A new generation of medicines from AIDS is developed.
CHICAGO (AP) - A new generation of AIDS medicines in development may outwit HIV uncanny ability to grow resistant to standard drugs.     The drugs are a form of protease inhibitor, the main ingredient of drug cocktails that have revolutionized the treatment of AIDS.     A main drawback of these drugs is they lose power when the virus evolves mutant forms that are impervious to them. Once this happens, AIDS becomes much more difficult to treat.     Several variations of a new protease inhibitor are being developed by Tibotec of Rockville, Md., that seem able to attack
these resistant viruses. They were described Monday at the Eighth Annual Retrovirus Conference in Chicago.
The drugs look promising in test tube studies, but testing in people has just begun, and no one knows if they will work and be safe.
Nevertheless, Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City said, ``We have for the first time a very, very powerful protease inhibitor that could suppress resistant virus. That's pretty impressive.''
John Erickson of Tibotec said one prototype, code-named TMC-126, demonstrates an extraordinary capability to block the virus from replicating in the test tube, and it works across a broad spectrum of HIV strains that are resistant to many different protease inhibitors.
In addition, the drug appears to suppress the development of new varieties of resistant virus. Erickson described the combination of these two features as ``resistance-repellence.''
Protease is an essential viral enzyme necessary for the virus to commandeer human cells, forcing them to make new copies of HIV.
Erickson said TMC-126 appears to work by binding especially tightly to protease and yet being flexible enough to attack slightly different forms of the enzyme.
He said that if the drug passes testing, it could be used to help AIDS patients who have failed other treatments as well as be front-line therapy for those with newly diagnosed infections.
Associated Press, 02/05/2001
New HIV type found.
A newly discovered form of HIV may already have been transmitted world-wide, experts have warned.     They fear that current treatments and experimental vaccines will prove ineffective against this new form of the deadly virus.     It was first detected in blood samples taken from an Aids patient in Cyprus who died in 1998.     However, a medical team in Seoul, South Korea, has announced that they have detected the same form of the deadly virus in a 33-year-old female with Aids who died
in 1997.
Professors Choi Kang-won and Oh Myong-don, of Seoul National University (SNU), said the HIV collected from the blood of the woman had a totally different gene structure than the usual form of HIV. However, it was the same as the samples taken from the patient in Cyprus.
Professor Choi stressed that new virus was not a mutation of other HIV strains.
He suspects that the new form of the virus may have originated in Africa.
BBC, 01/05/2001
UNAIDS Press -release:
AIDS is key issue for new century, on par with globalization, peace, environment
London, 4 September 2000 - AIDS is one of the key issues shaping the world today and should rank as high on the list of human concerns as globalization, peace and the environment, said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIVIAIDS (UNAIDS).
"AIDS is no longer simply a public health issue: it cuts across agencies, disciplines, and national boundaries," Dr Piot said. "'There is no part of society in the hardest hit areas that is not in some way touched by the epidemic. We are talking not only about health, but about education, agriculture, the economy. AIDS threatens to roll back decades of hard-won development. Indeed, it has become a full-fledged development crisis."
Dr Piot was speaking at a symposium in London entitled We The Peoples: The UN In the 21st Century, which he attended on his way to the UN Millennium Summit being held on 6-8 September in New York. The symposium, organized by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, provides a venue for debate on the role of the UN at the start of a new century.
During the symposium, Dr Piot addressed the concerns expressed in We The Peoples, the report prepared by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the Millennium Summit on the UN's role in the new century.
"Reform is a two-way process,*' Dr Piot said. "The United Nations cannot reform without change in the member states." In his speech to the pre-summit symposium, Dr Piot highlighted the "deadly inequalities" of health that continue to divide the world, pointing to the growing AIDS epidemic in developing countries and calling for political will and commitment from governments.
UNAIDS is one example of the kind of collaborative arrangement needed in today's international environment, Dr Piot said, and called for continued and broadened partnerships in the response to AlDS. Since it was launched in 1996, UNAlDS has worked closely with a number of groups representing religious communities, civil society and community organizations, the business sector, governments, academia and the broad public.
The need for a collaborative approach to cross-sectoral issues is evidenced by the continuing spread of AIDS. Already, 18.8 million people around the world have died of AIDS, 3.8 million of them children. Nearly twice that many - 34.3 million - are now living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In 1999 alone, 5.4 million people were newly infected with HIV.
According to We The Peoples, AIDS is "rapidly becoming a social crisis on a global scale". The Secretary-General, building on the agreement reached by the UN General Assembly, calls for a strategy that focuses on young people aged 15 to 24 and on providing care to those living with HIV. He explicitly recommends action to reduce HIV infection rates among young people by 25% in the most affected countries before 2005, and globally by 2010. He also challenges countries to set specific prevention targets: "By 2005 at least 90% and by 2010 at least 95% of young men and women must have access to the information, education and services they need to protect themselves against HIV infection."
You may also visit the UNAIDS Home Page on the Internet for more information about the programme (http:/lwww.unaids.org).
AIDS can be transmitted through the kiss.
ITAR TASS informs on French scientist Luke Montanye that asserts AIDS virus can be transmitted through the kiss. This person leads the investigation and prevention of AIDS Spreading Foundation and is famous due to disclosure the connection between immune deficiency syndrome and HIV infection.     During his address on the international seminar held in the capital of Uganda, Montanye stated that the risk of AIDS transmission through the kiss obviously is underestimated by the majority of scientists. Virus can be accumulated in saliva glands and is capable to be transmitted, especially through the deep kiss.
His research denies earlier data according to which the saliva due to its chemical composition have comparatively good resistance to AIDS. However, earlier was assumed that in dilute the saliva, virtually, fully get lost its antiseptic effect.
ITAR-TASS 08/31/2000
Gut said to open the door to HIV.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Researchers have discovered why HIV infection thrives in the gut rather than in blood circulating in the body's periphery. They say this information may help in developing new strategies to battle HIV.
HIV appears to have an easier time establishing itself in the gut than it does in the circulatory system, according to a report in the current issue of the journal AIDS.
University of California Los Angeles investigators have found that key immune system cells in the gut are particularly receptive to HIV. T-cells there have six times the number of receptors compared with circulating blood cells, the researchers say.     Dr. Peter Anton, an associate professor of digestive diseases at UCLA, led the study.     In an interview with Reuters Health, Anton noted that studies in monkeys have shown that regardless of HIV's port of entry into the body, viral cells flock to the gut. The T-cells in the gut's mucus lining, he explained, are different from those circulating in the blood, and this difference appears to make them more vulnerable to HIV.
This helps to explain why unprotected sex is so risky, according to Anton. Just a small tear in mucosal surfaces opens the door to HIV. ``This underscores the need for protection during sex,'' Anton said.
The findings also bolster treatment research already underway, he noted. Scientists are investigating whether a drug designed to block the T-cell receptors can be put into a lubricant or spermicide in order to prevent the spread or transmission of HIV.
Reuters 08/31/2000
AIDS Prophylaxis and circumcision.
On the scientific conference (South Africa) dedicated to the AIDS problem on African Continent scientists discussed the difficult issue - what to do in connection with the fact that circumcised men are less exposed to the risk of immune deficiency virus transmission comparing to those not exposed to this operation. Ground of that - statistical data of epidemiologists and also biological ground.
Statistics shows in the countries where the circumcision is traditionally practised, the level of AIDS transmission among mature men are from 3 to 5%, and among those that don't adhere to this tradition are more than 25%. Scientists don't hurry in writing off other cultural factors and peculiarities of the general hygienic, and nevertheless already there are talks about circumcision propaganda for boys and mature men in regions it is not traditional.
Biological ground of the phenomena results in the research that is nearly published in the "British Medical Journal" which says Langergance cells that located on the inner side of the foreskin are subject to the penetration of immune deficiency virus.
Scientists are far from the consensus on this issue, but as it said by one of the participants of the conference - "it would be unsophisticated to think that we are solving the problem of making circumcision to men or not. They have already decided it for themselves". He meant the appearance of a lot of circumcision clinics for mature men all over Africa.
"Zerkalo" newspaper, July, 13 2000 #130 (887)
New means to fight against AIDS.
According to last data, immune deficiency virus is revealed in bodies of 40 million people all around the world and in Thailand and Philippines 60-80% of all prostitutes are HIV-infected. Terrified to these facts, Doctor Mitchel Katz from Californian University firmly decided to cease the spread of infection.
КCalifornian scientists conducted the experiment on prophylaxis of AIDS post transmission on which 401 volunteers took part, 94% of which have known about the research from the advert. It came out that some of the medicines with the strong effect for AIDS treatment are capable to cease the spread of virus in the body, but only in the case if they are taken immediately after the dangerous contact. During the experiment the average time from the possible moment of transmission till the consumption of the medicine was about 33 hours. But specialists think that it will be effective during 36 hours. We suggest the medicine not for relaxation and loose of care to the health, - explains the main creator of the preparation doctor Mitchell Katz, - for saving infected ones. Our visitors are mainly women that don't protect themselves having casual contacts, often homosexuals need a help, and rarely teenagers. To all patients of Doctor Katz the one-month course of treatment with Combivir that made from well-known means of AIDS treatment AZT and ZTC was suggested. On doctors' opinion if even patients were subject to the danger to become ill then strong-effected portions of medicines helped in virus destroying. Although, Katz assured that the treatment course is safe, nevertheless patients reported some side effects of this preparation. They are nausea, headache and the most unpleasant - diarea. However, all tested came to the common conclusion that to get AIDS would be worse.
To most patients of doctor Katz one treatment course was enough not to jeopardise the life, though 12% of the people from the first group came once again. One young American became a recordsman taken five treatment courses for six months. When Doctor Katz saw him fifth times then he just was at a loss and during several minutes couldn't say a word. Generally, during the experiment was found out that 43% of people having risky behaviour know that their partners HIV-infected. Investigators, having guessed that some people get more acuteness of feelings being aware can't explain such irresponsibility.
A. Drougalev - "Zerkalo" newspaper, July 13 2000 # 130 (887)
Free of charge AIDS testing.
Republican HIV/AIDS Center announced about the beginning of the first measure that would be held on the 1-st of July and anyone interested could make a test on immune deficiency virus (HIV). It was stated yesterday by the director of the center Galib Aliyev. According to his words, - not depending that above-mentioned infection spreads in Azerbaijan with the unprecedented speed, the population of the country in total is indifferent to this problem.     As Republican HIV/AIDS Center's director mentioned there were discovered 201 HIV infected, 63 of them are in regions. According to Aliyev's words these digits don't reflect the realistic picture of infection spreading in the country, showing only one side of the medal.     ""In order to define the real scale of epidemic it is needed to test 5 % of the country
population", - thinks the main fighter against AIDS in Azerbaijan. "Officially, 0,07% of the population of Azerbaijan are HIV-infected. Though, I think that this figure is much less than real indicators", - said Aliyev.
On the map of infection spreading besides Baku there are other strong points such as Sumgayit, Lenkoran, Jalilabad. According to Aliyev's words, often HIV is imported to Azerbaijan from neighbouring countries - Russia, Ukrain, Georgia - by our compatriots that are on livelihood there.
The situation in these countries - as Aliyev asserts, - is close to epidemic. In particular, according to his words 57 thousand HIV-infected are displayed in Ukraine. Concerning Russia - main pestholes of infection are Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Rostov, Saratov, Tumen, and of course Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Just in these cities, -Aliyev asserts, - the most numerous azeri Diaspora live. Fortunately, the director of AIDS Center didn't assert that just azeries are guilty in spreading of this infection in Russia, having noted only that some of them still have got connections with the motherland sharing not only with livelihood earned in RF, but also with infections…
F. Jafarly "Zerkalo" June 30 2000 #121 (878)
Clinton declared AIDS the enemy of the nation.
In the end of the last week American President's Administration representatives stated that henceforth the AIDS epidemic would be considered as a threat to the national and international security. On White House experts opinion "The plague of the XX century" is able to destabilise the situation in a number of African and Asian regions, - CNN informs.     In near future empowered persons of Clinton in the National Security Council will start the development of new official policy of the federal authority on the problem of disease spreading. And this problem on the opinion of the vice-president Gorr for first decade of XXI century will take away more lives than all wars of the outgoing century.
The focal attention of the Council that for first time is going to discuss infectious disease problems will be paid to the March of Victory, epidemic in South regions of Africa. Of 16 million people that became AIDS victims from the beginning of eighties 60 percent were inhabitants of just this region. In some African countries, for example in Zimbabwe and Botswana, more than one forth of the population are infected with immune deficiency virus.
The unexpected interest of the authority to the AIDS problem helped to double the sum that would be picked out from the budget of USA to fight against the spreading of this dangerous infection in the world and to raise it till 254 million dollars. Earlier, Clinton asked 100 millions for AIDS prophylaxis and treatment for developing countries from the Congress.     ОDiscussion of the AIDS epidemic problem will become one of the essential themes on May summit of USA and EC that will held in Portugal and on July meeting of G8 - in
Japan. Clinton hopes that the problem of epidemic dissemination will be close and understandable to other heads of biggest orbs, and jointly will be able to fight against oncoming threatе.
The situation with AIDS will become worse.
Currently, 19 million people have died from AIDS in the world, but the worst is ahead, - Associated Press informs. According to 135 paged report of UNAIDS - subdivision of UNO that co-ordinates the fight against fatal virus - next years in some African countries this disease can take away lives of half teenagers destroying the economy and way of life, depriving the future of these countries.
Presently, there are 34 millions of HIV-infected in the world, and 5,4 million people get infected only last year. More than 13 million children became orphans because of AIDS. In 16 countries of the African continent more than 10% of the population are HIV-infected, in seven countries this indicator is over 20%. More than one third of the adult population in Botswana is infected.     According to words of reporter Peter Piot the paradoxical
situation takes shape when people in age 60-70 are more than thirty-year-olds. The risk to die from AIDS for fifteen-year-old teenagers in some countries is close to 50 percent. In such countries as Zimbabwe where the weekly mortality rate from AIDS is equal to two thousand people, indicators of the agriculture are declining. Many entrepreneurs are become ruined loosing high-qualified personnel.
Some positive moments are observed on the background of the general crisis. According to Piot's words, the number of newly discovered cases is decreasing in Uganda, where the progressive experience of Zambia in condom use propaganda takes over. The similar experience in Asia is copied by Cambodia. The production of inexpensive preparations from AIDS is set in Brazil, which helped to minimise twice the mortality rate.
AIDS: Monkeys are guilty ones.
The other day in Ekatirenburg was officially announced about the beginning of AIDS epidemic in "a local" scale. This disease the abbreviation of which means "acquired immune deficiency syndrome" steps victoriously not only on our boundless motherland, under its heavy stepping the world bent and froze in expectation for something terrible. According to WHO data "the plague of XX century" already has stricken more than 60 million inhabitants of our planet and 16 million lives have taken by it.
Why did the mankind deserve such misfortune? It is possible to argue much, but we shall not be closer to HIV problem solving. In any time the nature could find "a spice" to the placid, satisfied and contented life of a man. These are natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, tsunami and other landslides, and change of ecological situation caused by the rude interference of a man to prohibited area that destroys fragile balance of the world harmony.
Certainly, AIDS is not the only "microbiological" problem of the man. Historians could easily remind tens of epidemic that took away one third of ancient world's population. These are plaque, cholera and grievously famous "Spanish flue". Numbers of diseases are increasing: new ones appear, from the deep of centuries forgotten ancient infections arise. Recently, scientists supposed that the global thawing of glaciers on the planet might be the cause of revival of the forgotten diseases, agents of which now are asleep taken by millennial dream, forged by the arctic ice.
The process of the new disease creation intrigues. That is why we experience new dangerous bacteria, viruses, prions , that are even more primitive than viruses. Each of them has got its own history, its own ways of migration on the planet, ways of new territorial conquests. If we return to AIDS then we can see that this fatal ailment also starts opening secrets of its origin. We are talking about the penetration of the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) to the mankind population that is the AIDS agent.
This virus has got a difficult and uneasy fate. After the official recognition of the disease existence, scientists for a long time couldn't understand the cause of it. Scientists of the past put forward theories of the AIDS origin in publications. In this disease they had seen the direct results of the "wrong" living of patients, because most of them were homosexuals or drug users and the pathology conditioned by genetic reasons, and drugs effect on cells, and non observance of hygienic measures. Only in 1983 followers of AIDS virus origin got the irrefutable proof: HIV was picked out and identified.
When AIDS did appear in the world? Published on Friday in the "Science" magazine the results of the recent investigation conducted by American specialists give weighty basis to guess that people got AIDS from our small congeners - African monkeys in thirties of the XX century, and conditions for such interspecific virus transition were created by European colonisers of the black continent. It is needed to specify that there exist several HIV variants characterised with several variations during the disease process and geographic dissemination. It is assumed these types are created from the only predecessor who in a turn got it from monkeys.
In general, clinical signs described as AIDS signs were registered in the world from the end of seventies, though scientists assume there were earlier precedents. Not long time ago, Saint- Luis investigators made quite interesting report on the virologist conference in Sydney. They described the case of 1968 where the teenager that earned money sailing himself on Saint Luis streets had died from the unknown in that time disease. Puzzled doctors had frozen samples of boy's tissues for the time they would be able to solve this problem. And recently, having refrozen the archives they found out changes characterising AIDS.
Officially, AIDS was diagnosed in USA in 1981 two years before microbiologists discovered the virus. For the first time in USSR AIDS was revealed at homosexuals on the 1-st of March 1987 by the hospital for infectious diseases #26 of Moscow city. During many years he worked as a military translator in Africa and returned to USSR with the set of venereal diseases, and due to them doctors passed AIDS right after his arrival. Only, five years later they diagnose it. During this time working in the military camp at a start and then teaching in the school, "Gagarin of AIDS" as he later called himself was spreading a fatal disease among young solders and senior pupils. His sexual partners kept on his "business": someone became a donor having infected at least four children through the blood, others departed in different directions of the country, disseminating virus in the most remote nooks.
All proofs lead the investigator to the African continent. In particular, from that place virus disseminated all around the planet having repeated the history of the mankind settling. The theory according to which virus was transmitted from monkeys, particularly from chimpanzee, practically, assumed indisputable nowadays. There are a lot of proofs, mainly revealing the virus in monkeys' blood that looks like HIV. Indeed, monkeys don't suffer from AIDS, virus doesn't harm them, and probably the one understands the cause of it could create the effective medicine from AIDS.
On the base of these genetic investigations scientists determined that circulating on our planet all types of viruses originated from the common predecessor appeared in Africa between 1915 and 1941, and the most probable date assumed 1931. This theory cast doubts on the different supposition according to which HIV got into the body with first vaccines against poliomyelitis between 1957 and 1960. That time, kidneys of green marmosets were used in vaccine preparation from which virus could be originated. Besides, scientists determined that presently disseminated in USA type B of the human immune deficiency virus appeared between 1960 and 1971, probably in 1967.     Africa's colonisation in the end of XIX century created conditions for transmission of HIV to human body. Europeans urged indigenous people to move from the long-inhabited places to thickets of forests where they were urged to hunt on monkeys. And probably, just that time
the virus found a new "host" for it. Following afterwards developing of natural recourses on the continent: construction of mines and roads promoted the virus dissemination. Prostitutes proposing their "business" had appeared in places where many men were gathered. Saying the truth, some construction companies delivered priestesses of love for their workers. Finally all screens fall apart with the popularisation of Trans Ocean voyages and with the beginning of sexual revolution. Also, essential was good and right undertakings of Europeans in a victory procession of AIDS done by the way in a wicked way. The problem that in once, "kind" white people decided to vaccine Negroes from smallpox but they didn't trouble themselves with sterilisation of syringes.
Hardly, the question "who is guilty?" is appropriate now. It is needed to decide what to do. Lately, scientists tied their hope to vaccines against AIDS that were mostly designed for treatment than for disease prophylaxis. Trials to create the effective preparation able to stop virus dissemination in the body are not ceased. Used in the western countries combined preparations are effective enough but expensive. Besides, they don't treat the disease, only hammer in the far corner: they should be taken constantly. A great hope was tied to "Armenikum" preparation but probably it is just another journalists' canard that aims money beating out from pockets of trustful and hopeless to find the different way out.
Denis Begoon /vesti.ru/ 06/10/2000
Teens' sex: forbidden ground.
The grandfather Freud liked to repeat that the sexual attraction fully rules over the conscience of a man from the birth managing his thoughts and behaviour. There is nothing funny that to the time of sexual ripening all thoughts of the teenager are around of one thing: relationship with the opposite sex. It is also typical for adult individuals, but just for teen it is something new and frightening.
The body helpfully prepares him to the first intimacy: genitals are increasing in size and the most important they became functional. So, fourteen year-old teen is ready to make children. In addition, sexual education in our society is disgusting. School allergies on parents, parents are ashamed of telling about it, the child finds out everything himself getting basis of the sexual literacy from friends and acquaintances.
Old women discuss about noxious impact of newspapers and television on youth and remind better times when being in this age they even didn't know about sex. Newspapers pick up typical for old people arguments telling that nowadays, loosing virginity almost in primary school became a custom.     Some time ago, the head of the scientific information department in the Institute named after Paster Nikolay Chiaka presented stunning data on the scientific conference for AIDS
prophylaxis. For latest 25 years the average age for the first sexual contact minimised for men from 20 to 14, and for women from 22 to 15 in Russia. This data he assured with results of the conducted survey by the "Zdorovye" magazine in which seemingly half million of people took part. Obviously, nobody worked up such amount of questionnaires.
Certainly, understanding of up-to-date teenagers about sex greatly differs from the peculiar to their parents. Conducted five years ago survey showed that close to sixteen slightly more that half of boys and one third of girls already have sexual contacts although not regular. Close to 18 this correlation is 70% for youth and 51% for girls.
Of course, time for starting sexual life is individual for everyone. It depends of many factors and even specialists can't count all. Teen's surrounding plays a great role: who can stay apart if everyone around tells only about sex, everyone experienced it or at least asserts it.
There is an impact of the personal habits: according to statistics teenagers that drink alcohol or use drugs on the regular basis have sexual relations earlier than their peers. There are three times more sex experienced among those who smoke and drink alcohol drinks being sixteen comparing with virgins.
The level of intellect leaves a mark. The ultimate survey of scientists from the University of the North Caroline conducted among American pupils showed that A-students kept themselves from sex longer than B & C students. Also, students unable to cope with cruel demands of teachers postpone their sexual experience though the reverse could be expectable. Apparently, the constant control of parents over studies and behaviour limits their freedom.
Due to that some observations of our specialists are interesting: students of technical schools start their sexual life noticeably earlier and especially, it is obvious for girls. Among 16-year-old students of technical schools there are twice more sexually experienced than among schoolchildren.
Early start of the sexual life is dangerous due to venereal diseases and pregnancy. Nobody will teach a teenager to use preventive measures correctly. If you are a happy dad or mum, think over today, or in a few years you will have to talk to your child about it and better before he will find out it on his bitter experience that children are brought not by the stork.
Denis Begoon /vesti.ru/ 06/10/2000