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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Shots - Health News

HIV Cure Is Closer As Patient's Full Recovery Inspires New Research

Nurse Priscila-Grace Gonzaga with Gregg Cassin, a San Francisco gay man who has been infected with HIV since the early 1980s. He's a volunteer in a cutting-edge gene therapy experiment to see whether HIV-infected people can be given an immune system that is invulnerable to HIV infection.

July 18, 2012 After Timothy Ray Brown became the first person to be cured of HIV, scientists became more optimistic that they could find other ways to cure patients. Two of the most promising possibilities include a vaccine and gene therapy that would re-engineer the immune system.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Shots - Health News

Cholera Vaccination Test Reached Targets In Haiti

A lone pig roots through trash dumped over the side of a sewage canal that runs from the center of Port au Prince through Cite de Dieu. During the rainy season, the canal overflows its banks and fills nearby houses with sewage, which can carry cholera.

July 17, 2012 Almost 90 percent of the target population – half in Port-au-Prince and the other half in a remote rural area – got fully protected against cholera. The results defy the forecasts of skeptics who said in advance of the campaign that it would be lucky to protect 60 percent of the target populations.

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Shots - Health News

Deciding On Truvada: Who Should Take HIV Prevention Pill?

Kevin Kirk (left) and James Callahan have been together for more than five years. Recently they sat down and talked about whether Kevin, who is HIV-negative, might want to start taking Truvada.

July 17, 2012 Truvada, the first HIV prevention pill, costs about $13,000 a year, and it's not clear whether insurers will pay for it. And while taking a daily pill sounds simple, the new prevention strategy involves some complicated issues.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Thursday, July 12, 2012

AIDS: A Turning Point

'Treatment As Prevention' Rises As Cry In HIV Fight

While Kenya Jackson (right) is on his thrice-weekly dialysis treatment, community health worker Greg Jules talks to him about taking his medication.

July 12, 2012 Momentum behind the tactic has grown ever since a big study showed that people with HIV are 96 percent less likely to pass the virus on if they faithfully take antiviral medicine. Experts call it a "transformational moment" in the course of this epidemic. But many people with HIV still don't know they have it.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Shots - Health News

First Home Test For HIV May Cut Down New Infections

The Food and Drug Administration just approved the OraQuick test, which detects the presence of HIV in saliva collected using a mouth swab.

July 3, 2012 Public health officials hope OraQuick, which just won the FDA's approval, will help identify some of the nearly quarter-million Americans who are infected with HIV but don't know it. These unknowingly infected people are one reason why there are something like 50,000 new HIV infections a year in the U.S.

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AIDS: A Turning Point

Treating HIV: From Impossible To Halfway There

Francois St. Ker, 55, was on the brink of dying from AIDS in the spring of 2001. Today, he's a successful farmer and is in good health, thanks to treatment for his HIV.

July 3, 2012 Today in Haiti there are thousands of modern-day Lazaruses — people who have been rescued from the final stages of AIDS with treatment. Many HIV-positive survivors there and around the world are receiving treatment thanks to President Bush's $15 billion emergency program, called PEPFAR.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Friday, June 22, 2012

Shots - Health News

Drug-Resistant Germ In Rhode Island Hospital Raises Worries

Pretty to look at, almost, but Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria these are a common cause of infections in hospitals.

June 22, 2012 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites Rhode Island Hospital for fast work in stamping out a dangerous antibiotic-resistant germ. But federal officials are concerned the next time might not go as well. They're asking U.S. hospitals to be alert to the threat.

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Monday, June 18, 2012

Shots - Health News

Scientists Find New Wrinkle In How Cholera Got To Haiti

A Haitian protester in Port-au-Prince last year spray-paints a wall, equating the UN mission in Haiti (abbreviated here as MINISTA) with cholera.

June 18, 2012 Researchers have found two very different cholera strains in some of the first Haitians to be struck by the disease. The findings suggest that cholera germs may have been lurking undetected in Haiti for a long time.

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Shots - Health News

Traces Of Virus In Man Cured Of HIV Trigger Scientific Debate

Timothy Ray Brown, widely known in research circles as the Berlin patient, was cured of his HIV infection by bone marrow transplants. Now scientists are trying to make sense of the traces of HIV they've found in some cells of his body.

June 13, 2012 Researchers have found traces of HIV virus in the cells of a man who was the first to be cured of the infection with bone marrow transplants. The findings raise fresh questions about how to define a cure for HIV/AIDS.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Shots - Health News

Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis A 'Serious Epidemic' In China

Gao Weiwei, a doctor of the Beijing Chest Hospital which specializes in the treatment of tuberculosis, talks to a patient suspected to have tuberculosis at the hospital in Tongzhou, near Beijing, March 27, 2009.

June 6, 2012 More than 10 percent of the new cases of tuberculosis diagnosed in China each year are resistant to the mainstay drugs used to treat the illness. The sobering findings come from the first national survey of the disease conducted there.

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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Shots - Health News

Sick in America: Hispanics Grapple With Cost And Quality Of Care

A sign points the way to a hospital emergency room.

May 31, 2012 When it comes to out-of-pocket costs for health care, 42 percent of Hispanics say they're a "very serious" problem, according to a recent NPR poll. The finding runs counter to the widespread impression that African-Americans are worst-off when it comes to the cost and quality of health care.

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On Tell Me MorePlaylist

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Shots - Health News

Counterfeiters Exploit Shortage To Market Fake Adderall Pills

If the label of ingredients on the Adderall pack says "singel entity," that's a tip-off for trouble.

May 29, 2012 The FDA says fake Adderall pills are easy to spot: They're white instead of peachy-pink; and the packaging of the counterfeit pills is riddled with typos and misspellings — "aspartrte" instead of "aspartate," and "singel" instead of "single."

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Shots - Health News

With PSA Testing, The Power Of Anecdote Often Trumps Statistics

May 28, 2012 A federal task force's recommendations against routine blood tests for prostate cancer raises big questions about how to interpret medical evidence and what role expert panels should play in how doctors practice. But those questions aren't easy to answer.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Shots - Health News

Easier Colon Cancer Test Works Well, But Colonoscopy's Still King

May 22, 2012 Over the past decade or so, sigmoidoscopy has been largely abandoned by doctors in the U.S. in favor of colonoscopy to detect and prevent colon cancer. But sigmoidoscopy is easier on patients and is also effective in finding precancerous polyps.

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Monday, May 21, 2012

Shots - Health News

Task Force: End Routine PSA Tests For Prostate Cancer

Terry Dyroff, at home in Silver Spring, Md., got a PSA blood test that led to a prostate biopsy. The biopsy found no cancer, but it gave him a life-threatening infection.

May 21, 2012 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says the testing doesn't save enough lives to justify the risk of unnecessary surgery and radiation. But one testing supporter says, "If all PSA screening were to stop, there would be thousands of men who would unnecessarily suffer and die from prostate cancer."

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