Battling Aids

Approximately 5 to 6 million South Africans are infected with HIV. Nineteen percent of the country’s adult population aged between 15 and 49 carries the deadly virus. Unfortunately, only one-third of the HIV infected South Africans have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) despite of an AIDS prevention program supported by the South African government in collaboration with US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. According to a study by researchers of Massachusetts General Hospital, more than 1.2 million deaths from AIDS could be prevented in South Africa in the next five years by accelerating efforts to provide access to ART.

AIDS, the word which rings disaster has been included in the report submitted by the International federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which called on the government and humanitarian agencies to pay more attention to AIDS in their response to natural disaster and armed conflicts.

AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a fatal disease that attacks the human immune system and makes it completely non operational leading to death. However, what makes the disease even more lethal is the stigma attached to it. Intravenous drug users, homosexuals, sex workers and prostitutes are usually the victims of this disease. This is largely attributed to the lack of information about AIDS amongst these sections of the society. Even after being diagnosed with the disease they are left untreated due to the fear on the part of doctors and nurses of contracting the disease. These people lack even the basic healthcare and preventive facilities which adds to their woes.

Young gay men in America face an increased danger from AIDS. The situation is worst amongst the black community in the country. These are the finding of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal body. It says the incidence of AIDS infection in young gay men is ten times higher than in the homosexual community as a whole. In the 13-to-24-year-old group, the average annual increase was 12 percent. In the youngest age bracket, the yearly rise averaged 8 percent among Hispanics, 9 percent among whites and 15 percent among blacks.

Science now seems close to winning the war against AIDS, as FDA approves of a new drug which has a different course of action as compared to the already existing ones. The new drug, known as ‘Isentress’ acts upon the HIV virus in a different manner which makes it an ideal drug of choice for patients who have developed resistance to current drugs in use or are affected by a drug-resistant strain of the virus.

Isentress was developed by Merck and Co. and belongs to a class of drugs that inhibit the action of Integrase- an enzyme used by the HIV virus to replicate. At the moment, the drug is approved only for use in patients who have already been undergoing treatment for the disease. The possibility of its use in new patients and children is yet to be assessed.

No matter how many vows we make to annihilate AIDS from the world-map; how much we fuel our fight against it, and how loudly we talk in favor of AIDS-afflicted people; the fact remains standstill - despite many efforts - we haven’t been able to give AIDS-afflicted people their due place in the society.

After more than a decade of researching better treatments for HIV patients, a new drug had been found in UK to lengthen the life expectancy of the victims. The recent introduction of Pfizer’s Celsentri (Maraviroc) is truly helpful for the HIV patients as it guards the entrance of the immune system and blocks the virus, which in turn delays the process of developing into AIDS.

Although the drug is not a cure-all treatment, this is an alternative that patients can look forward to, since not all symptoms are remedied by other available HIV drugs in the market. Many AIDS organizations have shown interest in the drug saying this is a good sign of giving cure to the victims and will aid in reducing the progression of HIV into AIDS.

Homeopathy is often observed as second fiddle to allopathic treatment and Saturday’s workshop in south London that will be attended by 80 homeopaths will be attempting to wipe out that notion. The homeopaths will try and convince the medical world that homeopath can be as effective as allopath in the treatment of HIV and AIDS!

The event is being organized by the Society of Homeopath and is believed to be marked occasion in the further development of homeopathy. The vent will focus on the AIDS epidemic in Africa and will try and justify the significance of homeopathy in the eradication of the HIV virus from Africa.

According to a new research the AIDS virus entered the United States via Haiti, probably arriving in just one person in about 1969, earlier than first believed. After the virus, HIV-1, entered the U.S., it flourished and spread worldwide.

The team conducting the research analyzed blood from five of the first AIDS patients identified in the U.S., all of whom were recent immigrants from Haiti. The team also analyzed genetic sequences from another 117 AIDS patients from around the world who were infected with subtype B, the virus strain that has spread most widely. The study is due to be published this week in the Early Online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is the work of Michael Worobey, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at The University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues.

As per the study the most likely route was Africa to Haiti then the US, which yielded a probability of 99.8 per cent. The study might help in improving the design and testing of future vaccines by taking into full account the genetic diversity of the virus. HIV was formally recognized in 1981, and limited initial government support for studying the disease led to many more infections. This scenario is now hoped to change and efforts are being put in to restrict the disease in its present stage.

Via:BBC

Image Credit:OHCHR

Years ago, a HIV+ woman always kept family planning as the last thing on her mind. The fear of transmitting her HIV to her unborn baby during pregnancy was naturally too great for most women.

It is also so, that pregnancy and HIV was too much for a women’s body to handle! But, do you know, the effect of pregnancy on HIV-infected mothers are found to be a blessing?

There is good news for those AIDS patients who have stopped responding to available drugs in the name of Isentress [also called raltegravir], a new drug developed by Merck. The lack of response to existing drugs occurs because the HIV virus mutates constantly.

The modus operandi of HIV - It attacks the human cell and injects its genetic substance into the human DNA. It does so by means of three enzymes - reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase. Existing AIDS drugs attack the first two, but Isentress will be a pioneer in taking on the third villain - integrase.