HIV-1
sa smith | March 18, 2013HIV-- Its a terrible game of chance.
Odds of HIV transmission are, superficially, rather low (its no measles). And, we can make the risk of transmission even lower various pro-active ways-- antiretroviral use to keep viral loads down in HIV+ people (especially in pregnant women about to give birth), screening donated blood and organs, condom use, needle exchanges, and so on.
But people still get infected.
Some progress relatively quickly to AIDS. Some dont progress at all, and never need to take antiretrovirals. Some have huge levels of HIV in their blood. In some, their physicians can barely…
sa smith | March 15, 2013A few weeks ago, The Thinking Atheist was in town-- He gave us a sweet preview of the new video hes planning on officially unveiling at the American Atheists convention and signing copies of his new book "Deconverted". Beforehand, he set up some camera equipment and did quick impromptu interviews with fellow OK Skeptics Caleb Lack, Red McCall (more on Reds video later!), and me!
Due to The Thinking Atheists interests/audience, my answers are a little more atheistic-y themed ;)
Of course they are extremely short, so I had to be very general, but if you have any questions or want more info…
sa smith | March 11, 2013I really hate blogging on non-published information, but for the second time in as many weeks, we have had interesting information come out of CROI. This bit of news isnt as exciting. It pretty much confirms my annoyed Debbie Downer stance on using antiretrovirals in non-infected individuals as a means to prevent HIV infection (thats not entirely accurate-- my position is more 'concerned', 'baffled', 'distressed' about the obvious route of an increase in drug-resistant transmittable HIV).
This is a BIG OL Debbie Downer post.
VOICE, or Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic,…
sa smith | March 6, 2013This year, we have had some educational moments in HIV/AIDS treatment.
1. A paper Ive been meaning to blog about demonstrated that the sooner an HIV+ individual starts antiretroviral therapy, the better. Ideally, <4 months after infection:
Enhanced CD4+ T-Cell Recovery with Earlier HIV-1 Antiretroviral Therapy
2. A baby might have successfully cleared HIV-1 infection after immediate treatment with antiretrovirals (and possibly other unknown factors at this point).
We might have jack squat for an HIV-1 vaccine, but we have made great strides in HIV/AIDS treatment by the development of…
sa smith | March 3, 2013Okay, I have a 'reputation' on the internet. You hear some wonderful news via Google alerts or on the MSN homepage about some FANTASTIC breakthrough with HIV... and then you come to ERV to come crashing back to reality. So, you might have heard about the kid who 'got cured of HIV infection'...
Debbie Downer & Lindsay Lohan Infamous SNL Blooper Sketch - watch more funny videos
Now, I hate to disappoint you all... but...
This is actually possible.
Of course I havent read the paper or any research associated with this particular case, but theoretically, it is possible.
Under 'normal'…
sa smith | February 26, 2013A 12-year-old girl with sickle cell anemia in Saudi Arabia just got a blood transfusion that was tainted with HIV.
In response, some politicians were fired/fined.
Problem solved.
*blink*
Except the 'problem' of HIV in Islamic countries wasnt caused by some administrative oversight.
There are no gay people in Iran.
None at all.
No one has sex outside of heterosexual marriage.
There certainly isnt any IV drug use.
All of these things are forbidden according to the Muslim belief system. Forbidden, with dire consequences.
*blink*
I just cant imagine what is keeping people from getting tested for…
sa smith | January 7, 2013Everyone has been wanting to know about this news item:
Scientists say vaccine temporarily brakes HIV
Therapeutic HIV Vaccine Shows Promise
Huge Breakthrough In HIV Research Brings Us Closer To A Vaccine
This is the actual paper:
A Dendritic Cell–Based Vaccine Elicits T Cell Responses Associated with Control of HIV-1 Replication
They did something super cool--
Took viruses out of HIV+ patients.
Grew up a bunch of virus.
Heat inactivated the virus (killed it).
Took dendritic cells out of the same HIV+ patients.
Fed the DCs the dead virus.
Put the DCs back into the patients (virus + cells…
sa smith | November 13, 2012Technically, its the immune response to the HERVs that can control the HIVs, not the HERVs directly.
:-D
Ive written about the proposed connection between ERVs and HIV a couple times before-- Briefly, viruses do lots of things by accident. Things just happen. Sometimes viruses make us blind for no good reason, or give us cancer for no good reason, 'bad' things happen to us because of viruses we are infected with that are actually 'bad' for the virus too. But when you are dealing with the population/infection numbers we deal with in virology, and all the blind randomness going on, 'bad'…
sa smith | November 2, 2012HIV diagnosis is The Root of most of the problems we have in HIV World.
"How can we get more people antiretrovirals?"... How can you give someone antiretrovirals before they have been diagnosed with HIV?
"How can we stop HIV transmission to sexual partners?"... Condoms work, but why would you insist people in committed monogamous relationships wear condoms if neither one was HIV positive?
"How can we stop HIV transmission to babies?"... Pre-birth antiretrovirals work, but why would you give an expectant mom anti-HIV drugs if she was not HIV positive?
We need to know if someone is HIV+ before…
sa smith | October 17, 2012An outcome some of you might expect, but for reasons you probably dont expect--
Let me tell you the punchline first:
Effect of High-Dose vs Standard-Dose Multivitamin Supplementation at the Initiation of HAART on HIV Disease Progression and Mortality in Tanzania, A Randomized Controlled Trial
Scientists had a pool of patients (over 3000) with HIV infection, who were prescribed HAART. They divided that group into two-- One group got a multivitamin, and one group got a 'high-dose' multivitamin. Part way through the study, they had to shut it down, because the patients on the 'high-dose' had…
sa smith | October 9, 2012There are some HIV-woo ideas that I cannot believe we are still dealing with in 2012.
1. 'Condoms dont stop HIV' - Actually, they do. Really, really well. Better than any 'prophylactic antiretroviral' (with no side-effects). Virus cant evolve resistance to condoms. Virus cant swim through the tiny holes in the structure of latex. Condoms work, whether the Pope or abstinence-only educators or that guy who REALLY wants to bare-back-it wants to believe it or not.
2. 'Magic potions cure HIV!' - Really? Literally the best minds of three decades worth of scientists have been actively working…
sa smith | September 21, 2012Jerome Horwitz, the man who invented AZT, died-- Being in the basic virology realm of HIV Research World, I dont always pay as much attention to the clinical side of things as I should. Thus I didnt know about the really interesting history of Jerome Horowitz and AZT. Apparently he invented it as an anti-cancer agent, it didnt work, and they forgot about it... until someone tested it as a therapeutic agent for HIV, a moment that changed the course of the HIV epidemic. Sure it wasnt a perfect drug (drug resistance when used alone, terrible side-effect profile), but it gave everyone hope…
sa smith | September 12, 2012The story of 'How we know where HIV-1 came from' is really cool-- A group of researchers went into the jungles of Africa, collected lots of monkey poop, and figured out pretty much the exact colony of chimpanzees that transmitted their SIV into humans, which lead to the HIV epidemic we know today.
Those researchers have struck brown gold again!
Eastern Chimpanzees, but not Bonobos, Represent a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Reservoir
There are lots of different kinds of 'HIV'. Apparently, all of the HIV-1 (Group M is causing the HIV epidemic in humans, and then Group N and O) we know today…
sa smith | September 10, 2012I am, in no way, a 'fan' of using anti-retroviral drugs in uninfected individuals as a way to prevent HIV. I think its a terrible idea that will result in more drug resistant HIV (already an issue before this idea was implemented) and ridiculous considering everyone who needs anti-retrovirals to live does not have/are losing access.
Condoms are a cheap, drug-free, side-effect free, effective way of preventing sexual HIV-1 transmission, and HIV-1 cannot evolve to be 'condom resistant'.
So you might be surprised to find out that I think that this is a good idea, and I hope it ends up working…
sa smith | September 3, 2012This story has been making the rounds online--
Unlicensed Acupuncturist intentionally infects patients with HIV
Unlicensed Acupuncturist Charged In 16 HIV Infections In Switzerland
Swiss acupuncturist charged in 16 HIV infections
Swiss "healer" accused of intentionally infecting 16 people with HIV using acupuncture needles
-- I only have the details you all can see there. Im not exactly sure what to make of this.
Long-time readers of ERV might expect me to do a post on how a psychotic woo-meister used his powers of woo to kill people, the trust people put into woo-ers who are uneducated…
sa smith | August 24, 2012NOH MAH GAWD!!!
Mysterious Disease Leaves Patients With AIDS-like Symptons, But Not HIV
Researchers have identified a mysterious new disease that has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV. [bolding original]
Researchers identify rare adult immune disease in Asia
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a new disease among people in Asia that causes AIDS-like symptoms but is not associated with HIV.
HIV-like immunodeficiency observed in Asia
Researchers have discovered…
sa smith | July 27, 2012Many ERV readers are aware of 'The Berlin Patient'-- The fellow who has seemingly cleared the HIV-1 virus after receiving a bone marrow transplant to treat his lymphoma (we say 'seemingly' because we dont really know what 'cured' is with HIV yet).
The Berlin Patient was a rather unique case in that he got a transplant from someone who is CCR5 negative. CCR5 is the dominant co-receptor HIV-1 uses to infect host cells. The idea was, if most of the patients HIV-susceptible cells were killed with radiation/chemo, and they were replaced with donor cells that lacked CCR5, then any virus…
sa smith | July 24, 2012Despite the fact that the radically religious and conservative politicians like to focus on homosexual males and IV drug use leading to HIV-1 infection, the fact of the matter is, heterosexual women are the fastest growing group of HIV-1 patients in the US (and Africa, and Asia)-- even women in committed relationships (usually considered 'low risk').
It then naturally follows that if heterosexual women are getting infected, then the babies born to these women are also at risk of contracting HIV-1.
Unfortunately, this is the group of HIV-1 patients that I study. Babies born to HIV-1 positive…
sa smith | July 3, 2012If you are reading this blog, you already know all about how a huge portion of your genome is parasitic junk DNA (~40-45%), a fraction of which is retroviral junk (ERVs, ~9%). If youre new here... SURPRISE!
Sure, we have a gene here, a promoter there (maybe) that was domesticated for human genome use, but its junk, and that is a good thing. I mean, if our genome was 9% retrovirus and every one of them was active, we would all be dead from the insertional mutagenesis alone.
So your genome and cells have evolved lots of ways to make sure your junk DNA stays junk... but I guess ERVs are like…
sa smith | June 20, 2012Luc Montagnier was once one of Gods of Science.
Dude was head of one of the groups of scientists who ultimately discovered HIV-1 was the cause of the AIDS pandemic.
Wonderful science that amazes me-- The things they could do when we didnt know anything, when they didnt have the technology that I have-- Amazing.
Im not the only one-- Montagnier got part of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008 for his part of the work.
And then... something went wrong...
As cataloged by Orac, Montagnier started pushing any number of absurd, if not blatantly anti-science agendas-- from homeopathy and autism woo,…