AIDS

3 posts

World AIDS Day: Good News and Bad Education

Today is World AIDS Day. The 24th World AIDS Day, to be exact. Let’s take a look at some sobering statistics, shall we?

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), as of January 2010, an estimated 34 million people were living with HIV worldwide, up 17% from 2001. This number reflects both an increase in the number of infections and a reduction in AIDS-related deaths due to increased access to effective antiretroviral therapy. UNAIDS also reports that the number of people dying of AIDS-related causes fell to 1.8 million in 2010, down from a peak of 2.2 million in the mid-2000s. Promisingly, approximately 2.5 million deaths were prevented in low- and middle-income countries since 1995 due to the introduction of antiretroviral therapy.  Much of that success has come in the past two years when rapid scale-up of access to treatment occurred; in 2010 alone, 700,000 AIDS-related deaths were averted. Continue reading →

HIV/AIDS Researchers Make a Potential Breakthrough

Identifying the pathology and weaknesses of the HIV virus is problematic because of its ability to mutate and, in simplistic terms, hide in plain sight in the human body. Most research for a potential HIV vaccine has focused largely on boosting the ability of CD4+T, (T-cells), to fight the virus when introduced into the system. The occasional successes cannot be duplicated, making research of this virus a moving target that has been confounding some of the world’s best virologists for thirty years. Continue reading →

This Is What The U.S. AIDS Epidemic Looks Like

In the 30 years since the first cases of HIV were diagnosed, it has been said that the disease is no longer a death sentence. I’m sure this statement is probably more true in the United States than other countries. Here’s the interesting thing: AIDS is probably more prevalent in your town than you think. Don’t believe me? Check out AIDSVu, the most detailed publicly available look at HIV cases throughout the U.S. Continue reading →