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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Shots - Health News

Consensus Builds For Universal HIV Testing

Katherine Tapp, 26, tries a rapid HIV test offered at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Washington, D.C., in June 2012. It's part of an effort to get more people screened.

April 30, 2013 Teenagers and adults as old as 65 should get screened for HIV, new guidelines say. People at higher risk of infection, including men who have sex with men and people who use IV drugs, should get retested at least once a year.

Summary

Monday, March 25, 2013

Shots - Health News

Gates Foundation Says It's Time For A Snazzier Condom

An estimated 15 billion condoms are manufactured each year and 750 million people use them.

March 25, 2013 Condoms have evolved little since latex ones were first manufactured in the 1920s. Bill Gates is hoping to change that. His foundation is giving $100,000 to anyone who can come up with a condom that men or women actually want to wear.

Summary

Friday, March 15, 2013

Shots - Health News

More Patients Keep HIV At Bay Without Antiviral Drugs

An electron micrograph of HIV particles infecting a human T cell. French researchers say they've found 14 patients with so little HIV virus in their blood that the patients have gone into "long-term remission."

March 15, 2013 French researchers confirm that the immune systems of 14 adults are apparently controlling HIV without medication. It's further evidence that early treatment may prevent the virus from establishing "reservoirs" of HIV-infected cells in the body.

Summary

Monday, March 04, 2013

Shots - Health News

Scientists Report First Cure Of HIV In A Child, Say It's A Game-Changer

Daily medications for young children with HIV include both tablets and liquid drugs in syringes.

March 4, 2013 Scientists say a Mississippi child has been cured of HIV. The research findings, released Sunday, could help cure other HIV-infected newborns.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Shots - Health News

Strategy To Prevent HIV In Newborns Sparks Enthusiasm And Skepticism

By taking antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy, this Tanzanian mother lowered the risk of passing HIV to her daughter.

February 28, 2013 Every year about 300,000 babies in sub-Saharan Africa are born with HIV. A new strategy aims to reduce these infections by putting every pregnant woman with HIV on drug treatment for the rest of her life. The approach has worked well, so far, in the small country of Malawi.

Summary

Friday, February 22, 2013

Shots - Health News

Treating HIV Patients Protects Whole Community

HIV drugs not only can keep patients healthy but also can stop the sexual transmission of the virus. Here an HIV-positive mother picks up medications at a hospital outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

February 22, 2013 Treating people for HIV isn't just beneficial for those infected but also helps the entire community. Two studies show that where HIV drugs are widely available, the risk for new HIV infections drops dramatically and overall life expectancy increases by more than a decade.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Shots - Health News

Dangers of 'Whoonga': Abuse Of AIDS Drugs Stokes Resistance

A whoonga smoker near Durban, South Africa, shows a crushed AIDS pill in the palm of his hand before mixing the drug with marijuana.

December 18, 2012 In South Africa, drug users are crushing HIV medications and mixing them with marijuana, heroin and other illicit drugs. Public health workers worry that people who smoke so-called whoonga are helping to fuel the rise of drug-resistant HIV.

Summary

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Shots - Health News

Clinton Reveals Blueprint For An 'AIDS-Free Generation'

United Nations Aids Executive Director Michel Sibide hugs Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they they presented the a road map for stopping HIV around the world.

November 29, 2012 HIV has been declining in many parts of the world over the past decade. Today the U.S. unveiled an ambitious plan to stop most new HIV infections around the world. But some health leaders question whether their goals are realistic, especially with impending budget cuts.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Shots - Health News

HIV Infections Rise Among Young Black Men In U.S.

A young man places an oral swab into a solution to complete an HIV test during a free screening event in Washington, D.C.

November 27, 2012 The number of new HIV infections in the U.S. is relatively stable at about 50,000 people a year. But HIV is on the rise in people under 25, federal data show. The upswing is driven largely by infections among young black men.

Summary

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Shots - Health News

World AIDS Epidemic Slows, But Fight Stalls In Parts Of Asia

Students paste red ribbons on a window to mark World AIDS Day in Nanjing, China, in 2006. Between 2007 and 2011, the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases in China has nearly quadrupled to 40,000.

November 21, 2012 Although new HIV infections have dropped by as much as 50 percent in many African countries, the fight against AIDS seems to be losing its footing in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. New infections nearly quadrupled in China between 2007 and 2011.

Summary

Monday, October 22, 2012

Shots - Health News

HIV Finding Opens New Path For Vaccine Research

The HIV-1 virus cultivated with human lymphocytes.

October 22, 2012 Researchers in South Africa tracked how the evolution of the virus in two infected woman shaped the antibodies they produced to fight it. Several months after infection, the researchers saw that the patients had developed more "broadly neutralizing antibodies," which target different versions of the virus.

Summary

Monday, September 24, 2012

Shots - Health News

South African Children's Hospital Closed Under Apartheid To Reopen

The Durban Children's hospital opened in 1931, as a facility for all races, but tensions during the apartheid era forced it to close in the 1980s.

September 24, 2012 With local hospitals in Durban, South Africa, strained by the AIDS epidemic, city leaders are trying to restore and reopen a historic children's hospital shut down in the 1980s during apartheid. The hospital originally opened in 1931 with a mandate to serve kids of all races.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Shots - Health News

'Test And Treat' Strategy For Curbing HIV Draws Questions

Nurse Irena Majola tests Justice Mlambo's blood for HIV at a roadside AIDS testing table in a suburb near Cape Town. Under the "test and treat" strategy, about 45 million South Africans would need to be screened for HIV each year.

September 6, 2012 Testing everyone for HIV and then giving them early treatment could theoretically eliminate the epidemic in South Africa. A mathematical model of this "test and treat" strategy suggest that it might be more expensive and take significantly longer than previously predicted.

Summary

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Shots - Health News

Vaginal Ring Protects Monkeys From HIV-Like Infection

A small, plastic vaginal ring loaded up with an HIV drug protects monkeys from infection with simian immunodeficiency virus.

September 5, 2012 A vaginal ring that releases a drug against HIV shows promise in an animal study as a way to prevent infections. The results bolster hopes that an ongoing clinical trial of a similar ring in people will prove to be successful.

Summary

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Shots - Health News

Decline In Circumcisions Could Prove Costly

Nurse Angie Hagen tends to a newborn boy in the nursery at Denver Health medical facility in Denver in June 2011. The following month Colorado ended coverage for routine circumcisions under Medicaid.

August 21, 2012 Over the past two decades, circumcision rates in the U.S. have fallen to 55 percent from a peak of about 79 percent. A new analysis from Johns Hopkins researchers suggests the decline will add to health care costs.

Summary

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