http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that incorporating a peer-referral program for HIV testing into emergency departments can reach new groups of high-risk patients and brings more patients into the hospital for testing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-peer-referral-hiv-testing-emergency-departments.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 17 May 2013 12:41:10 EST news288013238 (Medical Xpress)—Beth Meyerson, health policy expert at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, said the new screening guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force represent an important shift in HIV testing and will result in more HIV screenings because they will now be reimbursable. But the availability of the tests remains a big unknown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-hiv-guidelines-access-screenings-issue.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 02 May 2013 06:58:12 EST news286696648 A new international study has confirmed that self-testing for HIV is effective and could be the answer to controlling the global epidemic. This major systematic review, led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), shows HIV self-testing removes much of the fear and stigma associated with being tested for the disease. This study, which is published in PLoS Medicine is the first of its kind and could pave the way for early detection and treatment around the world, thereby reducing transmission. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hiv-self-testing-key-global-epidemic.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:28:24 EST news284142488 (AP)—Health officials on Thursday urged an Oklahoma oral surgeon's patients to undergo hepatitis and HIV testing, saying filthy conditions behind his office's tidy facade posed a threat to his 7,000 clients and made him a "menace to the public health." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-hiv-urged-dental-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:21:55 EST news283717306 (HealthDay)—The impact of sequestration will have far-reaching consequences in health care, according to a perspective piece published online March 20 in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-impact-sequestration-health-discussed.html Health Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:54:39 EST news283114473 The results of two important studies have been published in the March issue of AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society. One study notes that screening for HIV should be performed more frequently—up to every three months for the highest-risk patients, while low-risk groups to be tested every three years. A second study demonstrates a link between heavy drinking and risky behaviors for men who have sex with men (MSM). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-aids-journal-publishes-important.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:31:17 EST news281619065 University at Albany and Weill Cornell Medical College researchers discuss proposed changes in HIV-Testing guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in a perspective article in the March 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Authors Erika G. Martin, assistant professor of public administration and policy at UAlbany's Rockefeller College and fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, and Dr. Bruce R. Schackman, associate professor of public health and chief of the Division of Health Policy at Weill Cornell, address the broad impact the changes will have on the health care of HIV-infected patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-discuss-broad-impact-hiv-testing-guideline.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:00:14 EST news280745998 Studies have found that conditional cash transfer programs, in which governments pay citizens if they consistently practice societally beneficial behaviors, have improved pediatric health care and education in Mexico, increased HIV testing in Malawi, and reduced sexually transmitted infections in Tanzania. Public health researchers therefore investigated whether the idea could be applied to HIV risk behaviors among gay men and male sex workers in Mexico City. A new study reports not only that some members of those populations would change behavior for conditional cash payments, but the exact prices they would accept. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-incentive-price-hiv-mexico.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:31:28 EST news279199881 The rate of new HIV infections among men who have sex with men in England and Wales has remained unchanged over the past decade despite an almost four-fold increase in HIV testing, rising treatment coverage, and a 20 percent shortening of time-to-diagnosis, according to new research published Online First in the Lancet Infectious Diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-hiv-men-sex-england-wales.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:30:01 EST news278872420 One in four people with HIV/AIDS is over 50, yet older adults are more often diagnosed at a late stage than younger people. Despite this, nearly half of older adults visiting a public health clinic where HIV/AIDS is prevalent were not screened for the disease in the past 12 months, finds a study in The Gerontologist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-at-risk-older-adults-arent-routine.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:47:33 EST news278671639 New research appearing online today in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC, shows that a handheld mobile device can check patients' HIV status with just a finger prick, and synchronize the results in real time with electronic health records. This technology takes a step toward providing remote areas of the world with diagnostic services traditionally available only in centralized healthcare settings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-handheld-mobile-device-laboratory-quality-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:30:18 EST news277979366 A Chinese study published on World AIDS Day on Saturday says drugs used to curb HIV in infected people also help protect their uninfected partner, but far less effectively than other research has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-aids-chinese-flag-drugs-as-prevention.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:49:21 EST news273527351 (Medical Xpress)—More than nine million people are admitted into U.S. jails every year, disrupting access to health care for the tens of thousands who are HIV positive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-hivaids-benefits-links-primary.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:27:59 EST news273317267 Offering routine HIV testing to the general population rather than only to high-risk individuals will significantly reduce illness and death, argues Dr. Julio Montaner and coauthors in an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-canada-routine-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:41:34 EST news273159613 Introducing HIV screenings into the nation's emergency departments (EDs) leaves some doctors worrying about longer wait times, disrupted operations, and possible interference with necessary emergency services. Are their concerns unfounded? New research at the University of Cincinnati will use computer-based simulation modeling to determine how screening for HIV in the emergency department will affect how those departments operate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-simulations-true-hiv-screenings.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:15:59 EST news272553350 In HIV-plagued sub-Saharan Africa, it can take up to three months for mothers to learn whether their babies have been infected by the deadly virus, delaying what could be life-sustaining treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-hiv-infants-breakthrough-sub-saharan-africa.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:00:01 EST news270470756 A new study reported in this week's PLOS Medicine reports findings from a study carried out in four African countries by Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer and colleagues on approaches towards expanding testing and counselling for HIV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-provider-initiated-hiv-affect-clients-rights.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:20:02 EST news270225391 Trends in the sexual practices of gay men in Australia show that HIV prevention remains firmly embedded in gay communities. However, to curb the epidemic and start driving down numbers of new infections, "a re-invigoration of prevention approaches is now needed for Australia to continue its role as global leader in the HIV response," says Professor John de Wit, lead editor of the Annual Report of Trends in Behaviour 2012 (ARTB 2012). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-cites-urgent-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:26:40 EST news269677593 (HealthDay)—Hispanic Americans are diagnosed with HIV infection nearly three times as often as whites, but rates and causes differ by region, a new study finds. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-hiv-hispanics-vary-region-cdc.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:30:03 EST news269194330 (Medical Xpress)—DNA sequencing has provided evidence of HIV-1 transmission from an infected woman breastfeeding her niece in South Africa, drawing attention to infant feeding practices and the need for HIV testing of all breastfeeding surrogates as well as mothers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-dna-sequencing-hiv-transmission-surrogate.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 23 Aug 2012 08:46:53 EST news264930405 Malawi on Monday launched a week-long campaign to test 250,000 people for HIV in what health authorities called a crucial intervention in a country ravaged by AIDS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-malawi-people-hiv-week.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 06 Aug 2012 08:37:28 EST news263461040 (HealthDay) -- Among the 1.1 million Americans living with HIV, just one in four has the virus under control, U.S. health researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-americans-hiv-virus-cdc.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:38:34 EST news262622295 The rate of new HIV infections among black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, particularly younger men, is high and suggests the need for prevention programs specifically tailored to this population, according to initial findings from the HPTN 061 study. The preliminary results were presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C., by study co-chair Kenneth Mayer, M.D., medical research director for the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-nih-funded-high-hiv-infection-gay.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 26 Jul 2012 09:40:55 EST news262514402 A clinical study in a remote region of southwest Uganda has demonstrated the feasibility of using a health campaign to rapidly test a community for HIV and simultaneously offer prevention and diagnosis for a variety of other diseases in rural and resource-poor settings of sub-Saharan Africa. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-results-health-campaign-uganda-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:00:01 EST news262262470 An examination of the characteristics of persons born outside the United States diagnosed with HIV while living in the U.S. finds that, compared to U.S.-born persons with HIV, they are more likely to be Hispanic or Asian, and to have a higher percentage of HIV infections attributed to heterosexual contact, according to a study appearing in JAMA being published online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-characteristics-factors-hiv-positive-persons-born.html HIV & AIDS Sun, 22 Jul 2012 15:23:42 EST news262189415 Faced with the highest HIV-AIDS rates in the United States, community health activists in the nation's capital have come up with a novel way for people to save their own lives while killing time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-washington-free-hiv-aids.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:04:05 EST news262008238 Today, the Black AIDS Institute released its latest report, Back of the Line: The State of AIDS Among Black Gay Men in America. The landmark report highlights alarming data that show disproportionately high rates of HIV infections and deaths from AIDS among Black MSM, why the disparities persist and are growing worse, and the urgent need for local and national leadership to immediately address the devastating health crisis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-black-gay-men-affected-aids.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:38:36 EST news261823083 In a new study by ICAP at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, researchers are assessing a novel approach to encourage newly diagnosed HIV positive people to seek care and adhere to HIV treatment. The unique study in the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) gives people who test HIV positive a coupon for a gift card to claim after they complete clinic visits and laboratory tests. Patients who adhere to HIV treatment regularly can decrease the amount of HIV in their blood, leading to viral suppression. Study participants who achieve viral suppression also receive gift cards as a reward and motivation for a maximum of four times a year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-incentive-hiv-patient-treatment.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:24:09 EST news261764642 South Africa is recalling 500,000 HIV test kits it ordered from a South Korean company despite a World Health Organisation (WHO) warning over inconclusive results, the health ministry said Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-south-africa-recalls-hiv-kits.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 17 Jul 2012 06:37:02 EST news261725813 Beth Meyerson, co-chair of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University, said expanding HIV testing is critical. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-iu-expert-current-hiv-approach.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 28 Jun 2012 06:26:25 EST news260083571