News by Subject Medicine & Health

Efforts to prevent new HIV transmissions in the US must be accompanied by addressing HIV-associated comorbidities to improve the health of people already living with HIV, NIH experts assert in the third of a series of JAMA commentaries. Previous commentaries detailed the proposed 'Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America,' which aims to reduce new HIV transmissions in the US, and discussed the challenges posed by the emerging opioid injection epidemic in rural areas.

Nano-sized vesicles released by certain bacteria that inhabit the vagina may protect against HIV infection, suggests a study of human cells and tissues by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Bologna, Italy. Known as extracellular vesicles, these bubble-like particles are produced by many kinds of cells and are thought to transport molecules from one cell to another.

A new study led by Boston Medical Center uncovered a need to improve testing rates for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in young people, specifically those with documented substance use history. In the national data sample, under 30 percent of young patients who reported using opioids, methamphetamine, and/or cocaine were tested for HCV.

Although HIV infection rates are high among the transgender community in Russia, many transgender people know very little about the virus, as well as their own health status. In Russia's first study to examine transgender people as an at-risk social group for HIV transmission, demographers attribute these high infection rates to the community's social stigmatization and isolation, as well as a lack of access to medical services. The study's findings have been published in the HSE journal, Demographic Review.

A common first-line treatment approach for cryptococcal meningitis in low-income countries is being compromised by the emergence of drug resistance, new University of Liverpool research warns. Published in the journal mBio, the findings highlight the need to develop new drugs and treatment regimens for the lethal brain infection, which kills around 180,000 people each year.

For patients with HIV, CD4 counts reflect the health of their immune system and HIV RNA levels indicate their viral load. This observational study focused on how cancer treatments were associated with those two important clinical measures and risk of death in nearly 200 patients with HIV and cancer.

Researchers have cleared a major obstacle in the development of an HIV vaccine, proving in animal models that effective, yet short-lasting antibodies can be coaxed into multiplying as a fighting force against the virus

A new study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases found that expansion of HIV treatment eligibility to include those under age 15 led to large and significant increases in initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 30 days of enrollment in care among 10- to 14-year-olds living with HIV.