FROM: U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL CDC reports progress, innovations and challenges in scaling-up Prevention of Mother-to-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) efforts in AfricaResearch and analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference reveal mother-to-child transmission has decreased in South Africa, provides insights into new clinical and laboratory data in resource-limited settings, and highlights the application of best practices in Mozambique.
CDC plays an essential role in implementing the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through its scientific and technical expertise, and long-standing partnerships with Ministries of Health and other key global partners such as the World Health Organization. Presentations at the conference reflect CDC’s commitment to fighting global HIV/AIDS and to achieving President Obama and Secretary Clinton’s call to action to achieve an AIDS-free generation.
Mother-to-child-transmission decreases in South Africa
One year after implementing the 2010 WHO Option-A PMTCT recommendation of using the antiretroviral (ART) drug nevirapine as preventive treatment in South Africa, mother-to-child-transmission of HIV decreased to less than three percent when measured at 4-8 weeks after mothers gave birth. According to collaborating CDC researcher, Thu-Ha Dinh,thedata suggest that early ART initiation is likely to increase effectiveness and prevent transmission of infection from mother to child.
Showing posts with label AIDS TREATMENTS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AIDS TREATMENTS. Show all posts
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
ENDING THE AIDS PANDEMIC
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ARMED WITH SCIENCE
Written on MAY 23, 2012 AT 7:39 AM by JTOZER
Time For An HIV Vaccine
Deployed U.S. forces have historically been exposed to diseases that are not prevalent in the U.S. such as malaria, leishmaniasis and dengue.
To combat these disease threats, the U.S. military has excelled at infectious disease research and spurred some of medicine’s greatest advances in disease prevention, diagnostics, and treatment.
When the HIV epidemic first emerged in the 1980s, the U.S. government immediately recognized the threat the disease could pose to service members.
In response, Congress established the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. In this age of global deployments, HIV not only continues to pose a threat to service members, but it can also compromise the stability of a nation where the disease is prevalent and endanger worldwide security.
Early in the epidemic, the U.S. military emerged as a leader when MHRP developed the first HIV disease staging system, which was adopted by the Army in 1986.
Around the same time, MHRP published evidence of the then-controversial notion that HIV could be transmitted heterosexually. In 1987, MHRP scientists developed the criteria for Western blot positivity—the fist supplemental confirmatory test for HIV.
Fast-forward to 2009; the U.S. Army announced the results of RV144, the first HIV vaccine trial to show some ability to protect people against this disease.
Today, the U.S. military continues to pursue the goal of developing a globally effective HIV vaccine to assist in the eventual eradication of HIV/AIDS. Earlier this year, the New England Journal of Medicine published a paper co-authored with MHRP scientists that detailed clues to why the vaccine tested in RV 144 protected some volunteers.
Military scientists continue to work closely with partners across the world to develop and test novel vaccine strategies. Collaborative work with Harvard University, Crucell Corporation and MHRP, published this year in the journal Nature, point the way to novel vaccine combinations that will soon be evaluated in clinical studies.
Additionally, MHRP has developed a promising next-generation HIV vaccine that is currently in clinical testing in Africa and Sweden.
For the first time in history scientists and global leaders alike are talking about the end ofAIDS. Recently, great advances have been made in preventing HIV through the use of new strategies such as adult male circumcision in Africa and AIDS therapeutics as prophylaxis.
However, these new prevention strategies have their limitations, and it will take a combination of prevention methods, including a vaccine, to truly end the pandemic. The U.S. military pursues this mission vigorously to protect U.S. troops and the global community so that we may one day achieve an AIDS-free generation.
Written by Nelson Michael, M.D., Ph.D.
COL, MC, U.S. Army, Director, U.S. Military HIV Research Program
Written on MAY 23, 2012 AT 7:39 AM by JTOZER
Time For An HIV Vaccine
Deployed U.S. forces have historically been exposed to diseases that are not prevalent in the U.S. such as malaria, leishmaniasis and dengue.
To combat these disease threats, the U.S. military has excelled at infectious disease research and spurred some of medicine’s greatest advances in disease prevention, diagnostics, and treatment.
When the HIV epidemic first emerged in the 1980s, the U.S. government immediately recognized the threat the disease could pose to service members.
In response, Congress established the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. In this age of global deployments, HIV not only continues to pose a threat to service members, but it can also compromise the stability of a nation where the disease is prevalent and endanger worldwide security.
Early in the epidemic, the U.S. military emerged as a leader when MHRP developed the first HIV disease staging system, which was adopted by the Army in 1986.
Around the same time, MHRP published evidence of the then-controversial notion that HIV could be transmitted heterosexually. In 1987, MHRP scientists developed the criteria for Western blot positivity—the fist supplemental confirmatory test for HIV.
Fast-forward to 2009; the U.S. Army announced the results of RV144, the first HIV vaccine trial to show some ability to protect people against this disease.
Today, the U.S. military continues to pursue the goal of developing a globally effective HIV vaccine to assist in the eventual eradication of HIV/AIDS. Earlier this year, the New England Journal of Medicine published a paper co-authored with MHRP scientists that detailed clues to why the vaccine tested in RV 144 protected some volunteers.
Military scientists continue to work closely with partners across the world to develop and test novel vaccine strategies. Collaborative work with Harvard University, Crucell Corporation and MHRP, published this year in the journal Nature, point the way to novel vaccine combinations that will soon be evaluated in clinical studies.
Additionally, MHRP has developed a promising next-generation HIV vaccine that is currently in clinical testing in Africa and Sweden.
For the first time in history scientists and global leaders alike are talking about the end ofAIDS. Recently, great advances have been made in preventing HIV through the use of new strategies such as adult male circumcision in Africa and AIDS therapeutics as prophylaxis.
However, these new prevention strategies have their limitations, and it will take a combination of prevention methods, including a vaccine, to truly end the pandemic. The U.S. military pursues this mission vigorously to protect U.S. troops and the global community so that we may one day achieve an AIDS-free generation.
Written by Nelson Michael, M.D., Ph.D.
COL, MC, U.S. Army, Director, U.S. Military HIV Research Program
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