS, Special Programs of Regional and National Significance, which has a sub-program devoted to Community-Based Abstin...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - August 22, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS and Abstinence-only EducationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I’m Amy Jendrek.In fiscal year 2005, President Bush requested $270 million to fund abstinence-only education programs in the U.S. While Congress did not appropriate the full amount requested, they did allocate $167 million to support these programs. There are three principal programs that use federal funds to support abstinence-only education.The first of these is SPRANS, Special Programs of Regional and National Significance, which has a sub-program devoted to Community-Based Abstin...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - August 21, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Opportunistic Infections in Developing Nations: A World AwayEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the United States and other developed nations, for many people, AIDS has become a manageable disease. With adequate care and lots of medication, HIV positive individuals can live with relatively few serious complications for a long time. In the US, 71% of HIV-infected individuals have at least started HAART therapy, decreasing deaths per infected individuals per year from 30/100 to 5/100 since the 1980’s. In developed nations, however, HIV positive individuals do not have the luxury of adequate care. In areas like Africa where the ‘burden of disease’ is highest, HIV positive individuals must face an array of oppor...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - August 15, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Themes from the International AIDS ConferenceEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Today marks the end of the 17th International AIDS Conference. 25,000 delegates were in Mexico City this week to discuss the current state of the pandemic. While I was not able to attend this year’s conference, I have been following the proceedings online. What were some of the major themes? The infection rate in the US is higher than previously thought. We need to do a better job reaching out to men who have sex with men. We need to develop an effective microbicide. We need to serve our children more effectively. New media – blogs, podcasts, twitter, mobile phones – may help us get the message out.Because of AIDS co...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - August 8, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

US to lift HIV travel banEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
“This week, Congress voted to expand a vital program that is saving lives across the developing world — the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR. I thank members of Congress from both sides of the aisle for working with my Administration to pass this important bill, and I will be honored to sign it into law next week.”With those words, President Bush on Saturday indicated his strong approval of the PEPFAR legislation passed last week by Congress. The bill provides an additional $48 billion over the next 5 years to fight HIV/AIDS, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. According to Pres. Bush: “When we fir...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - July 28, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

National HIV Testing DayEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Today, Friday, June 27th, is National HIV Testing Day. Many of us, I would guess, have become somewhat desensitized to these types of events. We are inundated by days or weeks or months dedicated to various causes. It would be easy to ignore National HIV Testing Day or view it as just another event on an already overcrowded calendar. But I encourage all of you to pay attention to this special day. Why? Because HIV/AIDS is preventable. It is only preventable, though, if all of us know our HIV status. Today, the CDC estimates that roughly a quarter million people in the US are HIV+ and do not know it. We need to decrease t...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - June 27, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Kwame Dawes reports on HIV/AIDS in JamaicaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In a recent installment of The AIDS Pandemic, Tamar Odle described the stigmatization of homosexuals and people living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica. As she reported, the discrimination against homosexuals stems from deep-rooted cultural beliefs and values. And this discrimination against homosexuals has increased the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in this country.Recently, Kwame Dawes, a poet and professor at the University of South Carolina, reported in The Washington Post on the current state of people living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica. With funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the Jamaican g...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - June 17, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS Outreach in African American Communities using Barbershops and Hair SalonsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Historically, barbershops and hair salons have served as hubs in the African American community where people go to discuss issues in the community, politics, family, and life issues. Within these establishments there is a sense of community, and it provides opportunities for African Americans to develop ideas and form a sense of identity. African Americans usually build relationships with their stylists where they are comfortable enough to gossip and share personal information. As a result, HIV/AIDS Outreach Programs have begun to use barbershops and hair salons to get through to the African American community. Such unconv...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - June 13, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS Outreach in African American Communities using Barbershops and Hair SalonsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Historically, barbershops and hair salons have served as hubs in the African American community where people go to discuss issues in the community, politics, family, and life issues. Within these establishments there is a sense of community, and it provides opportunities for African Americans to develop ideas and form a sense of identity. African Americans usually build relationships with their stylists where they are comfortable enough to gossip and share personal information. As a result, HIV/AIDS Outreach Programs have begun to use barbershops and hair salons to get through to the African American community. Such unconv...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - June 10, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Social Components of HIV/AIDS Transmission in Mwandi, ZambiaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I'm Dominique Maietta. Mwandi is a relatively rural village in the South-Western corner of Zambia. The town is home to the Mwandi Christian Hospital, which has a catchment area of approximately 25,000 individuals. During the summer of 2006, I traveled to Mwandi in order to study the psychological and social components associated with HIV/AIDS there. Here I will talk about some of my findings. The incidence of HIV in the village is around 30-40% and the percentage of HIV positive people is larger within the Mission Hospital patient population according to interviews with medical officers on the hospital staff. The majority...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - May 20, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS in ChinaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In 2006, official estimates put the number of HIV-positive individuals in China at about 650,000. This figure – reached by the World Health Organization – means that China, holding roughly 1/6th of the world’s population, contributes to only 1/60th of the cases of HIV/AIDS globally. However, it has also been estimated that if rising infection rates are not curbed, the HIV-positive population could breach 10 million by 2010. This has sparked a more liberal attitude from Party leadership toward sex education, which until a year ago, made possession of a condom adequate evidence for prostitution charges. In developed na...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - May 6, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Cancer in AIDS PatientsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I’m Mike Neri.In this episode, I will talk about a topic that is gaining increasing interest from the AIDS community: cancer. This podcast goes over why cancer is becoming more of an issue for AIDS patients, why some cancers occur more often in HIV-positive people, the complications of treating people with AIDS for cancer, and what needs to be done in the fight against cancer and AIDS. Most people following the evolution treatment of AIDS patients focus on the development of more eff...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - April 23, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

“Rethinking” AIDS: The Dissident MovementEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
On October 25th, 2007, AIDS activist Ron Hudson posted an entry on his blog describing three apparently fraudulent e-mails he had received over the past month. Each of these messages appeared to come from a prominent member or group of the mainstream AIDS establishment (Dr. Robert Gallo, Dr. Luc Montagnier, and AIDSTruth.org), but each also supported the unconventional view that the HIV virus does not cause AIDS. This disputed notion is the primary tenet of a controversial group of activists who seek to overturn much of what is widely accepted about HIV and AIDS. Variously called the AIDS dissident movement, the AIDS reapp...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - April 14, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Myths and Misconceptions about HIV/AIDSEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Myths and misconceptions about HIV and AIDS have been around since the very beginning of the pandemic. The first myths stemmed largely from the lack of information on this relatively new disease. One of the first myths, one that claimed that AIDS was a gay disease only, was strongly encouraged by the media. This exacerbated problems with prevention as misinformation was widely circulated. Since then, new myths have emerged. These myths have emerged despite the fact that there is now more accurate information on HIV. These new myths also create problems with prevention as people unknowingly put themselves at risk to contra...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - April 7, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The Stigmatization of Homosexuals and Individuals Living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica, W.I.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic hit the Caribbean in the early 1980s and was primarily transmitted by homosexual men. However, this trend was greatly reversed in the mid-1980s in which the main mode of transmission became heterosexual sexual contact. Despite the reversal of the mode of transmission from homosexual men to heterosexuals, there remains a large group of individuals in the Caribbean that still view HIV/AIDS as a “gay disease”. In the Caribbean, the most stigmatized groups that have HIV/AIDS are homosexuals (particularly men) and sex workers. As a result of this stigmatization, homosexuals and sex workers are denied h...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - February 22, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The Plight of AIDS OrphansEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The objectives of the OVC are to provide nutritional support by utilizing the feeding a program that provides one meal a day for children ranging in ages from six months to fifteen years old. The Orphan and Vulnerable Children Center also provides children with a daily multivitamin, to keep them from becoming ill often. They also assist in the continuance of good health and hygiene, by conducting health checks as well as teeth cleaning. Children in the OVC who are HIV-positive are given extra food and must get monthly checkups at the local hospital, the UCZ Mission Hospital. Although the program is designed to feed well ov...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - January 4, 2008 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV Research FundingEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It is often said that we know more about HIV than any other virus, and it’s likely to be true. In the 1980’s a staggering amount of scientific research regarding the genome, viral receptors, transmission of HIV, and drug development – including the FDA’s approval of AZT was accomplished. Scientists were hopeful that a vaccine could be developed within a few years, and it seemed that HIV might soon become a problem of the past. However, there is still much to be learned about the virus – and we have yet to see a successful vaccine. Since the 1980’s billions of dollars have been allocated for HIV/AIDS research an...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - December 19, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Merck announces failure of V520 HIV vaccine candidateEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
On September 21, 2007, Merck announced the disappointing news that the Phase IIb testing of it’s V520 as an HIV vaccine candidate would be cut short per recommendations of the study’s Data Safety and Monitoring Board. The National Institute of Health and the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases worked with Merck in a clinical trial that began in 2004 named the Step Study involving 3,000 HIV-negative, but “high-risk” individuals in North America, South America and Australia. During a preliminary review of data, the DSMB found 24 of the 751 volunteers who received one dose of V520, and 19 of the 672...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - December 7, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Cognitive Dissonance Theory & HIV/AIDS PreventionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I'm Ali Cundari.Beyond the obvious physical symptoms associated with AIDS, there are many psychological and social implications surrounding this debilitating disease that we don’t often consider. Mass media efforts and expensive awareness campaigns have done a good job at spreading information to the general public, however, these programs have not been highly successful in reducing risky sexual behavior. Talking about sexuality and proper protection is a topic very uncomfortable to many people, even in...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - November 30, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Testing and Treatment of HIV/AIDS in ChildrenEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
According to a 2006 UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic Update, there are approximately 39.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the world. Of those infected, 2.3 million are aged 15 or younger. Approximately 90% of children infected with HIV acquire the virus perinatally, meaning it is transmitted from a mother to her child during pregnancy, labor, delivery or through breastfeeding. According to the CDC, the prevalence of mother-to-child transmission of AIDS in the US has dropped significantly due to effective testing of pregnant women and treatment of those found to be infected; in resource poor settings, however, the ...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - November 9, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

PRODUCT(RED): Philanthropy or Exploitation?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Product(RED)An earlier installment of this podcast from a year ago called attention to the launch of PRODUCT(RED) in the United States. Since the brand’s introduction, (RED) watches, sunglasses, t-shirts, cell phones, and iPods have been extensively marketed and sold, with some of the revenues going to support the fight against AIDS in Africa. Nevertheless, the (RED) brand has been a target of criticism for its commercial approach to a philanthropic endeavor. In this installment, I intend to take a close look at PRODUCT(RED) and its impact on the AIDS pandemic.(RED)’s business model embodies the strategy of cause marke...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - November 3, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Integrase Inhibitor Isentress Provides a New Way to Treat AIDS PatientsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from the Department of Biology at Davidson College. I’m Mike Neri.In this podcast, I will talk about the optimism surrounding the recently FDA approved AIDS drug Isentress, including how it works, what step in the HIV replication cycle it affects, and what preliminary data show about the drug’s effectiveness and side effects. Ever since the discovery of HIV as the causative agent of AIDS, scientists have searched for weaknesses in its life cycle that they can exploit. As early as 1990, scientists had identified 13 pathways in the li...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - October 26, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Integrase Inhibitors: A New HopeEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I’m Bevin English.On October 12th, the Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) announced that it had approved a New Drug Application for a completely new kind of medication in the fight against AIDS. This drug, called IsentressTM, is the first integrase inhibitor and comes in 400 mg tablets that are taken twice daily. Produced by Merck & Co., Inc., Isentress, whose generic name is raltegravir and whose in-development name was MK-0518, has impressed many leading AIDS researchers, including Dr. Amneris Luque, medical director of the AIDS Center at the University of Rochester, who called the new drug “the road to hope for ...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - October 26, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

HIV/AIDS: The Brazilian ResponseEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the arena of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, Brazil has become a beacon of hope, particularly among developing countries. Countries around the globe are now looking towards their system of universal AIDS care for guidance.In the early 90’s it was estimated that within a decade, the number of HIV+ people in Brazil would be near 1.2 million. Instead, recent estimates suggest that only half that amount (about 660,000 people) are infected. How have they been so successful in limiting the spread of this deadly disease? With a three pronged government program focusing on prevention, treatment, and reducing the stigma ass...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - October 21, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

The AIDS Pandemic - Your ThoughtsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic. I’m Dave Wessner.Last week, I was invited to speak about this blog and podcast at the annual meeting of the American Society for Virology in Corvallis Oregon. Based on questions and comments I received, I’d like to try something a little different with this installment. I’d like to ask for your opinion of this project.Before getting your feedback, though, I’d like to remind everyone about the genesis of this podcast. I began it during the summer of 2006, just over a year ago. Throughout the fall, students enrolled in my course on HIV/AIDS at Davidson College develop...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - July 30, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

National HIV Testing DayEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this install of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner of Davidson College. I’m Dave Wessner.June 27 is the 15th annual National HIV Testing Day, an event sponsored by the National Association of People with AIDS to encourage people to get tested and learn their HIV status. Today, I had the pleasure of participating in a Webinar hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about this important event.During this Webinar, we were reminded of the CDC’s new recommendations about HIV testing – all individuals between the ages of 13 an...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - June 22, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Bush advocates $30B for PEPFAREmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from Davidson College. I’m Dave Wessner.Yesterday, President Bush implored Congress to extend PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, for an additional 5 years and allocate an additional $30 billion to the program. Initially proposed in the President’s 2003 State of the Union address, PEPFAR targets HIV/AIDS treatment in 15 countries with high HIV/AIDS burdens.As President Bush noted, the $15 billion allocated to PEPFAR thus far has resulted in antiretroviral drugs for 1.1 million people in these resource limited c...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - May 31, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

True Colors Tour for the Human Rights CampaignEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic, a podcast hosted by Dr. David Wessner from Davidson College. I’m Dave Wessner.We opened this installment with a short segment from True Colors, by Cyndi Lauper, the iconic voice of ‘80s pop. Long supported by and a supporter of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities, Lauper recently announced her plans for this summer’s True Colors tour in support of the Human Rights Campaign. Along with Debbie Harry, the Dresden Dolls, Erasure, and others, Cyndi Lauper will headline this tour that opens June 8th in Las Vegas. A portion of all tickets sales will go to...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - May 18, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Microbicides: Empowering womenEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Current global AIDS statistics are staggering, to say the least. Approximately 40 million people worldwide are living with the disease, while 14,000 new infections occur each day. Women make up almost 50% of adult infections, but this figure is higher in sub-Saharan Africa, where women are 30% more likely to be HIV-positive than men. Due to physiological differences, women are twice as likely as men to contract HIV from an infected partner, but many lack the necessary tools for protection. Even if the tools are available, poverty and inequality can make it impossible for women to have control over their sexual interaction...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - May 6, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

VIRIP: A new anti-HIV compound?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to this installment of The AIDS Pandemic. I’m Dave Wessner.Could our own bodies be producing potent inhibitors of HIV? According to research published in today’s issue of Cell, the answer may be ‘Yes.’ And these interesting findings eventually may lead to the development of new anti-retroviral drugs.Since the isolation of HIV in 1983, numerous naturally occurring human factors have been postulated to have anti-HIV properties. Today, a group of researchers in Germany have added another factor to this list. By studying hundreds of small molecules isolated from human blood, the researchers identified a short p...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - April 20, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Kiva: Using microfinancing to help people in developing countriesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Paul Farmer, one of the founders of Partners in Health, describes the ‘great epi divide,’ the epidemiological divide that exists between developed countries and developing countries, between affluent neighborhoods and less well-off neighborhoods, between the haves and the have-nots. Morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases, Farmer notes, correlate well with economic disparities.HIV/AIDS is no exception. Certainly, HIV can, and does, infect people of all walks of life. Increasingly, though, the HIV burden is highest among developing countries and the poor within developed countries. The reasons for th...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - April 14, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs

Refrigeration and HIV Meds in Resource-limited SettingsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I'm Charlie Raver.One of the distinguishing characteristics between the AIDS epidemic in the developed world and that in Africa and the developing world is a simple lack of the infrastructure to deal with the disease. Infrastructure includes everything from roads to electricity to hospitals. One example that most of us rarely think of as a gift, couldn’t dream of walking into a home and not finding, and would be lost without is something to which many in the developing world do not have access. What am I talking about? Refrigeration. Without this amazing piece of technology we would not be able to easily enjoy fresh meat...
Source: The AIDS Pandemic - March 30, 2007 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: David Wessner Source Type: blogs