New HIV Strain Discovered in Woman

A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon.
It differs from the three known strains of human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers report in Monday’s edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
The finding “highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence for new HIV variants, particularly in western central Africa,” said the researchers, led by Jean-Christophe Plantier of the University of Rouen, France.
The three previously known HIV strains are related to the simian virus that occurs in chimpanzees.
The most likely explanation for the new find is gorilla-to-human transmission, Plantier’s team said. But they added they cannot rule out the possibility that the new strain started in chimpanzees and moved into gorillas and then humans, or moved directly from chimpanzees to both gorillas and humans.
The 62-year-old patient tested positive for HIV in 2004, shortly after moving to Paris from Cameroon, according to the researchers. She had lived near Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, but said she had no contact with apes or bush meat, a name often given to meat from wild animals in tropical countries.
The woman currently shows no signs of AIDS and remains untreated, though she still carries the virus, the researchers said.
How widespread this strain is remains to be determined. Researchers said it could be circulating unnoticed in Cameroon or elsewhere. The virus’ rapid replication indicates that it is adapted to human cells, the researchers reported.
Their research was supported by the French Health Watch Institute, the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis and Rouen University Hospital.
A separate paper, also in Nature Medicine, reports that people with genital herpes remain at increased risk of HIV infection even after the herpes sores have healed and the skin appears normal.
Researchers led by Drs. Lawrence Corey and Jia Zhu of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that long after the areas where the herpes sores existed seem to be clear, they still have immune-cell activity that can encourage HIV infection.
Herpes is marked by recurring outbreaks and has been associated with higher rates of infection with HIV. It had been thought that the breaks in the skin were the reason for higher HIV rates, but a study last year found that treatment of herpes with drugs did not reduce the HIV risk.
The researchers tested the skin of herpes patients for several weeks after their sores had healed and found that, compared with other genital skin, from twice to 37 times more immune cells remained at the locations where the sores had been.
HIV targets immune cells and in laboratory tests the virus reproduced three to five times faster in tissue from the healed sites as in tissue from other areas.
“Understanding that even treated (herpes) infections provide a cellular environment conducive to HIV infection suggests new directions for HIV prevention research,” commented Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
That study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Tietze Foundation.

For the complete article, please refer to http://news.aol.com/health/article/new-hiv-strain-discovered-in-cameroon/599611

Illinois Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against HIV/AIDS Nonprofit

The Illinois attorney general on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Center for AIDS Prevention for unlawful fundraising and falsifying official documents, ProPublica reports (Weaver, 7/27). Attorney General Lisa Madigan said the state revoked the organization’s registration 20 years ago, but its director, Steve Neely, also known as Morrell Neely, has continued to solicit donations in the state. “The state says the group tried to reregister as a nonprofit using a phony Chicago address, though its boss, … lives in Riverside, Calif.,” Courthouse News Service reports (Freeland, 7/27). “If the suit is successful, Illinois could seize money illegally raised there, bar Neely and others involved with the center from future charitable work in the state, freeze their assets, force them to pay back donations they may have ‘misused and/or wasted’ with interest, and attempt to shut the group down for good by revoking its corporate status,” ProPublica reports (7/27).

For the complete article, please refer to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159165.php

Genital Warts Treatment Facts That Will Help You

If you have noticed small, flat, flesh colored bumps on your genital area then you may have genital warts. Sometimes these warts will disappear on their own, but they need to be monitored by your doctor. These warts are caused by HPV or the human papillomavirus, and it is sexually transmitted. You can get rid of these warts if you have the right genital warts treatment.

If you suspect that you have genital warts it is very important that you see your doctor as soon as possible. He or she can help you develop the best treatment plan for you and your specific situation. Using an over the counter wart remover is not an option because this medication is too caustic to the sensitive skin of the genital area. Remember that these warts are caused by a virus and there is a chance they will come back after being removed.

There are several genital warts treatment options available. Your doctor can opt to remove the warts by freezing them. This is called cryotherapy and can be done in the doctors office or clinic. Lasers are also used to remove genital warts. There are specific chemicals that your doctor may use to dissolve the warts. In some cases, you may have to have a surgical procedure. This is called a LEEP procedure, and it involves taking a sharp instrument that is shaped like a loop and scraping the wart off the skin. Alternatively you can try a specialist natural ingredient genital warts treatment.

After you have your genital warts treatment is it important that you learn to take good care of yourself. Since these warts are caused by a virus you need to get healthy so your body will be able to fight off any future wart outbreaks. It is also critical that you do not have unprotected sex when you have genital warts.

Genital warts treatment is necessary to keep the warts from growing and spreading. It is best if you discuss treatment options with your doctor.

For the full article, please refer to http://ethorities.com/genital-warts-treatment-facts-that-will-help-you

Condoms May Reduce Herpes Risk – Unprotected skin may still transmit virus, but disease odds fall by 30 percent, study finds

People who use condoms regularly can reduce their risk of getting genital herpes by 30 percent, a new study finds. The herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) causes genital herpes, which is a chronic, lifelong viral infection. Although studies have found that regular condom use reduces the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, whether they prevent the transmission of HSV-2 has been less certain, the researchers noted.

“Condoms work for herpes,” said study author Emily T. Martin, a postdoctoral fellow with the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute. “Even though the decrease is smaller than you would see with some other STDs, the evidence from previous studies has been unclear whether using a condom to prevent getting herpes was going to be effective, but this shows that it is,” she said.

Using condoms reduces herpes transmission by only 30 percent because, unlike other STDs, herpes is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, Martin explained. “Transmission has a lot to do with where the virus is being shed at the time,” she said. “If someone with herpes is shedding virus for an area that is not covered by a condom, we speculate the virus will spread whether or not they are using a condom.” The study is published in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

For the study, Martin’s team looked at data from six HSV-2 studies that dealt with the effectiveness of condoms in preventing herpes. The studies included 5,384 men and women who did not have herpes when the studies began. During the follow-up period, which ranged from 12 to 19 months, 415 people had contracted the herpes virus. But people who used condoms 100 percent of the time reduced the risk of catching the virus by 30 percent, the researchers found.

In addition, the risk of getting herpes was reduced 7 percent “every additional 25 percent of the time that condoms were used during anal or vaginal sex,” the researchers wrote. The risk of getting herpes increased with the frequency of unprotected sex, and there was no significant difference between men and women in the effectiveness of condoms in preventing herpes transmission, they add.

Martin said using a condom not only reduces the odds of getting herpes, but of other STDs as well. “If you don’t know the STD status of your partner, a condom is always a good idea,” she said. Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner, director of STD Prevention and Control Services at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said the study provides more evidence that condoms work.

“We know condoms can prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections like HIV, herpes, warts, hepatitis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis, but it’s always been hard to show that in research studies,” Klausner said. “If condoms can hold air and water, I never understood why folks thought they would not prevent the spread of germs, which are much, much larger than air or water molecules,” he said.

Klausner said that the study provides scientific evidence that condoms work and should help in efforts to get condoms into the hands of sexually active teenagers and adults.

For the full article, please refer to http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/628978/main.html

Dating With Genital Herpes

When a person is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease, it is important to learn the necessary treatment plans, methods used to prevent transmission as well as general information about how the disease or virus affects the body. This information will help the infected person understand how the disease or virus changes how and if he can engage in sexual activity in the future.
Step One
Be open and honest. Determine the appropriate time to disclose your diagnosis to romantic and/or sexual partners. Full disclosure concerning the disease as well as relevant information regarding your condition and treatment plan is strongly encouraged prior to any sexual contact, including oral and anal sex. You may have to provide information about the disease. Be prepared to answer general questions about transmission and prevention methods.
Step Two
Explain the risk. Be prepared to answer general questions about transmission and prevention methods. Explain that you are able to engage in sexual activity as long as a condom is worn from start to finish. Medical science has proven that the herpes virus cannot pass through a latex condom. It can, however, be transmitted to areas that are not protected, including the mouth.Ask your sexual partner to discuss his concerns.
Step Three
Use protection. Speak with your physician about a preferred method of contraception. Regardless of the brand or type of condom that is used, it is important to use a condom whenever there is direct physical contact between the infected and another sexual party. Patients are encouraged to use a condom even when symptoms, or an outbreak, has not occured, as the herpes virus can be spread any time there is direct physical contact.
Step Four
Build a social network. Join a dating community organised specifically for singles diagnosed with the Herpes virus. Herpes dating groups provide free profile services, resources and educational reading materials, and answers to frequently asked questions and concerns.
For the full article, please refer to http://www.ehow.com/how_4532035_dating-genital-herpes.html

Use the Internet to break the news about an STD

Just think of all the things the Internet allows you to do – things that were once handled in person or on paper.

I’m talking about greeting cards, thank-you notes and party invitations. And let’s not forget the ease with which relationships can be ended – via e-mail or text messages. (One of my single co-workers tells me this is an acceptable way to end a relationship, as long as it has lasted no more than one month.)

Well, we also have a way for people to let their sex partners know – anonymously – that they may have a sexually-transmitted disease. This story at CNN looks at the service, offered by inSpot.org, a San Francisco-based company that’s been around for a few years.

Basically, once someone is diagnosed with an STD, they can use the site to inform recent partners that they are at risk.

The electronic cards deliver the news in a variety of styles. Some are flirty: “You’re too hot to be out of action. I got diagnosed with an STD since we played. You might want to get checked too.”

Some are somber: “Who? What? When? Where? It doesn’t matter. I got an STD; you might have it too. Please get checked out.”

The idea of using such an impersonal method to deliver bad news might seem insensitive or cowardly. But some health officials say it’s better than one of the likely alternatives – doing nothing.

“When you weigh the importance of getting people notified, that’s ultimately what needs to be done,” said Jeffrey D. Klausner, director of STD Prevention and Control Services in San Francisco, California’s Department of Public Health. “By notifying them — even if it’s done anonymously, even distantly, even with an e-card — the benefits of getting someone diagnosed and treated outweigh the concerns of insensitivity.”

So far, the site is operating in nine U.S. cities (the closest is Chicago) and ten states ( Missouri and Illinois are not among them.)

Web Site Claims To List People With STDs

COLUMBUS, Ohio—STDCarriers.com claims to be an international list of people with STDs, sexuallytransmitted diseases. It was launched in October 2008 by a recent college grad whose ex-girlfriend gave him herpes.

“I’m actually listed on there myself,“ says site creator and administrator Cyrus Sullivan. He didn’t put himself on the list. He waited for someone else to put his name in the database.

The site says its list includes people infected with one or more diseases, including HIV, from at least five countries. The list is not just porn stars, movie stars and athletes whose stories have been reported in the mainstream media, but average people who have been reported to the site by friends, ex’s and people who claim to have some knowledge of person’s health status.

He says he created the list to warn others.

“If this site had existed in its current state a little over a year ago,“ he says, “I would have been able to look this girl up and I wouldn’t be having to shell out money for Valtrex every month.“

“I think for prevention messages alone this is a really bad idea,“ warns Columbus AIDS Task Force Executive Director Peggy Anderson. She says the site can’t be successful even if all the information in its database is true.

“Primarily it doesn’t work because it can never be an all-inclusive list,“ she says. “If people don’t know their own status, you’re still not going to know. So you’re going to trust a faulty mechanism to tell you who’s safe and who’s not.“

The site’s database is built solely on reports from users and is far from comprehensive. It lists a total of 15 people in Ohio including two in Columbus, five in Cleveland and one in Galion. Anderson says that may give users a false impression of safety. People may not practice safe sex because their partner does not appear on the list.

Anyone who signs up for the site’s free membership can post information and the administrators take no responsibility for the accuracy of the posts. According to the site’s Legal Section, “Information is published by users who agree to the Terms of Use and then insert information into our database. As part of this agreement users assume full responsibility for the information that they publish.“ The data is then immediately visible on several of the site’s pages. One of the Ohio listings is for a Cincinnati-area woman who, according to police records, hit her boyfriend in the face with a bottle then, knowing her HIV status, spit in his face hoping to infect him. Hamilton County Jail records say she is charged with felony domestic violence. The information in her STDCarriers.com listing is based on an article from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Her condition is part of police record and is, therefore, a verifiable public record. Some of the postings even include photos, like a 19-year-old from Amherst, Ohio, who is alleged to have at least two STD’s.
That is not the case for many of the items in the database which are unsubstantiated. Sullivan says he audits the database occasionally but it’s up to the posters to be honest.

“They assume responsibility for what they post,“ he says. “They also agree to compensate victims once found.“

The site’s Terms of Use say misrepresenting your affiliation to a person will incur a $1,000 fine, posting content that violates the TOU costs $7,500 for each item, and “if you are found to have violated this section you agree to compensate the victim a monetary amount not less than $5,000 United Staes [sic] Dollars plus all legal expenses.“ Sullivan says he has never collected the money on a TOU violation or misuse.

CATF’s Anderson is concerned about the ramifications for people who’s names end up on the list, no matter whether the information is true or false.

“I’ve seen people lose their jobs, lose their housing, be kicked out of their families, their churches,“ she says of her years working with the HIV community. “And I just think putting any information out there, even if it is real, you are hurting people.“

“That’s ridiculous,“ says Sullivan, the site’s owner. “That is a flaw in the people that do those types of things to people. You should never throw someone out of their house or disown them just because they have HIV or any medical condition.“ He says he does not feel responsible for the fallout of posting the information.

Every “Carrier Profile” page includes a legal disclaimer that acknowledges the possibility of false postings and says the “site does not assert that any person listed does in fact have a sexually transmitted disease or that statements made about them are true.“

The site claims it is not legally liable for the information published by its users because it is protected by the First Amendment which would, according to the site’s Legal Section, “protect our right to report what someone else said even if what that person said was false because that fact that the statement was made would be true.“

“The fact that he’s merely republishing something somebody else told him does not give him a defense,“ says Kathleen Trafford, an attorney at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP who handles many First Amendment Cases.

She says, depending on the website’s statements, the owner could be sued for defamation, libel or slander. “If there is nothing being done to check the fact that these would be true statements, I think that person is at real risk,“ she says. “While the first amendment gives you a right to make statements publicly, it doesn’t give you an unlimited right to say anything about anybody else.“

Sullivan says he believes he is fully protected but his members and users may find themselves in legal trouble. “I’m in a pretty good legal position, on my end,“ he says. He says he has heard from several attorneys but has never actually been sued. The web site expects that it will be fed bad information by users with a grudge and even acknowledges that it has happened. The Fraud Policy says, “Due to the predictability of human behavior it is inevitable that people will (like they already have) use this potentially life saving resource to hurt others for any number of personal reasons by posting false information on this site.“

Removing a name from the database is solely at Sullivan’s discretion. And he admits the site runs on a guilty-until-proven-innocent method. “I feel the government should have been doing this years ago,“ he says.

To be taken off the list, Sullivan requires written test results from a doctor. “Have your doctor send your clean test results in an official sealed envelope,“ says the site’s Fraud Policy. It lists a Portland, Oregon, Post Office box as an address and says, in October 2009, it will be switching to a “non-USPS box service that forwards mail.“

Students Will Learn About STD Testing at School

The issue of comprehensive versus abstinence-only sex education has been on the hot plate for quite some time now, but finally Utah state officials have drawn the line. Unfortunately , it’s still not very clear.

The State Board of Education approved a curriculum that allows teachers to point out different methods of contraception, such as birth control or condoms, and encourages testing for STDs such as chlamydia, gonorrhoeae, or herpes. However, the curriculum does not allow teachers to promote the use of birth control. With such a fine line between appropriate and inappropriate material, teachers are nervous about what they say in the classroom. If they go too far they could face serious repercussions.

School boards are allowed to teach less than the new curriculum permits; however, they are not allowed to teach more than what is permitted. HB189, a proposed bill, would require discussions regarding  contraceptives in all health classes.

* For the complete article, please visit http://stdtest.com/original-articles/

Access HIV Prevention Videos and Education

Westchester County residents can now access local HIV/AIDS resources online thanks to the launch of a new Facebook page, Project WAVE Westchester (PWW).

PWW is a partnership of public and private agencies that provide HIV/AIDS-related services including prevention, testing, counseling, and treatment, with a special focus on communities most affected by the disease. An offshoot of the Project WAVE national effort, PWW is a collaboration of the state Department of Health, the county health department, community groups, area health centers, and hospitals.

Outside of New York City, Westchester County has the state’s second-highest AIDS case rate and third-highest HIV infection rate. The county is also home to the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS, excluding the city.

PWW’s Facebook page contains information about upcoming HIV testing events as well as prevention videos and public service announcements that focus on the importance of testing. To visit the page, go to www.facebook.com and register for a free account. Members then enter “Project Wave” into the search function to access PWW.

“I think it’s great that Project WAVE is using this popular Web site to provide valuable information about HIV/AIDS services to Westchester residents,” said Dr. Joshua Lipsman, the county’s health commissioner. “Many people spend a lot of time on these social networking Web sites, and this is another way for the public health community to reach out to residents and help them get the services, support, and resources they need. It also enables residents to find others who share their interests and concerns.”

For the complete article please refer to http://www.cdcnpin.org/news/NewsList.asp

AIDS Crisis Subject of Little Rock Lecture: Humanitarian Says More Effective Aid Programs are Key

Making existing interventions more effective is the next step in addressing the AIDS pandemic, according to noted physician, author, and teacher Paul Farmer.

“I’m surprised at the ineffectiveness of social projects,” he told an audience of more than 400 Thursday at the Clinton Presidential Center. “They are not focused on the outcome.”

Farmer, the incoming chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard University, said the world has progressed beyond a “low point” of the AIDS epidemic in 2002 when average drug costs were more than $10,000 per patient annually. “This was the time when people were saying not a lot could be done,” Farmer said.

Since then, the cost of AIDS drugs has declined dramatically. In addition, inroads have been made in Haiti, where the proportion of the population infected with HIV has dropped from 5 percent to 2 percent.

Farmer also called for renewed efforts to address other health crises around the world, singling out tuberculosis and infant mortality. “These are overwhelming problems, but they’re problems that have solutions as well,” Farmer said.

Farmer, the subject of the biography “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” also described his time practicing medicine in Haiti and Rwanda.

“He defined service and outcomes the way I’ve tried to for years,” said Skip Rutherford, dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas. “To have someone like Paul Farmer is a thrill to everyone.”

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