https://medicalxpress.com/hiv-aids-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about HIV & AIDS The odds of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers are higher among people with HIV (PWH) and solid-organ transplant recipients (SOTRs), according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-odds-hpv-cancers-people-hiv.html Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:40:06 EDT news703143827 Large language models (LLMs) are only as good as the data they learn from. If their training data contains social biases, the models may unintentionally repeat those biases in their responses. As their use increases with the rise of generative AI, it has become evident that they contain biases that reinforce stereotypes based on factors like ethnicity, gender or geography. This is concerning because LLM-based chatbots have become an integral part of the health care system, where health-related stigma can negatively affect one's diagnosis and care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-medical-ai-biased-paper.html Thu, 09 Jul 2026 08:20:05 EDT news702801724 A new HIV vaccine developed by La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), Scripps Research scientists and IAVI has the potential to protect humans from developing HIV infection and AIDS. This HIV vaccine is the first to generate a high number of "broadly neutralizing" virus-fighting antibodies in primates. The research is published in the journal Nature. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hiv-vaccine-triggers-broadly-neutralizing.html Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:30:02 EDT news702571560 A home-based counseling program for pregnant women and their male partners increased couples HIV testing and helped mothers living with HIV achieve viral suppression, new research shows. The study, co-led by the University of Michigan and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, found that home counseling visits more than quadrupled joint HIV testing rates compared with standard clinic-based care. By 12 months postpartum, 56% of couples receiving home visits had tested together, while only 13.6% of those who received routine services at a health facility tested jointly for HIV. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-home-hiv-couples-viral-suppression.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:40:01 EDT news702129870 New research from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) has highlighted the need to test millions of women and girls for female genital schistosomiasis (FGS), a neglected disease that can increase the risk of chronic illness, HIV and cervical cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-screening-parasitic-disease-linked-hiv.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:00:04 EDT news702225781 The dosage information for drugs used in HIV treatment, malaria, cancer care, pain management and transplantation is largely based on data from European patients and fails to include vital information about how essential drugs work in diverse African populations. A Wits-led policy brief shows that more than 10% of essential medicines may require pharmacogenomic guidance. Pharmacogenomics is the study of how a person's genetic makeup affects their body's response to medications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-african-genetic-essential-medicines.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 11:40:06 EDT news702036901 The most useful thing about a new HIV prevention guide may be a question it never asks: Why do you want to know about pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP? In a pilot study at three clinics, a two-page decision aid helped people choose between a daily pill, long used to prevent HIV, and a newer injectable treatment given every two months, without requiring them to disclose details of their sex lives or explain why they wanted protection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-hiv-stigma.html Sat, 27 Jun 2026 15:00:02 EDT news701683988 Hundreds of people in England who were unknowingly living with HIV are receiving a diagnosis and starting life-saving antiretroviral treatment, thanks to a pioneering NHS testing initiative rolled out in hospital emergency departments (EDs). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-emergency-department-scheme-hundreds-unidentified.html Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:00:06 EDT news701691108 In the ongoing effort to find new therapeutics for infants born infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, an international team of investigators has discovered that babies can tolerate treatment with anti-HIV antibodies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-hiv-bay-approach-explores-broadly.html Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:40:03 EDT news701346396 Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) detection in wastewater offers a novel approach to monitor the virus in communities. Baylor College of Medicine researchers and colleagues at collaborating institutions report in Nature Communications that their method, called hybrid-capture genetic sequencing, allows them to analyze viral genomes in detail and specifically identify viral signals coming from community wastewater. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-wastewater-hidden-hiv-burden-communities.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:20:13 EDT news700758118 Women with HIV most often die from preventable, trauma-related conditions like substance use and mental illness—not the virus itself. Yet these leading causes are largely missing from official death records, according to new research by UC San Francisco. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-women-hiv-dying-early-virus.html Sat, 13 Jun 2026 05:30:53 EDT news700547428 While online research is a useful way to reach people who may not take part in in-person studies, researchers are increasingly concerned that fake, automated and duplicate survey responses can reduce data quality and compromise findings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fraud-critical-online-health.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:40:04 EDT news700392422 Growing up witnessing the devastating effects of HIV in her family and community in South Africa pushed Olwam Plaatjie to start using preventive HIV medications three years ago. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-highly-effective-drug-south-africa.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 04:19:34 EDT news700197503 HIV can damage the brain and cause memory and cognitive problems. And once HIV enters the brain, it does not leave. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-hiv-brain-doesnt-drugs-inflammation.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:20:02 EDT news700144442 Antiretroviral drugs for HIV infection have enabled most people living with the virus to live long and healthy lives. However, a small portion of people experience detectable—and worrisome—traces of the virus that causes AIDS despite strict adherence to long-term treatment regimens and the absence of symptoms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-defective-hiv-persistent-blood-treatment.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 05:00:07 EDT news699868442 A class of flu drugs may reduce cognitive decline and premature aging in people living with chronic viral infection, reports a new study led by Northwestern University that began with blood samples from people with HIV and extended into preclinical drug trials. The findings point to a potential new therapy for cognitive problems in people with HIV, with broader implications for other aging-related diseases, such as dementia. The study is published in Med. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-flu-drugs-cognitive-decline.html Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:00:03 EDT news699781862 A recent University of Mississippi study has identified hundreds of counties in the South where HIV prevention and health care may not be keeping pace with the local needs, leaving communities without resources to address the persistent problem. The research, published in Frontiers in Public Health, offers health care and government leaders a new tool for targeting HIV-related support where the need is highest. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-deep-south-hiv-gaps-patients.html Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:20:03 EDT news699722702 Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications have gained widespread attention for effectively treating obesity, lowering blood sugar and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Some researchers have proposed that these drugs may also influence the biology of aging, but direct evidence in humans has remained limited. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-popular-glp-drug-biological-aging.html Wed, 03 Jun 2026 06:44:06 EDT news699687771 The first shipment of Lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable that prevents HIV with two shots a year, arrived in South Africa from the United States in early April 2026. Clinical trials showed close to 100% efficacy. The rollout, expected to begin in June 2026, prioritizes adolescent girls and young women, pregnant and breastfeeding women, transgender people, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and people who inject drugs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-hiv-south-africa-shot-critical.html Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:00:06 EDT news699529082 Over half of the people carrying HIV experience chronic pain at some point, which is difficult to treat. In a new JNeurosci paper, Hui-Lin Pan, from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues used mice to explore how HIV leads to chronic pain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-link-hiv-chronic-pain.html Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:00:02 EDT news699263221 For many people living with HIV, today's treatments can suppress the virus and dramatically improve health. But even when HIV is controlled, damage to the gut caused by the disease can persist, fueling chronic inflammation linked to serious health problems. A new Tulane University study published in JCI Insight helps explain why. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-broccoli-compounds-hiv-linked-gut.html Mon, 25 May 2026 14:20:01 EDT news698933282 In stigmatized illnesses such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), shame and other negative self-conscious emotions are associated with suboptimal engagement in health care via stress and avoidance coping. However, shame is challenging to assess via self-reporting. Research has shown that people express emotions in different ways, including self-reported emotion, what they say (using shame-related words), and facial and body movements. While people may be self-conscious about expressing or revealing shame, combining ways to measure shame could be helpful in improving accurate assessment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-shame-combination-language-body-posture.html Wed, 20 May 2026 13:00:01 EDT news698497082 A study has found that adolescents who were aware of their state's minor consent laws were more likely to seek and receive testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, suggesting that teens' accurate knowledge of their legal capacity to consent to health care services may be more important than the laws providing this right. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-adolescents-knowledge-legal-capacity-independently.html Mon, 18 May 2026 17:40:08 EDT news698335398 Advances in HIV treatment have transformed what was once a fatal diagnosis into a manageable chronic condition. Today, children living with HIV are surviving—and increasingly thriving—into adolescence and adulthood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-children-hiv-longer-obesity.html Wed, 13 May 2026 11:36:56 EDT news697890962 Scientists are tweaking a powerful cancer therapy in hopes it could fight HIV instead, by supercharging patients' own immune cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-small-hints-revving-immune-cells.html Tue, 12 May 2026 14:39:34 EDT news697815508 Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) are among the most promising new treatments for HIV, offering the potential to forego traditional daily doses of antiretroviral drugs. In one recent clinical study of bNAbs identified and developed into therapies at Rockefeller University, participants who received a single dose of two bNAbs maintained a nearly undetectable viral load for up to 20 weeks, and a third did so for about a year. These outcomes suggest a potential future of treatment-free, long-term control of the virus. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-hiv-reveals-mutations-antibody-therapies.html Tue, 12 May 2026 04:00:23 EDT news697777155 A clinical trial conducted in Tanzania and Mozambique and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases concludes that expanding the use of molecular diagnostic tests on urine and stool samples, in addition to sputum, to detect tuberculosis in hospitalized people living with HIV does not improve early treatment initiation nor reduce short-term mortality. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-tb-screening-hiv-wards-treatment.html Fri, 08 May 2026 14:00:04 EDT news697465983 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism by which HIV-1 can infect resting immune cells. The discovery challenges a decades-old assumption in HIV biology, and opens new avenues for understanding how the virus persists in the body, despite treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-hiv-hijacks-cellular-gateway-infect.html Wed, 06 May 2026 14:40:01 EDT news697288801 Blood tests measuring the aging of certain white blood cells can predict cognitive and mood-related symptoms of depression, rather than physical symptoms. These findings, published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, bring researchers closer to identifying a biomarker for detecting the mood disorder, which affects nearly one in five US adults. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-marker-biological-aging-linked-cognitive.html Mon, 04 May 2026 01:00:01 EDT news696843301 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Merck's Idvynso (doravirine/islatravir), a new, once-daily, two-drug single tablet for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-fda-daily-idvynso-tablet-hiv.html Fri, 01 May 2026 22:00:02 EDT news696840037