No condom use after recent viral load test safer than intermittent condom use

From aidsmap, by Roger Peabody

In stable gay couples, where one partner is taking HIV treatment and the other is HIV-negative, the risk of HIV transmission is relatively low if condoms are not used following a recent undetectable viral load test result. However, using condoms on a few more occasions but without reference to viral load substantially increases the risk of HIV transmission.  These are the findings of a mathematical modelling study, drawing on detailed data on viral loads in Dutch gay men, published online ahead of print in Sexually Transmitted Infections.

The model suggests that during the entire period that a first-line treatment regimen is taken, the risk of HIV transmission would be 1% if condoms are used all the time, 3% if condoms are not used after an undetectable viral load test in the past six months, 17% if condoms are used 30% of the time, and 22% if condoms are never used.

The model was designed to test the proposition put forward in the Swiss statement: that in long-term, serodiscordant couples, a decision to give up using condoms can be safely made as long as the HIV-positive partner is adhering to HIV treatment and has had an undetectable viral load for at least six months.

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Read the article in Sexually Transmitted Infections

'Hang them': Uganda paper publishes photos of gays

from The Washington Post, by Godfrey Olukya and Jason Straziuso

The front-page newspaper story featured a list of Uganda's 100 "top" homosexuals, with a bright yellow banner across it that read: "Hang Them." Alongside their photos were the men's names and addresses.

In the days since it was published, at least four gay Ugandans on the list have been attacked and many others are in hiding, according to rights activist Julian Onziema. One person named in the story had stones thrown at his house by neighbors.

A lawmaker in this conservative African country introduced a bill a year ago that would have imposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts and life in prison for others. An international uproar ensued, and the bill was quietly shelved.

But gays in Uganda say they have faced a year of harassment and attacks since the bill's introduction.

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Land of illusion

Ten zółty, czy jak kto woli musztardowy, cardigan  nie był moim faworytem na początku tzn. w momencie kupna - jakieś 2 lata temu. Namówiła mnie do niego Zuza. Kolor trochę jakby zbyt żywy na tamten okres dla mnie. No, ale czego się nie robi dla dziewczyny ( zwłaszcza takiej jak Zuza :* )  W tym sezonie ma on jednak swoje 5 minut i za każdym razem, gdy go założę czuję się świetnie :) Pozostałe elementy raczej znane z wcześniejszych wystąpień, więc bez historii ;p

Musicie wybaczyć mi praktycznie te samą pozę na każdym zdjęciu, ale zdjęcia były robione podczas FW (sobota) - nie lubię za bardzo pozować, a jeszcze biorąc pod uwagę taką masę ludzi przechodzący co chwilę - pstryknęliśmy tylko kilka zdjęć. Inną saprawą jest, że była tam taka ilość  inspirująco ubranych osób,  że szkoda było czasu na robie zdjęć mi ;p

Skoro już wspomniałem o Zuzce  chciałbym nadmienić krótko, że gdyby nie ona nie byłoby Adama, takiego jaki obecnie jest i na 100% nie byłoby The Men's Side. To ona jest moją największą inspiracją.

Myślę, że bez cienia przesady mogę powiedzieć, że to na jakim etapie, nazwijmy to, "modowym" aktualnie jestem to jej zasługa. Gdyby kilka lat temu nie zaczęła mi delikatnie podsuwać  rzeczy, które uznała za ciekawe, dzisiaj pewnie chodziłbym w za dużej koszuli i za szerokich spodniach, w sandałach na grubej podeszwie - z białymi skarpetkami. Początki były ciężkie, ale jak już załapałem bakcyla, poszło z górki. Kupowanie zaczęło mi sprawiać radość, a możliwość wyszperania czegoś specjalnego w lumpie to wręcz atrakcja. 

Obecnie z przykrością patrzę na masę Ploaków, którzy chodzą ubrani wg powyższego opisu i życzę im żeby spotkali drugą Zuzę, chociaż wiem,  że nie mają na to najmniejszych szans...

Consortium assembled to design human trials of mosaic HIV vaccine

From EurekAlert.org

Duke University Medical Center vaccine experts have assembled an international team of investigators to design and implement the first human trial of a mosaic HIV vaccine candidate, a novel strategy that attempts to counter one of the most daunting challenges in HIV vaccine design: the virus's extensive genetic diversity.
Traditional HIV vaccines are designed to stimulate the body's immune system to recognize naturally occurring stretches of specific amino acids in the virus's proteins. In contrast, mosaic vaccines are composed of many sets of synthetic, computer-generated sequences of proteins that can prompt the immune system to respond to a wide variety of circulating HIV strains.
Such vaccines have already been studied in animals and have shown some success in enhancing the breadth of immune responses. Now, Barton Haynes, MD, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), says a newly formed research coalition has begun designing an early phase safety trial to assess mosaic vaccines in humans. The trial will test the mosaic concept and could possibly lead to the next generation of HIV vaccine candidates.

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Studies Tout Alternative HIV Regimens for Women, Babies

From Bloomberg Businessweek, by Randy Dotinga

New research suggests that alternative drug regimens in poor countries could help HIV-infected mothers and their infants more effectively fight off the virus that causes AIDS.

Currently, doctors lower the risk of transmission of mother-to-baby HIV infection by giving a drug to mothers right before birth and to babies right after. About half of the babies avoid getting HIV, but mothers and babies who do get infected often develop resistance to the drug, which is typically given to them later in life.

Enter the alternatives. "We now have a very effective treatment for women who've taken a specific drug and for babies at risk," said Dr. Shahin Lockman, lead author of one of two studies about the regimens in the Oct. 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

There's a big hitch, however: the alternative regimens are much more expensive than the current drug regimen, although the study authors weren't able to give an estimate of the difference in costs between the regimens.

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Read the full articles in the New England Journal of Medicine