Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Highlights Recently Released Studies
The following highlights recently released studies on HIV/AIDS.
- "Prevalence of HIV Infection Among Young Adults in the United States: Results from the Add Health Study," American Journal of Public Health: Martina Morris, a sociologist at the University of Washington, and colleagues analyzed a random sampling of more than 13,000 people ages 19 to 24 who were tested for HIV as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. The study finds that among blacks in the age group, 4.9 per 1,000 are HIV-positive, and among all other races, 0.22 per 1,000 are HIV-positive. The researchers concluded that blacks between ages 19 and 24 in the U.S. are 20 times as likely to be HIV-positive as their peers in other racial or ethnic groups, Reuters Health reports. The study indicates that "racial disparity in HIV prevalence is large and established early in life," Morris said (Rauscher, Reuters Health, 6/8).
- "Preserved CD4+ Central Memory T Cells and Survival in Vaccinated SIV-Challenged Monkeys," Science: Norman Letvin of the Harvard Medical School and colleagues examined the effects of a vaccine that is made to elicit a cell-mediated response by CD4+ T cells in monkeys infected with SIV -- a virus found in monkeys considered the "closest model" for HIV. The researchers vaccinated monkeys against SIV and later exposed them to the virus. The study finds that monkeys that received the SIV vaccine lived for about 900 days after being infected with SIV, while monkeys who did not receive the SIV vaccine died within an average of 300 days after being infected with SIV. "A vaccine of this type does not appear to prevent infection," Letvin said, adding that a similar vaccine could work by helping HIV-positive people live longer without becoming ill (Fox, Reuters, 6/8).