PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

HIV superinfection in Uganda may be more common than previously thought, study finds

2012-06-08
(Press-News.org) HIV superinfection, when a person with HIV could acquire a second, new strain of HIV, may occur as often as initial HIV infection in the general population in Uganda, a study suggests.

Since researchers demonstrated more than a decade ago that a person infected with HIV could subsequently acquire a second, new strain of HIV, there has been little agreement in the scientific community as to how often HIV superinfection occurs. Previous studies have found HIV superinfection to be relatively frequent among individuals who engaged in high-risk behaviors, but the rate of superinfection in general populations remained unclear. The new study, supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health, offers some evidence about the likelihood.

In light of the study's findings, the authors say post-test counseling for individuals newly diagnosed with HIV infection should emphasize the risk of HIV superinfection and the possible health implications of continuing practices that put them at risk for HIV. Studies of the rate of new cases, or annual incidence rates, of HIV superinfection, including those conducted in the United States, estimate 4 percent incidence among highly sexually active people diagnosed with HIV infection.

"This study indicates that HIV superinfection may be more common than was previously thought," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "These findings have implications for public health strategies to prevent new infections and efforts to develop an HIV vaccine. In addition, they are important because HIV superinfection can accelerate disease progression and the development of drug resistance, even in individuals who were previously controlling their HIV infection."

The study, published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, was led by Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., and Andrew D. Redd, Ph.D., of NIAID’s Laboratory of Immunoregulation, and Maria J. Wawer, M.D., Ph.D., formerly of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York City, and now with Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. Their collaborators included researchers at NIAID's Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, Mont., the Rakai Health Sciences Program in Kalisizo, Uganda, and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

The blood samples examined in the study were from the ongoing NIH-supported Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS), a community-based open study of heterosexual men and women ages 15 to 49 years old in rural Rakai District, Uganda. Since 1994, researchers working with the RCCS have been annually conducting interviews and collecting blood samples from approximately 14,000 consenting individuals in 50 Ugandan villages to better understand HIV infection and its risk factors and to develop potential preventive measures.

"Previous studies of HIV superinfection have focused on individuals exposed to the virus through high-risk sexual activity or intravenous drug use," said lead author Dr. Redd. "We wanted to determine the rate of HIV superinfection among a broader, general population using a novel technique sensitive enough to detect even the lowest levels of circulating HIV strains."

Using an advanced high-throughput genetic screening method called next-generation ultra-deep sequencing, the scientists examined blood samples from RCCS participants who became HIV infected. The screening was designed to detect differences in the distinctly positioned and relatively restricted p24 and gp41 genes of the virus and could detect a virus that represented as little as 1 percent of the total viruses circulating in the blood if it were of a different HIV subtype, or genetically related subgroup.

The researchers tested two blood samples. The first samples were taken at initial HIV diagnosis between 1998 and 2004, and the second samples were taken at least a year later, before the infected individuals began antiretroviral therapy. The samples were analyzed to find examples where the initial infecting strain did not cluster with viral strains found at a later time, thus confirming HIV superinfection. The rate of superinfection was then compared with an estimated overall HIV incidence rate for the entire population of initially HIV-negative individuals during the same time period.

Of the samples tested from 149 HIV-infected people, the scientists found seven cases of HIV superinfection, all detected in the gp41 region of the virus. Of these cases, four individuals were initially infected and then later superinfected with different strains of HIV subtype D, the most common viral subtype found in Rakai. The other three were initially infected with subtype D and superinfected with a different HIV subtype, subtype A. These findings suggest a rate of superinfection of 1.44 per 100 people annually. The investigators were surprised to find that the rate of superinfection was comparable to the current estimated annual rate of new, initial HIV infections in the Rakai cohort, or 1.15 infections per 100 people per year. HIV superinfection had been thought to be less common than initial infection.

"Our findings suggest that HIV vaccine strategies designed to recreate the natural immune response to HIV may be insufficient to protect an individual from infection," Dr. Redd noted. "However, the data also provide an interesting new population to explore since it is possible that some individuals will be protected from superinfection. Determining what controls superinfection could lead to new avenues for vaccine research."

###

In addition to the support provided by NIAID's Division of Intramural Research, NIAID provided funding through grant numbers R01-A134826, R01-A134265, and 1K23AI093152-01A1. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, also part of the NIH, provided funding through grant numbers 5P30HD06826 and R01-HD-050180. The NIH-supported HIV Prevention Trials Network provided laboratory support through grant number U01-A1-068613. Further funding support was provided through the NIH Office of AIDS Research, the NIH Fogarty International Center, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

For more information about NIAID's HIV/AIDS research, visit the NIAID HIV/AIDS portal.

NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health

Reference: AD Redd et al. The rates of HIV-superinfection and primary HIV incidence in a general population in Rakai, Uganda. Journal of Infectious Diseases. DOI: jid325 (2012).

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Connecticut

2012-06-08
Nursing homes are responsible for the care and comfort of those who cannot take care of themselves. Unfortunately, all too often nursing home patients become victims of abuse and neglect at the very hands of those entrusted to watch over them. The statistics on nursing home abuse are shocking, making it ever more important for family members and friends to ensure that nursing homes treat their loved ones well. Examples of Preventable Abuse Torrington Health and Rehabilitation Center in Torrington, Connecticut, was fined $510 and ordered to implement a corrective ...

An important breakthrough in immunology by IRCM researchers

2012-06-08
A team of researchers at the IRCM led by Dr. André Veillette made an important breakthrough in the field of immunology, which will be published online today by the scientific journal Immunity. The scientists explained a poorly understood molecular mechanism associated with a human immune disorder known as XLP disease or Duncan's syndrome. "We studied the SAP molecule, which plays a critical role in multiple different types of immune cells," says Dr. Veillette, Director of the Molecular Oncology research unit at the IRCM. "More specifically, we wanted to understand why ...

Research helps quantum computers move closer

2012-06-08
The quantum computer is a futuristic machine that could operate at speeds even more mind-boggling than the world's fastest super-computers. Research involving physicist Mike Thewalt of Simon Fraser University offers a new step towards making quantum computing a reality, through the unique properties of highly enriched and highly purified silicon. Quantum computers right now exist pretty much in physicists' concepts, and theoretical research. There are some basic quantum computers in existence, but nobody yet can build a truly practical one—or really knows how. Such ...

For Those Who Need it Most, the SSD System Can Be Hard to Navigate

2012-06-08
Social Security Disability benefits are designed to aid those who are unable to work due to an injury, disease or other medical condition. Although the application process may appear easy after browsing the Social Security Administration's (SSA) website, many people who meet the required qualifications and should receive benefits are often initially denied. In fact, initial claims for disability benefits are denied 65 percent of the time. There are ways to fight a social security disability denial. Unfortunately, although an appeals process is available, it can take ...

Finding ways to feed pigs for less

2012-06-08
Results of a preliminary experiment conducted at the University of Illinois indicate that it may be possible to select pigs that can make efficient use of energy in less expensive feed ingredients, thus reducing diet costs. Less expensive feed is usually higher in fiber than the corn-soy diets typically used in U.S. swine production, explained Hans H. Stein, professor of animal sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. However, the white breeds that are used in commercial pork production use only about 40 percent of the insoluble fiber. "If you can increase ...

New data suggests HIV superinfection rate comparable to initial HIV infection

2012-06-08
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) superinfection may be as common as initial HIV infection and is not limited to high risk-populations, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In the first large-scale study of HIV superinfection in a general heterosexual population, researchers examined the rate of superinfection among a community of sub-Saharan adults. HIV superinfection occurs when an HIV-infected individual acquires a new viral strain that ...

Boat Injury Verdict - $350,000

2012-06-08
Several weeks ago, Neufeld, Kleinberg & Pinkiert was approached by another law firm. This other law firm represented a man who was injured when an old wooden set of stairs (connecting a yacht to the dock) collapsed as the man was disembarking from the vessel. The owner of the boat had been previously notified of the stair / gangplank's shoddy condition, but elected to avoid making any repairs or replacements. The man was significantly injured. Knowing of David Kleinberg's reputation as a relentless, yet entertaining and incisive advocate in the courtroom, the other ...

Study links teamwork, communication with quality of nursing home care

2012-06-08
Nursing homes that foster an environment in which workers feel they are valued contributors to a team of caregivers provide better care to their residents. That is the conclusion of a study out this month in the journal Health Services Research. "We know from other fields of medicine that teamwork – the relationship between coworkers that facilitates decision making and care coordination – plays an important role in the quality of care," said Helena Temkin-Greener, Ph.D., lead author of the study and professor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine ...

Scientists discover huge phytoplankton bloom in ice-covered waters

Scientists discover huge phytoplankton bloom in ice-covered waters
2012-06-08
A team of researchers, including scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), discovered a massive bloom of phytoplankton beneath ice-covered Arctic waters. Until now, sea ice was thought to block sunlight and limit the growth of microscopic marine plants living under the ice. The amount of phytoplankton growing in this under-ice bloom was four times greater than the amount found in neighboring ice-free waters. The bloom extended laterally more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) underneath the ice pack, where ocean and ice physics combined to create a phenomenon ...

How Negligence Can Turn A Surgical Sponge Into A Deadly Object

How Negligence Can Turn A Surgical Sponge Into A Deadly Object
2012-06-08
In hospitals throughout Illinois and the rest of the United States, about one in every 6,000 surgical patients faces a common complication: Surgeons mistakenly sew up a patient while leaving a foreign object inside the surgical site, often a surgical sponge. The consequences of this surgical error can be painful and even deadly, because the body reacts unfavorably to a foreign object. For example, one victim suffered increasing pain after abdominal surgery, complaining repeatedly to his doctors until they finally reopened his incision five months later and discovered ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Plant doctor: An AI system that watches over urban trees without touching a leaf

Study tracks chromium chemistry in irradiated molten salts

Scientists: the beautiful game is a silver bullet for global health

Being physically active, even just a couple of days a week, may be key to better health

High-fat diet promote breast cancer metastasis in animal models

A router for photons

Nurses and AI collaborate to save lives, reduce hospital stays

Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model

Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

[Press-News.org] HIV superinfection in Uganda may be more common than previously thought, study finds