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On May 5, a story published online in Nature reported a recent study of the gene HLA B57, identified in the late 1990s as occurring in a high percentage of HIV-positive people who never progressed to AIDS, about one in 200 positive individuals. A team of researchers from the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard studied nearly 2,000 patients—1,100 "HIV controllers" and 800 who progressed normally to AIDS.

According to the report, the research team, led by MIT Professor Arup Chakraborty and Harvard Professor Bruce Walker, found that “the HLA B57 gene causes the body to make more potent killer T-cells, the blood cells that help defend the body from infections. Patients with the gene have a larger number of T-cells that bind strongly to more pieces of HIV protein than people who do not have the gene. This makes the T-cells cross-reactive or more likely to recognize cells that express HIV proteins, including mutated versions of the virus that develop during infection.”

This new knowledge could help researchers develop vaccines that provoke the same response to HIV that individuals with HLA B57 muster on their own, says Walker, director of the Ragon Institute and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

The finding offers hope that researchers could design a vaccine to help draw out cross-reactive T-cells in people who don't have the HLA B57 gene. "It's not that they don't have cross-reactive T-cells," says Chakraborty. "They do have them, but they're much rarer, and we think they might be coaxed into action with the right vaccine."

I will first apologize for the lack of postings this week....

Here is a good thing I found that would benefit everyone well.

President Obama issued a memo to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius directing that rules be established that “ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors.” The rules will also guarantee “that all patients’ advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected.”

The rules change was inspired by the case of same-sex couple Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond, who were profiled in The New York Times last year. After Ms. Pond was stricken with a fatal brain aneurysm, Ms. Langbehn, her partner of 18 years, was denied visiting rights by a Florida hospital. Although Ms. Langbehn had power of attorney and she and Ms. Pond were parents to four children they had adopted, the hospital refused, for eight hours, to allow her and the children to see Ms. Pond. Ms. Pond died as Ms. Langbehn tried in vain to get to her side.

“Every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindness and caring of a loved one at their sides,” Mr. Obama said in the memorandum, adding that the rules could also help widows and widowers who rely on friends, and members of religious orders who care for one another. But he says gay men and lesbians are “uniquely affected” because they are often barred from visiting partners with whom they have spent decades.

Richard Socarides, who advised President Bill Clinton on gay rights issues, said that while the memorandum on its own did not grant any new rights, it did “draw attention to the very real and tragic situations many gays and lesbians face when a partner is hospitalized.”

Gay rights groups called it a major advance for the families of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender individuals.

“It’s a huge deal,” said David Smith, vice president of policy for the Human Rights Campaign, which worked with the White House to develop the memorandum. “Nearly every hospital in the country will now be required to provide hospital visitation rights to LGBT families. It’s an enormous step. In the absence of equal marriage rights in most jurisdictions, this step provides an essential right to LGBT families for a gay person or a lesbian person to spend time with their partner in a critical situation.”

I found this interesting...

If you are concerned with possible side effects of the medications.

Here is a link to view the possibilities of each medication. http://positivelyaware.com/2010/10_02/cause_and_side_effects.shtml

I will give you a small piece of advice... Alot of the medications have multiple names and most of the side effects are not common. I know from experience, though each person is different and you can only see for yourself. Always be certain and ask your doctor for a final confirmation.

According to an April 1 press release, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new three-year, $31.5 million expansion of the successful HIV testing program that began in 2007 and will end in September 2010 when the new project begins. Funding for the new phase of the initiative is expected to total approximately $142.5 million over the next three years.

In the first two years of the 2007 initiative, “more than 10,000 HIV-infected individuals were newly diagnosed, with 75 percent linked to care. Most tests (62%) were conducted among African-American men and women,” according to the release.

The new phase of the initiative will now reach more U.S. jurisdictions and populations at risk. The original design was primarily for African Americans but the new initiative will include gay and bisexual men, as well as male and female Latinos and injection drug users. The new phase will build on the progress of the previous effort and ensure that many more Americans know their status.

“Far too many Americans with HIV—more than 200,000 people—are unaware of their infection and may be unknowingly transmitting the virus to others,” said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., director of CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. “The expansion of this initiative reflects CDC’s continued commitment to ensure that far more Americans are tested for HIV, especially among vulnerable men and women most in need of HIV services.”

For more information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/funding/PS10-10138/index.htm.

*This is something good finally! I am always glad to hear when they are expanding testing like this. We are so close to finding a cure. Maybe something like this boost will help out and put us over the hump.... What is your opinion? Feelings? Thoughts? Responses?

Jim Dohr, well known gay-rights activist and Director of Administrative Affairs at the Chicago Department of Public Health, passed away last week at the age of 59.

Family and friends are invited to a celebration of his life on Sunday, May 2, at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, at 3:00 p.m.

Contributions to one of Jim’s favorite charities would be appreciated:
www.opendoorclinic.org or www.vitalbridges.org.