People
with HIV are at high risk from the new flu strain that the World Health
Organisation said is on the verge of a pandemic, the WHO said on Saturday. News (Updated
May 3, 2009)
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Saturday, May 2 01:23 pm
People
with HIV are at high risk from the new flu strain that the World Health
Organisation said is on the verge of a pandemic, the WHO said on Saturday.
The United Nations agency
said people with immunodeficiency diseases -- including the AIDS virus -- will
most likely be vulnerable to health complications from the H1N1 strain, as they
are from regular seasonal flu, which kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people a
year.
HIV and the new flu strain
could also mix together in a dangerous way, as has occurred with HIV and
tuberculosis, the WHO said in guidance for health workers on its website.
"Although there are
inadequate data to predict the impact of a possible human influenza pandemic on
HIV-affected populations, interactions between HIV/AIDS and A(H1N1) influenza
could be significant," it said.
"HIV-infected persons
should be considered as a high risk and a priority population for preventive and
therapeutic strategies against influenza including emerging influenza A(H1N1)
virus infection," it said.
The virus widely known as
"swine flu" has been most severe in Mexico, where government
authorities say it has killed more than 100 people, and caused more mild
symptoms as it spread around the world to countries including the United States,
Austria, Israel, New Zealand and South Korea.
Although the outbreak
remains tiny in scale compared to other epidemics such as malaria, hepatitis,
and meningitis, the WHO has raised its pandemic alert level to 5 out of 6 due to
its rapid spread as well as the possibility that the flu could cause more
devastation in poor and disease-prone communities.
Countries with high rates
of HIV -- most of which are in
Antiviral medicines such
as Tamiflu and Relenza decrease the duration of virus excretion and the severity
of illness when used for treatment of ill patients, and may also prevent illness
when used for prophylaxis.
"Patients at higher
risk for complications of influenza including those with HIV infection should be
among those prioritised for antiviral treatment with oseltamivir or zanamivir
which shortens illness duration and severity in seasonal influenza," the
WHO guidance read.
It is best if people
infected with the flu strain start to take the antivirals within 48 hours of the
onset of symptoms, according to the WHO. There are no known problems with taking
those drugs alongside the anti-retrovirals that HIV patients take to suppress
their virus.
According to WHO
estimates, there are 33 million people infected with immune-weakening HIV
worldwide.
(For the full WHO guidance
for HIV patient care, see: http://www.who.int/hiv/mediacentre/influenza_hiv.pdf)
Mon Apr 27, 9:23 PM
WASHINGTON
(AFP) - President Barack Obama has named as his global AIDS coordinator an HIV
treatment specialist with 25 years experience fighting the disease and engaging
policymakers over the scourge.
Obama tapped Eric Goosby,
a professor at the
The White House in a
statement said Goosby played a crucial role in national HIV/AIDS treatment plans
in
During the administration
of president Bill Clinton he served as deputy director of the White House
National AIDS Policy Office, and over his career has developed extensive
relationships with multinational groups including UNAIDS and the World Health
Organization.
Goosby will oversee PEPFAR,
the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Under PEPFAR the
Sunday, May 3 11:31 am
At
least 19,435 Iranians have been infected with the HIV virus, with more than
1,000 new cases recorded since December 2008, the ISNA news agency reported on
Sunday, quoting the health ministry. Skip related content
Of those infected, 1,875
are already confirmed as having AIDS, it said.
It said the highest rate
of HIV infection, 40.2 percent, was among the 25 to 34 age group, with most
victims being men. Males accounted for 93.3 percent of all infected cases.
With testing facilities
limited and HIV-infected people or those living with AIDS often unwilling to
come forward, the health ministry estimates that
According to official
ministry figures, however, at least 3,236 people have died in
The main cause of
infection remained intravenous drug use, the report said, with 77.5 percent of
people contracting the virus this way.
Infection through sexual
contact accounted for 13.1 percent, while transmission from mother to baby
accounted for 0.9 percent of the total infections.
The health ministry is
concerned that sexual transmission of HIV could reach epidemic level because
around 60 percent of the country's nearly 71-million population is under the age
of 30 according to the 2006 national census, the news agency said.
Sexual relations outside
marriage are banned in the Islamic republic.
By LISA ORKIN EMMANUEL,
Associated Press Writer Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Associated Press Writer – Sat May 2,
9:43 am ET
MIAMI – A fifth patient
has tested positive for HIV, and seven more tested positive for hepatitis after
being exposed to contaminated medical equipment at three Department of Veterans
Affairs hospitals, the agency said Friday.
That brings the total who
have tested positive for hepatitis to 33.
They are among thousands
tested because they were treated with endoscopic equipment that wasn't properly
sterilized between patients and exposed them to the body fluids of others. The
equipment is often used in colonoscopies and ear, nose and throat procedures.
Nearly 11,000 former
sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines could have been exposed at the hospitals
in
VA spokeswoman Katie
Roberts said the new HIV case was found in the
"It's very disturbing
that anybody would contract it, of course. I am pleased that the VA has agreed
to treat all the veterans regardless of where they may have contracted it,"
said Alexander Kovac, a veterans' advocate who was stationed in
The VA has said the
problems with the endoscopic equipment had gone on for years, but were
discovered in December when officials learned the
On Feb. 9, the VA
announced a nationwide safety check of endoscopic equipment used in
colonoscopies and ear, nose and throat treatments. The procedure involves a
narrow, flexible tube fitted with a fiber-optic device such as a telescope or
magnifying lens that is inserted into the body.
Some veterans were warned
in February to get tested, and more were alerted in March when the
The day after the first
HIV infection became public April 6, the VA announced that its top medical
official, Dr. Michael Kussman, was retiring. Kussman still works at the VA but
could not be reached for comment. Roberts has said there was "no connection
whatsoever."
The endoscopic equipment
is made by Center Valley, Pa.-based Olympus American Inc., and the company has
said its recommended cleaning procedures are clear.
The VA and its inspector
general have started investigations, and congressional members of the Veterans
Affairs Committee have asked for a hearing in late May to discuss how the VA has
been handling the problem.
The VA is providing a hot
line for veterans and their families and posts the information it is releasing
on its Web site.