Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in HIV & AIDS for June 2008. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Most Heterosexual HIV Spread in Africa Within Couples
FRIDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of heterosexually acquired HIV transmission in urban Zambia and Rwanda occurs within married or cohabitating couples, suggesting that voluntary counseling or testing for couples is needed, according to a report in the June 28 issue of The Lancet.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial
Buprenorphine Maintenance Best for Heroin Addicts
FRIDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Maintenance treatment of detoxified heroin addicts with buprenorphine is more effective in sustaining abstinence and delaying resumption of heroin use compared with naltrexone or placebo, researchers report in the June 28 issue of The Lancet.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial
Video May Help Trim Sexually Transmitted Disease Rates
THURSDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- New infections among patients at sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics can be reduced by up to 10 percent by showing a brief educational video in the waiting room, according to an article published in the June issue of PLoS Medicine.
Full Text
Organ Transplants in Need of Up-Front Consent Policy
WEDNESDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) should create a policy requiring potential organ transplant recipients to go through a comprehensive consent process that allows them to specify whether they'll accept or decline all non-standard organs, according to a Sounding Board feature in the June 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Personal Benefit Motivates Medical Research Participation
MONDAY, June 23 (HealthDay News) -- Patients participated in the Evaluation of Subcutaneous Proleukin (Interleukin-2) in a Randomized International Trial (ESPRIT) study because they hoped to personally benefit from the results, but they also felt a sense of pride in participating to help others, according to a report published in the June 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Article Examines Use of 'Key Opinion Leaders' in Drug Sales
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Influential doctors known as "key opinion leaders" are paid generous fees to influence their peers to prescribe a company's drugs and may in fact be considered salespeople by the industry, according to an article in the June 21 issue of BMJ.
Full Text - Moynihan
Editorial - Buckwell
Editorial - Fava
Oral Fluid Rapid HIV Test Accuracy Questioned
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Oral fluid testing with the OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test is associated with episodic increases in the number of false-positive results, according to a report published in the June 20 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
More Information
Experts Discuss Cardiovascular Risks in HIV/AIDS Patients
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- The success of antiretroviral drugs has enabled HIV-infected patients to live longer, but recent studies indicate that they are at higher risk of coronary heart disease, which is now a leading cause of death in this population, according to the proceedings of an American Heart Association scientific conference on the topic, published online June 19 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Herpes Suppression Drug Not Linked to Less HIV
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Although herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection is associated with increased risk of HIV-1 acquisition, HSV-2 suppressive therapy with acyclovir wasn't associated with a reduced incidence of HIV-1, according to research published in the June 21 issue of The Lancet.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial
HIV Screening in Those Over 55 Often Cost-Effective
WEDNESDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- In tested populations with an HIV prevalence of at least 0.1 percent, it is cost-effective to screen those in the 55 to 75 age group as long as streamlined counseling is offered and screened patients have an at-risk partner, researchers report in the June 17 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Electronic Linkage Most Accurate in Recording AIDS Deaths
TUESDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- An electronic record linkage found that a large number of deaths in people with AIDS who lived in or received their diagnosis in Washington, D.C. had not previously been reported to the D.C. HIV/AIDS Reporting System (HARS), according to research published in the June 13 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
More Information
Weaning Doesn't Improve HIV-Free Survival for Infants
WEDNESDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- Studies seeking an optimal approach to preventing HIV transmission between HIV-infected breast-feeding mothers and their newborn babies found that stopping breast-feeding early (at 4 months) ultimately did not reduce HIV-free survival in infants; however, giving extended preventative therapy demonstrated a short-term positive impact. The studies were published online June 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Abstract - Kuhn
Full Text
Abstract - Kumwenda
Full Text
Editorial
Nearly 14 Million Young U.S. Adults Lack Health Insurance
MONDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- In 2006, 13.7 million U.S. adults aged 19 to 29 lacked health insurance, according to a report published May 30 by The Commonwealth Fund.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
