Illinois Budget Keeps Most Funding For HIV/AIDS Services Intact
HIV/AIDS Advocates Gather In San Francisco To Protest State Funding Cuts
Study of Microbicide to Prevent HIV in Women
Scientists Discover New Strain of HIV Closely Related To Simian Virus
Illinois Budget Keeps Most Funding For HIV/AIDS Services Intact
In the August 6 Kaiser Family Foundation Daily HIV/AIDS Report, a story from the Windy City Times reports that Illinois governor Pat Quinn "nearly fully funded" HIV services in the state for fiscal year 2010 using discretionary funds. "Under the plan released July 31, Quinn allocated $40 million to the Illinois Department of Public Health, $17 million of which is to be spent on HIV/AIDS programming. In combination with the money already allocated in the state budget, this restores HIV/AIDS funding to 97.4% of previous levels," the article states.
Mark Ishaug, president and CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, said, "We are enormously grateful to Governor Quinn for ensuring essential HIV/AIDS services continue, despite these difficult economic times."
TPAN joins in thanking Governor Quinn.
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HIV/AIDS Advocates Gather In San Francisco To Protest State Funding Cuts
Also in the Daily HIV/AIDS Report, the San Francisco Appeal reported that hundreds of HIV/AIDS activists gathered at San Francisco's Civic Center on August 5 to protest budget cuts to state HIV/AIDS programs made by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week.
Mark Cloutier, CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which could lose $800,000 in state funding, said to the crowd, "We have fought for 25 years to build up the San Francisco model of care. He is tearing that system apart," adding, "We are outraged. We know there are going to be more infections."
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In a report posted on August 5 at HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report, it was revealed that “U.S. scientists have decoded the structure of an entire HIV genome, a breakthrough which could improve understanding of how the virus infects humans and could lead to the development of new antiviral drugs.”
Like other viruses, such as influenza, hepatitis C, and polio, HIV’s genetic information is contained in single-stranded RNA rather than double-stranded DNA, which makes it more complex.
This study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, used new, specially developed technology to analyze the structural design of HIV genomes. They found that the RNA structures influence multiple steps in HIV's infection cycle, which could provide potential for development of new strategies for interrupting the HIV lifecycle.
"One approach is to change the RNA sequence and see if the virus notices," said co-author Ron Swanstrom, a professor of microbiology and immunology. "If it doesn't grow as well when you disrupt the virus with mutations, then you know you've mutated or affected something that was important to the virus."
The study appears in the August 6 issue of the journal Nature.
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Study of Microbicide to Prevent HIV in Women
In the August 5 Daily HIV/AIDS Report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a report from the Columbia Tribune stated that a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Missouri, and Japan has been studying a compound they believe might prevent HIV transmission. According to the Tribune, "Tests show the microbicide, known as EFdA, stops HIV from replicating or spreading when applied to human cells."
One of the researchers, Stefan Sarafianos, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri's School of Medicine, said, "Women would be able to apply it to themselves and have control over the situation, unlike other forms of protection." The compound is in an early stage of research and Sarafianos hopes that "companies will eventually license and develop it as a product."
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Scientists Discover New Strain of HIV Closely Related To Simian Virus
In the August 3 KFF Daily HIV/AIDS Report, a study in the journal Nature Medicine was the subject of an AP report in the Washington Times. According to the report, scientists have discovered a new strain of HIV in a 62-year-old woman from Cameroon that "differs from the three known strains ... and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas."
Researchers noted, "The discovery of this novel HIV-1 lineage highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence of new HIV variants, particularly in Western Central Africa, the origin of all existing HIV-1 groups."
According to the AP in the San Francisco Chronicle, the woman had no contact with gorillas or gorilla meat and is currently experiencing no signs of HIV/AIDS. The article adds, "How widespread this strain is remains to be determined. Researchers said it could be circulating unnoticed in Cameroon or elsewhere."
The study was funded by the NIH and the Tietze Foundation.
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