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

Aug 12, 2018

How Does PrEP, the HIV-Prevention Medication, Work?

At the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam last month, a group of researchers announced that, although their HIV-prevention trial isn't over yet, they know that the treatment is going to be a success. This isn't the first study of its kind to go extraordinarily well; a few years ago,...

Sep 28, 2018

Father Transmits HIV to Newborn Son in Rare Case: How Did It Happen?

After a 4-year-old boy in Portugal was diagnosed with HIV, the biggest question was how he got the infection. His mother, for example, didn't have it (women with HIV can pass the virus to babies). An investigation revealed a surprising source: leaky blisters on the boy's father's skin. While it's...

Mar 5, 2019

A Second Person May Be Cured of HIV

A man in the United Kingdom may be the second person ever to be cured of HIV. The new patient, who was diagnosed with the virus in 2003, appears to be HIV-free after a special bone-marrow transplant, according to a new report of his case. The researchers caution that it's...

Mar 6, 2019

Could a Third Person Be Cured of HIV?

On the heels of the news that a U.K. man may be cured of HIV comes the announcement that a man in Germany may also be HIV-free thanks to a similar treatment. On Monday (March 4), researchers announced that a U.K. man — known as the London patient — was...

May 1, 2019

'Vampire Facial' at New Mexico Spa Likely Exposed 2 People to HIV

Last September, officials began investigating a spa in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for potentially exposing its clients to blood-borne infections through their vampire facials and other spa treatments. Now, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) has confirmed that two clients of the VIP Spa contracted the same HIV virus, according...

May 31, 2019

AIDS & HIV: Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention

While 1.2 million Americans currently live with AIDS, the incurable disease is no longer a death sentence and has become a chronic, manageable condition. The introduction of protease inhibitor drugs in 1996 was a game changer in the treatment of the disease, and now with early treatment, people with AIDS...

Sep 11, 2019

Chinese Scientists Tried to Treat HIV Using CRISPR

Scientists in China have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to treat a patient with HIV, but it didn't cure the patient, according to a new study. The work, published today (Sept. 11) in The New England Journal of Medicine, marks the first time this particular gene-editing tool has been used in...

Oct 10, 2019

California Becomes 1st State to Sell HIV Prevention Drugs Without a Prescription

California just became the first state to allow people to buy HIV prevention drugs at pharmacies without a prescription, according to recent news reports. Around 1.2 million Americans currently live with AIDS, an incurable disease that develops after an individual is infected with the HIV virus. But in the last...

Oct 23, 2019

Can Gene Therapy Cure HIV? US Gov't. Is Banking $100 Million On It.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants to cure HIV and sickle cell disease with gene therapies, and will invest $100 million over the next four years towards that goal, the agency announced today (Oct. 23). For this effort, the NIH will partner with The Bill & Melinda Gates...

Nov 25, 2019

Over 1,000 Patients Possibly Exposed to HIV After Hospital's Sanitation Mistake

Over 1,000 patients at an Indiana hospital may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C after an error in a sanitizing procedure, according to recent news reports. Between April and September, one of the Goshen Hospital's seven surgical sterilization technicians skipped a step in a multistep cleaning...

Mar 10, 2020

UK man becomes second person cured of HIV after 30 months virus-free

A man in London appears to be the second person ever cured of HIV, his doctors said. The man — whose case was first announced a year ago — has now been HIV-free for 30 months without the need for antiviral medications, according to a new report published Tuesday (March...

May 26, 2020

Oldest 'nearly complete' HIV genome found in forgotten tissue sample from 1966

The oldest known nearly complete gene sequence from the HIV strain that spread across the world has been found in a tissue sample from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a new study finds. The tissue sample was taken and preserved in 1966, making this HIV sequence 10 years...

Jun 14, 2020

HIV may hide out in brain cells, ready to infect other organs

The HIV virus can take refuge in the brain even when treated with antiretroviral therapies, only to later infect other organs in the body if that treatment is stopped, a new study in mice and human tissue suggests. Untreated HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, cripples the immune system and...

Jul 8, 2020

A shot taken every 2 months could prevent HIV

A shot to prevent HIV has outperformed the prescription pill normally taken for the same purpose in a large clinical trial, The New York Times reported. The injectable medication, taken once every two months, could provide an appealing new option for HIV prevention, as compared with pills that must be...

Aug 28, 2020

Study hints at how 'elite controllers' stifle HIV

Some people with HIV have a seemingly miraculous ability to control the disease without life-long antiviral medications or risky bone marrow transplants, and now, a new study hints at how this elite group bridles the infection. In less than 0.5% of people with HIV, the virus stops replicating without the...