New model for uncovering true HIV mortality rates in Zambia

Research conducted by a team of researchers co-led by Charles Holmes, MD, MPH, faculty co-director of Georgetown University Medical Center's Center for Global Health and Quality says that a new study that seeks to better ascertain HIV mortality rates in Zambia could provide a model for improved national and regional surveillance approaches, and ultimately more effective HIV treatment strategies.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180112151227.htm

NIH begins large HIV treatment study in pregnant women/ National Institutes of Health (NIH)

A clinical trial will compare three antiretroviral drug regimens.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases...ment-study-pregnant-women

Scientists have just discovered a new mechanism by which HIV evades the immune system, and which shows precisely how the virus avoids elimination. ... "We discovered that HIV promotes the destruction of the anti-viral Interferon signalling pathway. Essentially, HIV uses the machinery in our own cells to do this, and the virus is thus able to reduce the production of many important anti-viral molecules. Without these anti-viral molecules, our immune system can't clear viral infections."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180417115716.htm

Early HIV treatment key to avoiding brain atrophy

Scientists have known for some time that HIV-infection causes reduced volume and cortical thickness in some regions of the brain, but it was unclear when these changes begin and what combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) plays in stopping or slowing its progression. To answer these questions, researchers from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital ( The Neuro ) of McGill University, in collaboration with researchers from University of Washington St. Louis and Yale University analysed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 65 patients at the University of California San Francisco who had been infected less than one year before.

https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/...ding-brain-atrophy-287004

Scientists cautiously optimistic about HIV vaccine candidate

A new vaccine appears to be safe and induced an immune response in humans and rhesus monkeys in an early stage trial, according to new research published Friday in the journal The Lancet.

That means it's safe enough to go into the next phase of testing, which involves a larger number of humans. It's one of only five experimental HIV-1 vaccine concepts that have gotten this far during the 35 years of the HIV pandemic.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/06/health/hiv-vaccine-study-intl/index.html