HIV AIDS

CHICAGO -- In patients newly diagnosed with HIV, the novel protease inhibitor darunavir (Prezista) has been found to be as effective as the standard lopinavir (Kaletra).

CHICAGO -- The investigative integrase inhibitor raltegravir (Isentress) can suppress the viral load to undetectable levels in at least half of HIV patients with virus resistant to three drug classes, researchers said here.

My patient is a 39-year-old man who has had burning pain and lack of muscle endurance in his bilateral quadriceps and bilateral deltoids for 4 years.

NEW YORK -- Young gay men are having a sharp increase in new HIV infections here, city health officials said.

BALTIMORE -- The development of HIV-related dementia within the ensuing six or 12 months appears to be signaled by a sharp decline in platelet count, researchers said here.

NEW YORK -- In the wake of a recall in Europe of nelfinavir (Viracept) because of a potentially carcinogenic impurity, Pfizer has issued new guidelines for the anti-retroviral drug's use in the U.S., the FDA reported.

BOSTON -- Supplementing breast milk with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids might reduce the risk of mothers giving HIV to their infants, researchers here said.

LOS ANGELES -- About a quarter of low-income HIV patients feel stigmatized by their health care provider at the first appointment, researchers here said.

LEUVEN, Belgium -- Just because adolescents go to bed, that doesn't mean they stop calling and texting their friends, and that may leave them bleary-eyed in the morning, researchers here reported.

A 47-year-old woman who recently completed adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer has painless cervical lymphadenopathy of 1 to 2 cm. She has no fever, sore throat, cough, or unexplained weight loss, and she denies exposure to ill persons or animals.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Systemic anti-inflammatory agents injected directly into injured or arthritic knees may aid natural repair, according to a study in pigs.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Even in the rural southeast, a high proportion of gay men are using crystal methamphetamine, a drug that promotes risky sexual behavior, researchers said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Children infected with HIV at birth appear to maintain normal behavior and academic performance after 10 years of follow-up, researchers reported here.

PARIS -- Anesthetic infusion directly into the wound after colorectal cancer surgery may improve pain control and speed recovery, researchers found.

CHICAGO -- For many older patients, sexual activity doesn't abate but it clearly begins to fade away, found a national survey.

BOSTON -- Heavy alcohol use appears to speed HIV progression, researchers here said.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has added a boxed warning to the litany of cautions about the use of entacavir (Baraclude), a hepatitis B drug, for certain patients co-infected with HIV.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has warned consumers against using three brands of red yeast rice, a product marketed as a natural remedy for high cholesterol, because they may contain lovastatin, the active ingredient in Mevacor.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Raw oyster harvested from a bed off the coast of Washington State have been linked to six reports of Vibrio parahaemolyticus illness, prompting an FDA warning.

OXFORD, England -- Abstinence-only programs to prevent HIV and pregnancy in high-income countries are ineffective, according to a systematic review of 13 U.S. trials.

BALTIMORE -- Internal medicine residents scored poorly on a 20-question quiz testing their ability to diagnose tuberculosis and choose appropriate treatment, researchers found.

A 39-year-old woman complained of excruciating pain that radiated from a chronic lesion on the left upper lip to the entire left side of the face. She had AIDS but was not receiving antiretroviral therapy.

SYDNEY -- Treatment with the new protease inhibitor darunavir (Prezista) was able to drive HIV to undetectable levels in 71% of patients compared with 60% for patients taking lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra).

SYDNEY -- A new class of HIV drugs, the CCR5 inhibitors, is designed to prevent HIV from entering cells and should be helpful in disease management if they gain regulatory approval, said researchers at an industry-sponsored symposium here.

SYDNEY -- Investigators remain puzzled about why a supposedly safe anti-HIV microbicidal gel turned out to increase the risk of HIV in women who used it.

SYDNEY -- Making circumcision widely available to adult men in regions of the world where HIV infection is highly prevalent will save millions of lives and should be undertaken immediately, researchers urged here.

SYDNEY -- Starting antiretroviral therapy in the first 12 weeks of life markedly reduces mortality for infants born with HIV infection.

SYDNEY -- An investigational HIV drug that blocks the virus from entering its target cells "isn't ready for prime time" in the treatment of newly diagnosed patients, a researcher said here.

SYDNEY -- A screening test can identify patients at risk of suffering a dangerous hypersensitivity reaction to abacavir (Ziagen), a mainstay in the treatment of HIV.

SYDNEY -- A combination of two new HIV drugs can reduce the virus to undetectable levels even in patients with a highly resistant strain, according to two studies presented here.