HIV-infected patients who began treatment earlier than is normally recommended lived longer than those who underwent the standard regimen, a study found. Patients who waited for levels of their immune cells to fall below recommended levels were 74 percent more likely to die in any year than those who started treatment earlier, said Mari Kitahata, a University of Washington AIDS researcher in Seattle who helped write the nationwide study...  Read More »

(sciencedaily.com) A more effective TB vaccine may help curtail the global spread of the disease, especially in HIV-positive people, for whom tuberculosis is the leading cause of death worldwide. The current vaccine against tuberculosis, called BCG, is administered to newborns in most countries in the world. However, in HIV-positive people, the vaccine can cause serious and even fatal disease later in life if HIV weakens the immune system,...  Read More »

WASHINGTON - Johnson and Johnson said Wednesday U.S. regulators have approved expanding use of its HIV drug Prezista to include patients who have not been treated with other drugs to control the virus. The FDA will now allow doctors to prescribe a once-daily dose of Prezista as part of HIV combination therapy in adults who have never before taken HIV medication.  Read the full story here:  FDA OKs expanded use of J&J drug for HIV patients...  Read More »

Keith Jerome has an idea for curing HIV that is both unorthodox and untested, which usually means it doesn’t get funded.  But thanks to a new initiative to stimulate bold approaches to global health, the University of Washington researcher will have a year and $100,000 to see whether his idea has promise. Jerome is one of 104 researchers around the world, including four from the UW, to receive the first Grand Challenges Explorations...  Read More »

(NYDailyNews) Magic Johnson says he’s outraged that a pair of Minneapolis talk radio hosts accused him of faking AIDS. KTLK’s Chris Baker and Langdon Perry made the remarks during Baker’s conservative talk show on Wednesday. The context for the remarks wasn’t clear. According to a partial transcript and audio clip posted on a media watchdog site, mediamatters.org, the remarks came after a caller complained about demands...  Read More »