The Laos Public Health Ministry confirmed that the country’s first suspected human case of avian influenza has been detected, following an outbreak of the virus at a poultry farm on the outskirts of Vientiane earlier this month, reporeted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
A total of 373 new HIV cases were reported to the Department of Health, Hong Kong, last year, the highest annual number ever recorded. The figure represents a 19% increase on the 313 cases in the preceding year.
During week 7 (February 11 – February 17, 2007), influenza activity continued to increase in the United States.
University of Delaware researchers have developed an inexpensive, nonchlorine-based technology that can remove harmful microorganisms, including viruses, from drinking water.
A test for the two strains of human papillomavirus responsible for most cervical cancers is under study.
Kuwait’s health ministry on confirmed outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu at a zoo and a farm in the south of the country, reported by Reuters.
Specific mutations in a viral protein, the polymerase, contribute to the ability of the bird influenza virus to jump the species barrier to humans. Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble and Heidelberg, the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS) and the Unit of Virus Host Cell Interactions (UVHCI)*, both in Grenoble, have now produced the first 3-D image of part of this key protein.
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:GILD) announced the completion of a Phase II clinical trial of GS 9137, a novel oral HIV integrase inhibitor. The clinical study met its primary endpoint of non-inferiority in viral load reduction in HIV-positive patients receiving 50 mg or 125 mg of GS 9137 once daily, each boosted with 100 mg of ritonavir, in combination with an optimized background antiretroviral regimen compared to a boosted comparator protease inhibitor regimen (p=0.02 for the 125 mg arm).
The association between genital herpes and higher viral loads of HIV-1 in HIV-infected persons is strong enough to warrant more routine testing for the herpes virus in HIV-positive patients, as well as additional clinical studies of the co-infections, according to an editorial to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Healthcare professionals are advised that when considering therapy with Baraclude in an HIV/HBV co-infected patient not receiving HAART, the risk of developing HIV resistance cannot be excluded based on current information.