Hiv

It was supposed to be a swan song, one of professional sport's most emotional and riveting moments: the farewell of Magic Johnson from the NBA and perhaps mainstream society after announcing that he had contracted HIV. Twenty years ago, that is what many believed would happen, that Johnson would disappear from the public eye. Twenty years later, Johnson returns to Orlando, the city that cheered him so vigorously in his final All-Star Game appearance....

Re " State cuts jails' HIV programs: Sheriffs caution on health impact " by Maria Cramer (Page A1, May 14): The proposed cuts to HIV prevention and testing programs in Massachusetts' county jails would have not only devastating human consequences for incarcerated populations and their communities, but dire financial ones for an already overburdened health care system. As an HIV physician, I take care of a large number of patients who received their diagnosis while incarcerated.

ATLANTA -- An American diagnosed with the AIDS virus can expect to live for about 24 years on average, and the cost of healthcare over those two-plus decades is more than $600,000, new research indicates. Both the life expectancy and the cost of care have risen from earlier estimates, mainly because of expensive and effective drug therapies, said Bruce Schackman, the study's lead author. The research found that the average annual cost of care is about $25,200, nearly 40 percent higher than a commonly cited estimate from the late 1990s.

The state has eliminated more than $1 million for HIV testing and education in county jails, alarming sheriffs who fear the cuts threaten the health of inmates and those they have contact with after being released. Sheriffs warned that the cuts will lead to eliminating staff who educate inmates about the virus; curtailing HIV testing within the jails; and ending visits by infectious disease doctors who monitor inmates' health. "I'm very concerned," Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson said.

WHO Dr. Heidi Louise Behforouz WHAT Behforouz heads an HIV-treatment organization called Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment (PACT), a project of Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the global health provider Partners in Health. Q. Your group focuses on helping people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, who have not been helped by other programs, right? A. We are referred HIV/AIDS patients who are "failing standard care" from 25 different places and hospitals across the country.

DARMSTADT, Germany — A German singer facing accusations that she infected a man with the virus that causes AIDS acknowledged in court yesterday that she had unprotected sex despite knowing she was HIV-positive. Nadja Benaissa, 28, a member of German girl band No Angels, is charged with grievous bodily harm for allegedly infecting a partner with the virus. She also faces charges of attempted bodily harm for having unprotected sex with two other men. “I am sorry from my heart,’’ she said in a statement read by her lawyer.

GENEVA — Authorities in Switzerland are investigating whether an acupuncturist intentionally infected at least 15 people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, an official said yesterday. The case shocked Switzerland when it came to light earlier this week, after Swiss tabloid Blick reported that authorities had kept silent on the allegations since first receiving a complaint five years ago. Investigating magistrate Hermann Fleischhackl said an investigation was launched after one alleged victim filed a criminal complaint in early 2005.

A Cincinnati jury has convicted a former professional wrestler of charges he had sex with women without telling them he had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS. Hamilton County jurors returned the verdict Wednesday on 14 felonious assault counts against Andre Davis, who wrestled using stage names including Gangsta of Love and Sweet Sexy Sensation. Prosecutors say the 29-year-old Davis didn't tell a dozen sex partners about his HIV status or lied to them. The women testified they had unprotected sex with Davis.

DUBLIN -- The virus that causes AIDS is spreading again in Western Europe and is rampaging through Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where it infected 250,000 people last year, a United Nations health official said yesterday. Eastern Europe and Central Asia are experiencing the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the world, said Peter Piot, executive director of the UNAIDS organization. In 1998, Piot noted, 30,000 people were known to be infected with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Newly dating and slightly anxious, two men bared their arms for blood tests and pondered the possibility that one of them, or both, could be infected with HIV. An innovative program — called Testing Together — would allow them to hear their test results minutes later, while sitting side by side. Eric Zemanovic, a dental hygienist, and Dominic Poteste, a restaurant server, had been dating two months after a yearlong friendship. In the past, they'd both practiced safe sex and got regular HIV tests.

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration is considering approval of the first over-the-counter HIV test that would allow consumers to quickly test themselves for the virus at home, without medical supervision. FDA reviewers said Friday the OraQuick In-Home HIV test could play a significant role in slowing the spread of HIV, according to briefing documents posted online. But they also raised concerns about the test's accuracy. Public health experts estimate one-fifth, or about 240,000 people, of the 1.2 million HIV carriers in the United States are not aware of their status.

SILVER SPRING, Md. - The first drug shown to prevent HIV infection won the endorsement of a panel of federal advisers Thursday, clearing the way for a landmark approval in the 30-year fight against the virus that causes AIDS. In a series of votes, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended approval of the daily pill Truvada for healthy people who are at high risk of contracting HIV, including gay and bisexual men and heterosexual couples with one HIV-positive partner.

NEW YORK - HIV patients given gene therapy more than a decade ago are healthy and the altered DNA they received remains stable in their bodies, according to a study that scientists say proves the treatment may safely be tested as a way to attack other illnesses. All except two of 43 people treated with genetically altered versions of their own infection-fighting T cells were healthy as many as 11 years later, according to the study reported Thursday in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Greek authorities announced the arrest Wednesday of 17 HIV-positive women who allegedly worked illegally as prostitutes, accusing them of intentionally causing serious bodily harm. The names and photographs of 12 of the women were published on the Greek Police's website, angering human rights advocates who said it was unclear whether the women were aware they had HIV. "This is an appalling violation of human rights and medical confidentiality … an unprecedented action stigmatization," Positive Voice, a group that helps people with HIV, said in a statement.

Governor Deval Patrick signed into law Friday a bill that supporters say will provide greater access to HIV tests and bring Massachusetts into compliance with federal recommendations aimed at promoting more testing. The measure reduces barriers to testing for the virus that causes AIDS by eliminating the need for doctors to obtain written consent from patients, and instead requires only verbal consent. The bill was crafted to bring Massachusetts in line with federal health officials' 2006 recommendation that states update their laws to...

ATLANTA - Only about 1 in 4 US residents with the AIDS virus have the infection under control with medications, US health officials said yesterday. Part of the reason is that about 20 percent of those infected with HIV don't know it. People can have an infection for years without developing symptoms. An infection was once a death sentence, but medications that have been available for 15 years can turn it into a manageable condition, allowing those infected to live longer and healthier lives.