Viruses, Infections & Disease, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 1, 2016

Zika Warning: Pregnant Women Urged to Avoid Section of Miami

Pregnant women should avoid travel to a small part of Miami-Dade County in Florida where Zika appears to be spreading by mosquitoes, officials said today. The announcement comes after officials in Florida said that 10 more people in the area appear to have contracted the virus from local mosquitoes, bringing...

Aug 3, 2016

New Zika Vaccine: Testing in People Underway in US

A new vaccine against the Zika virus is being tested in people, and researchers said they hope to have early results by the end of the year, officials said today. Scientists have just started giving the vaccine to the first few volunteers as part of an early study run by...

Aug 9, 2016

Zika Infection Linked with Rare Joint Birth Defect

A small number of babies infected with Zika virus in the womb have developed a rare birth defect involving muscle weakness and stiff joints, according to a new report of the cases. The report suggests that this birth defect, called arthrogryposis, is linked with Zika virus infection in pregnancy, adding...

Dec 2, 2011

Can Male Circumcision Stem the AIDS Epidemic?

For the Xhosa in South Africa, a boy's coming of age is often marked by an elaborate and lengthy set of rituals. One of the ordeals is circumcision, which is traditionally performed by a healer and occasionally leads to an ineffective cut, infection or even death. The young men who...

Dec 22, 2011

Drugs that Prevent HIV Transmission Named 'Breakthrough of 2011'

A trial showing that antiretroviral drugs could reduce the transmission of HIV between sex partners by 96 percent has been named the breakthrough of the year by one of the world's leading scientific journals. The journal Science announced today (Dec. 22) that the results of the HPTN 052 trial, which...

Jan 6, 2012

Experimental Monkey Vaccine Boosts Hopes in AIDS Fight

A new vaccine partially protects monkeys from an infection similar to HIV, according to a recent study. Researchers looked at 40 rhesus monkeys exposed to the Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a virus closely related to HIV. Monkeys who received the experimental vaccine were 80 to 83 percent less likely to...

Jan 12, 2012

HIV Transmission: 1 in 900 Sex Acts Transmits Virus

A heterosexual person infected with HIV will transmit the virus to their partner once in every 900 times the couple has unprotected sex, according to a new study conducted in Africa. However, the exact number of sexual acts that are needed to transmit the virus can vary tremendously depending on...

Jan 25, 2012

New Vaccine Approach Gives Hope to Those Living with HIV

Brian Brown has been taking antiretroviral drugs for five years. If he stops, the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, in his body will multiply and eventually, he'll get really sick. You have to take them with food, Brown said. Even if you aren't really hungry. A 39-year-old licensed practical nurse,...

Jun 29, 2012

Becoming a Dad May Lower Gay Men's HIV Risk

Many gay male couples are raising kids (about one in five gay male couples by some estimates), and now new research on a small sample reveals how child-rearing impacts same-sex partnerships, finding the men become less interested in sex and more focused on their little ones. When gay couples become...

Jul 19, 2012

AIDS Slower to Develop in People Infected with 2 HIV Types

Becoming infected with both of the two main types of HIV actually slows the progression of the disease, a new study says. In the study, people infected with HIV-1 and HIV-2 took three years longer on average to show symptoms, compared with people infected with only HIV-1. The slowest disease...

Sep 5, 2012

Vaginal Ring May Protect Against HIV

A plastic ring containing a drug and inserted into the vagina could prevent HIV transmission during sex, a new study in animals suggests. In the study, monkeys that received drug-releasing vaginal rings were less likely than other female monkeys to be infected when a version of the AIDS virus was...

Feb 26, 2013

People With HIV Struggle to Recognize Fear

People infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, have a harder time than healthy individuals recognizing fear in the faces of others. This trouble with emotional recognition may reveal subtle cognitive deficits caused by the disease, researchers wrote today (Feb. 26) in the open-access journal BMC Psychology. Previous studies...

Mar 4, 2013

Baby with HIV Is Cured, Doctors Say

In a dramatic medical breakthrough, a baby born HIV-positive in 2010 now shows no signs of HIV infection. Though medical experts caution that this single case does not represent a cure for all cases of HIV infection, the child’s aggressive antiretroviral treatment may become a new standard of care for...

Mar 4, 2013

Baby Cured of HIV: What Are the Implications?

The announcement that a baby in Mississippi has been allegedly cured of an HIV infection could have implications for other HIV-infected infants, and perhaps even adults, according to experts. But before researchers know for certain whether the baby's case might indeed affect others, a number of studies need to be...

Apr 29, 2013

HIV Testing Recommended for All Teens and Adults

All teens and adults ages 15 to 65 should be tested for HIV, regardless of their risk of contracting the virus, according to new recommendations from an expert panel. In addition, all pregnant women should be tested for HIV — even those who are in labor, if they have not...