Antiretroviral Therapy of HIV: New Data From the 2007 International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop

Introduction
The XVI International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop was held in Barbados, June 12-16, 2007. This conference is consistently considered to be one of the best research meetings in the field of HIV therapeutics and provides a setting for presentation of important new data on new antiretrovirals, HIV pathogenesis, mechanisms and epidemiology of drug resistance, and new technologies for measurement of HIV drug resistance. Highlights of the conference are reviewed in this report.

1)Resistance to Integrase Inhibitors
2)Resistance to CCR5 Inhibitors
3)Resistance to NRTIs: The K65R Mutation
4)Resistance to NNRTIsread more

Asian countries need to strengthen efforts to prevent HIV outbreak, conference says

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Asian countries need to promote voluntary HIV testing, develop programs to stop transmission of the virus and empower groups at risk of infection to stop the HIV epidemic from worsening, participants at a regional AIDS conference said Thursday.

The conference called on governments with low HIV levels to remain vigilant and recognize an outbreak could occur anytime.

It called for the promotion of voluntary testing and counseling and new efforts to help those infected get treatment.read more

4,432 AIDS patients in state: Study

T'URAM: The HIV density study conducted by the National AIDS Control Society (NACO) in Kerala has found the presence of 24,831 HIV positives and 4432 AIDS patients in the state.

The study was conducted in 2006 jointly by the NACO, UN AIDS Cell and National Health and Family Welfare Institute in all the states.

The study shows that there are 25 lakh HIV positive patients in the country.

In Kerala, the prevalence rate of HIV positive are high among the drug addicts. About 9.57 percent is the density of HIV positive among this Category.read more

Nigeria: Over 20,000 Are HIV Positive in Bauchi

Over one hundred and twenty thousand people have been affected by HIV/Aids virus in Bauchi state, according to the project director, Medical and Health Workers Union in Bauchi state, Comrade Garba Dass.


Comrade Garba Dass said the Bauchi state government has played a crucial role in reducing the menace of HIV by creating enabling environment and increasing the resources allocated to the fight against HIV in the state.

Comrade Dass said the commitment of the project to enlighten the public on the menace of the disease led them to contact the policy makers and prompted their visit to the commissions' chairmen.read more

HIV contract awarded to East-West Center

The East-West Center in Honolulu has been awarded a $98,000 contract to provide technical support for Vietnam's HIV national estimates and projections for 2007.

The center began developing computer models for tracking and projecting the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, a decade ago.

East-West Center-developed software now enables national health programs throughout the region to analyze local HIV epidemics and to develop effective responses.
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Encouraging Phase II Data on HIV Vaccine Utilizing GenVec Technologies Presented at Seattle AIDS Conference

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GenVec, Inc. (Nasdaq:GNVC) announced that results from multiple ongoing clinical trials utilizing its adenovector vaccine technologies were presented yesterday at the AIDS Vaccine 2007 Conference taking place in Seattle, Washington this week. The trials, which are investigating a DNA prime- adenoviral vector boost strategy, incorporate a multiclade rAd5 HIV- 1 vaccine developed by GenVec in collaboration with the Vaccine Research Center (“VRC”), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (“NIH”).

Dr. Richard Koup of the VRC, delivered an oral presentation, “Update on Safety and Immunogenicity of VRC Products,” summarizing data from several ongoing studies sponsored by the NIH’s HIV Vaccine Trials Network (“HTVN”), the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (“IAVI”) and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (“USMHRP”) using the DNA prime-boost regimen. Dr. Koup characterized a strong vaccine induced cytotoxic (CD8+) T-cell response targeting HIV-infected cells, confirming the underlying concept of this vaccine. In the TRIAD Phase II trial, immunogenicity was achieved in approximately seventy percent of the vaccinated population. Importantly, the effect of pre-existing Ad5 immunity on immunogenicity of the vaccine appeared to be small. More than ten abstracts, posters, and presentations were presented by the VRC and its collaborators at this conference.

“The Phase 2 trials have generated a tremendous amount of information on clinical application of adenovirus vectors as vaccines. These data strongly support the use of GenVec adenovirus vectors as vaccines for HIV and other diseases,” commented Dr. Rick King, GenVec’s Senior VP of Research. read more

Forum urges Asia Pacific to step up HIV/AIDS fight

Human trafficking into prostitution, intravenous drug use and conflict continue to spread HIV in Asia, experts warned as the eighth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific wrapped up in the Sri Lankan capital.

"This conference ... gives us an opportunity to revisit and re-enforce our commitment to halt and reverse the HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific," said Dr. Samlee Plianbanchang, Southeast Asia regional director for the World Health Organisation.

Safeguarding rights of the most vulnerable, such as sex workers, intravenous drug users, and women and children trafficked in the region is essential in tandem with prevention programs, experts say.read more