 |
|
New findings indicate HIV/AIDS pandemic began around 1900, earlier than previously thought
October 02, 2008New research indicates that the most pervasive global strain of HIV began spreading among humans between 1884 and 1924, not during the 1930s, as previously reported. The earlier period of origin coincides with the establishment of urban centers in the west-central African region where the epidemic of this particular HIV strain-HIV-1 group M-emerged. This suggests that urbanization and associated high-risk behaviors set the stage for the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The research, led by Michael Worobey, D. Phil., of the University of Arizona in Tucson, was co-sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
To reach this earlier estimation of the origin of HIV, a team of scientists from four continents screened multiple tissue samples and uncovered the world's second-oldest genetic sequence of HIV-1 group M, which dates from 1960. The scientists then used it along with dozens of other previously known HIV-1 genetic sequences to construct a range of plausible family trees for this viral strain. The lengths of the tree branches represent the periods of time when the virus genetically diverged from its ancestors. The timing and number of these genetic mutations enabled the scientists to calibrate the probable range of rates at which the trees have grown-that is, the probable rates of evolution of HIV-1 group M. Based on this range of rates, the scientists projected back in time to the period when the trees most likely took root: around the turn of the 20th century. This marks the probable time of origin of HIV-1 group M, according to the researchers.
Using newly developed techniques, the scientists recovered the 48-year-old HIV gene fragments from a wax-embedded lymph-node tissue biopsy from a woman in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The oldest known HIV-1 group M genetic sequence comes from a 1959 blood sample from a man also from Kinshasa. A comparison of the same genetic region in the 1959 virus and the 1960 virus provided additional evidence that their common ancestor existed around 1900. The comparison revealed that the amount of genetic divergence between these two HIV sequences took more than 40 years to evolve.
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Using newly developed techniques, the scientists recovered the 48-year-old HIV gene fragments from a wax-embedded lymph-node tissue biopsy from a woman in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The oldest known HIV-1 group M genetic sequence comes from a 1959 blood sample from a man also from Kinshasa. A comparison of the same genetic region in the 1959 virus and the 1960 virus provided additional evidence that their common ancestor existed around 1900. The comparison revealed that the amount of genetic divergence between these two HIV sequences took more than 40 years to evolve.
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
AIDS Pandemic Current Events and AIDS Pandemic News RSSFirst Holistic Guide to Primate Disease Covers Critical Gap in Global Health
Why are so many infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans? Why do we have so little capacity to predict epidemics, or avoid them?
Results of landmark study of HIV vaccine published in the Lancet
Results from the Step study, a test-of-concept efficacy study of a Merck & Co., Inc. HIV vaccine candidate, were published online today in two papers in The Lancet. These analyses of the Step study are being conducted, presented and published to inform the continued search for an effective HIV vaccine.
Urbanization in Africa at dawn of 20th century marked outbreak of HIV
New research indicates that the most pervasive global strain of HIV began spreading among humans between 1884 and 1924, suggesting that growing urbanization in colonial Africa set the stage for the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Why some primates, but not humans, can live with immunodeficiency viruses and not progress to AIDS
Key differences in immune system signaling and the production of specific immune regulatory molecules may explain why some primates are able to live with an immunodeficiency virus infection without progressing to AIDS-like illness, unlike other primate species, including rhesus macaques and humans, that succumb to disease.
Personalized immunotherapy to fight HIV/AIDS
For a long time, the main obstacle to creating an AIDS vaccine has been the high genetic variability of the HIV virus. Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy and his team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), in collaboration with Dr. Rafick Sékaly from the Université de Montréal, have overcome this difficulty by designing a personalized immunotherapy for HIV-infected patients.
Emerging infectious diseases on the rise: Next target 'hotspot' predicted
It's not just your imagination. Providing the first-ever definitive proof, a team of scientists has shown that emerging infectious diseases such as HIV, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus and Ebola are indeed on the rise.
The release of new data from the HVTN 502 HIV vaccine study
The new analyses revealed today from the STEP HIV vaccine clinical trial are both disappointing and puzzling. At this time, the data offer no clear explanations as to why the vaccine showed no measurable efficacy or why among individuals with background immunity to the adenovirus vector, there were more HIV infections in the vaccinees as compared to those in the placebo group.
How Candida albicans transforms from its normally benign form into life-threatening form
Researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have discovered new molecular mechanisms that provide a more detailed understanding of how the normally benign Dr. Jekyll-like fungus known as Candida albicans transforms into a serious and often life-threatening Mr. Hyde-like form.
Male circumcision overstated as prevention tool against AIDS
In new academic research published today in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE, male circumcision is found to be much less important as a deterrent to the global AIDS pandemic than previously thought.
Resistant HIV quickly hides in infants' cells
New evidence shows that drug-resistant virus passed from mother-to-child can quickly establish itself in infants' CD4+ T cells where it can hide for years, likely limiting their options for future treatment.
More AIDS Pandemic Current Events and AIDS Pandemic News Articles
 | The AIDS Pandemic: The Collision of Epidemiology With Political Correctness by James Chin This book exposes the extent AIDS programs developed by international agencies and faith-based organizations are more socially, politically, and moralistically correct than epidemiologically accurate or relevant. This is the first book to provide an objective assessment of the AIDS pandemic, offering clear and rational conclusions drawn to challenge the position of UNAIDS and most AIDS... |
 | The AIDS Pandemic in Latin America by Shawn Smallman In an engaging chronicle illuminated by his travels in the region, Shawn Smallman shows how the varying histories and cultures of the nations of Latin America have influenced the course of the... |
 | The AIDS Pandemic: Complacency, Injustice, and Unfulfilled Expectations by Lawrence O. Gostin In this collection of essays, Lawrence O. Gostin, an internationally recognized scholar of AIDS law and policy, confronts the most pressing and controversial issues surrounding AIDS in America and around the world. He shows how HIV/AIDS affects the entire population--infected and uninfected--by influencing our social norms, our economy, and our country's role as a world leader. Now in the third... |
 | Global Lessons from the AIDS Pandemic: Economic, Financial, Legal and Political Implications by Bradly J. Condon, Tapen Sinha This book examines the global HIV/AIDS pandemic from a multidisciplinary perspective, analyzing its economic impact, the reasons behind the political response to the pandemic, international laws relating to public health and patents and mechanisms for financing global and national responses. The authors paint a global picture of the HIV/AIDS pandemic one issue, one country and one region at a... |
 | Human Rights and Public Health in the AIDS Pandemic by Lawrence O. Gostin, Zita Lazzarini Historically, the fields of public health and human rights have remained largely separate. The AIDS pandemic, however, made it clear that a complex relationship exists between the two fields. Women and children have proven to be extremely vulnerable to infection with HIV due to their inability to protect themselves in intimate relationships, their sexual exploitation, and their lack of economic... |
 | The AIDS Movie: Representing a Pandemic in Film and Television by Kylo-patrick R Hart Interesting and informative, The AIDS Movie: Representing a Pandemic in Film and Television examines the ways that AIDS has been represented in American film over the past twenty years, defines and proposes criteria for identifying an "AIDS movie," and explores how these images shape social opinions about AIDS and gay... |
 | Global AIDS: Myths and Facts, Tools for Fighting the AIDS Pandemic by Alexander Irwin, Joyce Millen AIDS is the most devastating communicable disease in history, and structures of poverty and injustice are magnifying the crisis in underresourced countries. More than 36 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS—the vast majority of them in the poor world, or in poor and marginalized communities within wealthy countries. And since AIDS was first recognized in the early 1980s, 13 million... |
| A Select Body: The Gay Dance Subculture And the HIV/Aids Pandemic by Lynette A. Lewis The gay dance party has become a cultural phenomenon unlike any other with its nights of deafening music and spectacular light displays. As the gay community battles against HIV/AIDS and homophobia, dance parties have created a life-affirming elixir. A Select Body draws together original research investigating the background to and the facts of this burgeoning culture, exploring related drug use... | |
 | In the Company of My Solitude: American Writing from the AIDS Pandemic by Marie Howe |
 | The Slow Plague: A Geography of the AIDS Pandemic by Peter R. Gould Based on research by a leading geographer and specialist in diffusion theory, The Slow Plague discloses the geographic dimension of the AIDS pandemic. It provides a lucid description of the HIV, its origins, and the extent to which it has now permeated our lives. The author shows how the virus jumps from city to city, creating regional epicenters from which it spreads into surrounding areas. ... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |