AIDS Symptoms

Herpes

2011-08-02T00:42:00.000-07:00

Herpes Lip

This is what is popularly called "fever on the lips. Against the background of the common cold, other infectious diseases (often occurring with temperature), the influence of cold or excessive sun exposure can cause manifestations such as itching of the lips, followed by the appearance of red spots and then the bubbles, which causes pain.

Herpes of the oral mucosa

Eruptions have the form of bubbles, surrounded by a halo of red, and some of them after the crash, turned round to erosion. This is known as herpes stomatitis. Characterized by rapid clinical picture. The disease begins with chills, fever to 39 ° and the appearance of painful sores in the mouth, headache, increased drowsiness, general malaise. The rash often localized in the mucosa of the cheeks, gums, palate,inner surface of the lips, tongue, at least in the soft and hard palate, palatine tonsil and ear. Almost always increases submandibular lymph nodes (they are often painful).

Genital herpes

Genital herpes - an infection caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV). In 80% of cases the disease is caused by HSV type 2 in 20% of cases - Herpes simplex virus type 1.

Genital herpes is transmitted sexually, and it is not necessary to have any of the partners at the time of intercourse was worsening. The manifestations of acute pain and are characterized by itching in the vulva (labia and vagina - women and the head of the penis - for men). Against this background, there are typical of any localization of herpes blisters that, bursting, turn into sores.

Shingles - Herpes zoster

Shingles - a disease that results from activation of latent varicella zoster virus. Characterized by inflammation of the posterior roots of the spinal cord and spinal ganglia. Pathogen - varicella zoster virus (herpes simplex virus type 3). Ill persons previously undergone chickenpox, mostly elderly.

Shingles is the following symptoms: burning intense pain during one or more edges not associated with trauma and not accompanied by any other symptoms at first, followed by some time appear on the skin-specific rash that looks reminiscent of vesicles.

Candida and AIDS

2010-05-25T04:08:00.000-07:00

There is a connection between candida and our immune system and a strong impact on the body when AIDS or HIV is factor. AIDS cripples the body's immune system and candida takes full advantage of that scenario.

HIV and AIDS patients are suffering from a nearly defenseless immune system so it can be difficult to fend off candida. In a normally healthy person who has a lowered immune system due to a non-life threatening illness it can be harder to fight off a yeast infection but for someone who has a seriously impaired immune system candida can become deadly and it can:

-get into the bloodstream,
-interfere with functions of vital organs;
-and stop the body from absorbing necessary vitamins and nutrients.

Many who are dealing with immune system problems quickly learn that they need to take these yeast infections very seriously and work with doctors and natural health practitioners to actively keep their yeast levels under control through medication and through natural supplements and a candida diet.

Candida is a form of yeast that exists naturally in everyone. It is normally harmless and is simply present in the body. However, if the body for one reason or another falls out of balance, candida can grow excessively, leading to a host of problems. Unlike many other medical conditions, there is not just one cause of candidiasis that is accepted by the medical community. There is a combination of a variety of different factors that allows this form of yeast to wreak havoc on the human body.

There are certain individuals that are more prone to candida overgrowth than others. It is understood that individuals with compromised immune systems are more susceptible than others for abnormal candida growth. People with AIDS, diabetes, cancer, depression, the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions are most at risk. Prolonged use of certain medications may also put an individual at risk of developing an overgrowth of candida.

Immune weakness is probably the most obvious reason for the development of candidiasis. When the immune system is compromised the body is vulnerable to attack from a wide variety of pathogens - not just candida. Interestingly, candida can often start to flourish when a person uses antibiotics as antibiotics kill off the good bacteria that are instrumental in keeping candida production in check. When good bacteria is depleted the environment for candida to thrive is created.

While there is no single reason for candidiasis to develop, there are a number of factors that can pile up, thus triggering candida overproduction. Have you ever heard the saying 'the straw that broke the camel's back'? It is an excellent way to understand how candidiasis develops. When candida takes on a dominant role in the body this potential form of virulent yeast transforms into its fungal form. This fungal state enables candida to cause damage and release dangerous toxins into the body. If you remember that one of the causes of mass candida is toxins, you can see the creation of a cycle that further sets the body at risk for various health problems. There are many causes of candida that must be accounted for. If you understand how candida is produced in abundance, you can formulate a plan to fight against it.

Remember, if you suspect that you may have developed candidiasis, you should immediately work to counter it. There are many steps you can take - both natural and through medical intervention. Make sure that you research all your options and choose the path that will help you achieve better health.

Immune deficiency syndrome

2010-02-09T07:01:00.001-08:00

Immune deficiency syndrome is known as AIDS and represents the part of infections and symptoms resulting from the harm to the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This structure constantly decreases the value of the immune system and leaves individuals in position to become infected with tumors and infections. HIV is spread through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the blood circulation with a physical fluid containing HIV, such as blood, seminal fluid, presetting fluid, vaginal fluid and mother's milk.

The symptoms of AIDS can be found in almost every part and every organ of the human body. In the early stage when first infected with AIDS, there is a good possibility of not having any signs and symptoms of infection, but there is a chance of flu-like condition two to four weeks after becoming infected. Some of the early symptoms include: Pyrex (fever), headache, rash, swollen lymph glands and sore throat (pharyngitis). Even if the person does not have these symptoms, he can transmit the virus to the people surrounding him. The virus is reproducing in lymph nodes and gradually starts to break down the helper T cells which have the role of managing the complete immune system. Other symptoms are marks on the skin, pink or purple blotches which appear all over the body and look like bruises or blisters. But remember, each of these symptoms is quite common and may be due to some other cause. It is only when they all occur together and looks like bruises or blisters.

But remember, each of these symptoms is quite common and may be due to some other cause. It is only when they all occur together and last for a long time that there may be reason of concern. Even then, only laboratory tests can prove whether someone has AIDS. There is no treatment for AIDS. Patient generally dies who have been diagnosed as having had AIDS for more than two year. Condoms and vaginal foams are partial barrier to all diseases. Be sure that your partner has no obvious signs of infection. Be careful with any new partner especially if you know he or she has had a lot of anonymous relationships.

AIDS - A Cause of Unprotected Sex

2009-11-12T05:41:00.000-08:00

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is known as AIDS in the short form. AIDS is in fact the collection of certain symptoms and infections in the human organism which permanently leads to the damage of the human immune system. AIDS is in other ways considered as the body's defense system which hampers the normal functioning of the body organs to a great extent. The basic cause of AIDS is the two types of viruses, namely the HIV 1 and the HIV 2. Basically these two types of viruses are thus responsible in the performance of the defense mechanism system of the body.

The most common cause of AIDS is considered to be the unprotected sex. Sex without taking proper precaution like condom is very much responsible for AIDS. AIDS is generally transmitted through the semen. It is estimated that more than three million people round the globe had died through AIDS. During the prenatal stage also it is found that the mother will transmit the disease to the fetus before it is born. AIDS is transferred to the blood through the means of transfusion of blood into another's body cell. Besides these, AIDS can also be caused through the use of injections which are not properly sterilized in the process of taking drugs or blood into the veins.

Symptoms of AIDS are not visible at the early stage. But at least after a period of 3 to 6 weeks the symptoms of AIDS can be noticed through certain flu like sickness. Besides these, symptoms like headache, nausea, fever, fatigue, diarrhea, etc. are also considered as other AIDS symptoms. But it can be mentioned out here though these symptoms occur in an AIDS patient; it lasts for only a temporary period of time after which it disappears. Sometimes acute AIDS symptoms also cannot be considered as the symptoms of AIDS, as they may also be found to be very much common to other forms of diseases. Thus symptoms either mild or severe cannot be considered as solely the symptoms of AIDS as other forms of sickness or diseases also witness the similar symptoms. But however, when the disease reaches its critical stage, the symptoms become very much acute thus leading to loss of weight, recurrent fever and also occurrence of certain fatal diseases. AIDS thus totally destroys the immune system of the body totally. AIDS is thus a deadly disease which is the result of unprotected sex, hence to prevent it is to avoid unprotected sex.

Symptoms of HIV:

The first stage of the infection is called the 'primary HIV infection'. The persons infected by this virus, about more than half of the people develop the symptoms, generally in about 15 to 45 days of the infection. The symptoms would comprise of pain in the joints, fever, muscle pain, sore throat, and swelling in the glands, getting tired out faster than usual and appearance of a spotty rash on the chest.

Generally the symptoms are quite mild and you would tend to link them to some other problem like fever or cold. These symptoms do not show any increment for a long period. This is called 'Asymptomatic HIV infection'.

This virus is internally growing and even damaging the immune system. If the virus is left and not treated, it in turn will bring down the number of the CD4 cells in the body to a very low level and this would cause the immune system to stop functioning. This damage caused to the immune system generally happening in over a period of ten years. This in turn would inexorably result in growing into a severe infection.

The symptoms of a severe infection would be, night sweats, dry cough, inexplicable loss of weight, high fever which would be enduringly long, vision would start getting blur, the mouth or the tongue would develop white spots, shortness in breath, constant diarrhea or even glands tend to swell up and this condition would continue for three or more months.

Treatment of HIV:
The first step would be getting referred to a HIV clinic and getting counseled. Then blood tests would be done regularly, these tests would be to keep a check on the viral load and the CD4 cell count. There is no vaccine or medication available which can cure HIV completely. But there are medications like HEART available in order to slow down the speed of the virus and also giving you a longer life span.

Presentation Aids

2009-07-10T07:19:00.001-07:00

In my keep on article I covered the basics of what a question presentation is and how to go about giving an able one. I mentioned that I would be elaborating on the bizarre types of presentation aids that be and this is basically the range of this article.

What are performance aids? Anything that helps you correct your presentation more functional is an aid. In the old days we used to travail with audio cassettes, and record recorders, not to mention VCRs and video tapes. Today the biggest aid you induce is the computer. It takes take charge of of audio, visual and reckoning needs. An all in one package handle.

It is helpful indeed to use Power Malaprop's to compile your presentations. Put all the germane data onto digital slides. Hum them along in the non-sequential that you want to indicate as it were about them. Hibernate slides you don't want to use for shorter presentations. There is a lot that you can do with the laptop at your disposal. Yet, the continued slide show is not the just feature that you can use in a spectacle.

Videos and pictures put together great presentation aids. Let's face it, not all of us are born orators. Most of us are hiding behind our scripts and wishing the proffering was over. So it makes sense to show relevant videos that liking explain your point just as well as you talking. It is also less routine and more engaging for the audience if you mix your speech with videos.

Charts and Graphs are better than mouthing figures. Pictures make a far greater impact on the human brain than numbers. The visual impact of bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, and organometallic is far better than the oral impact. Have them in color and use the 3D effect. It will be all the more interesting to peruse the statistics in the case.

Control Aggressive Behavior With Dog Training Aids

2009-06-09T04:43:00.001-07:00

It has been observed that dogs from larger raise are more aggressive than the smaller ones. But in some cases dogs from smaller cause also exhibit assertive behavior like persevering barking and nipping. The larger breeds may flush become dangerous when forceful, therefore use of training aids like the muzzles and dispensing bark collars would be apt for them. But it is only humane not to use the bombshell version of bark collar as it does more hurt than good and every so often may trigger excessive bellicose behavior which may evolve into harmful for the dog owner. Placid with the collar in advance, it is advised that he should be treated for showing ample behavior and this resolution eventually reduce the several instances of spray collar use and finally the dog will get trained to sidestep demonstration of aggressiveness.

Other dog training aids can also be admissible for teaching good behavior in a realistic way. Such as treat dispensers. These purloin dogs to learn that agreeable behavior can earn them a take out quickly, rather than a unsympathetic action against bad behavior. In dispute of a smaller breed hostile behavior should purely be corrected with apposite training. Dogs less 10 lbs cannot survive the Citronella the spray from a sprig bark collar. It is foremost to avoid its use and proper training is main. It is important to have knowledge of that aggressive behavior is a organic thing for a dog and is often triggered by our own actions. This happens when he feels that his living, possessions or his position in the establishment is being threatened by someone. It can be a new company or a child in the house. The unexcelled is to make your pet as community as possible and make him make a reality and learn his place in the bordello. This will entrust him sense of security and bust aggressive behavior.

Cold Temperature Exposure

2009-05-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

It's easy to get cold quickly if you are outside in wet, windy, or cold weather. Cold temperature exposure can also happen if you spend time in a dwelling or other building that is not well-heated during cold weather.

Injuries from cold exposure:

* "Frost nip" usually affects skin on the face, ears, or fingertips. Frost nip may cause numbness or blue-white skin color for a short time, but normal feeling and color return quickly when you get warm. No permanent tissue damage occurs.
* Frostbite is freezing of the skin and the tissues under the skin because of temperatures below freezing. Frostbitten skin looks pale or blue and feels cold, numb, and stiff or rubbery to the touch.
* Cold injuries, such as trench foot or chilblains, may cause pale and blistered skin like frostbite after the skin has warmed. These injuries occur from spending too much time in cold, but not freezing, temperatures. The skin does not actually freeze.
* An abnormally low body temperature (hypothermia) occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can make heat. Early symptoms of hypothermia include shivering in adults and older children, clumsy movements, apathy (lack of concern), poor judgment, and cold, pale, or blue-gray skin. Hypothermia is an emergency condition—it can quickly lead to unconsciousness and death if the heat loss is not stopped.

Risk factors for cold exposure injury:

There are many factors that increase your risk of injury from exposure to cold temperatures.

* Being a baby
* Being an older adult
* Drinking alcohol
* Being in outdoor conditions, such as high altitudes or windy, wet weather, or being immersed in cold water
* Not being dressed properly, having wet skin, or wearing wet clothing
* Being tired or dehydrated
* Being exposed to cold temperatures in your workplace, such as working in cold-storage units
* Having certain health risks

Many people get cold hands or feet, which often are bothersome but not a serious health problem.

You are more likely to feel cold easily if you:

* Do not have much body fat. Fat under the skin helps keep you warm. People who have low body fat may be more likely to get hypothermia. Babies, older or ill adults, or malnourished people have low body fat.
* Smoke cigarettes or drink caffeine. Nicotine (from tobacco) and caffeine cause narrowing of the blood vessels in the hands and feet. When blood vessels are narrowed, less blood flows to these areas, causing the hands and feet to feel cold.
* Are under a lot of stress or feel tired. Chronic stress or anxiety can cause your nervous system to release adrenaline, which acts to narrow the blood vessels that supply blood to the hands and feet.
* Have a medical condition, such as hypothyroidism or Raynard's phenomenon, that makes you feel or react more strongly to cold temperatures.

Infection - What Happens

2009-05-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

There are two types of HIV:

* HIV-1, which causes almost all the cases of AIDS worldwide
* HIV-2, which causes an AIDS-like illness. HIV-2 infection is uncommon in the United States.

How the disease is spread:

HIV is spread when blood, semen, or vaginal fluids from an infected person enter another person's body, usually through:

* Sexual contact. The virus may enter the body through a tear in the lining of the rectum, vagina, urethra, or mouth. Between 75% and 80% of all cases of HIV are transmitted by sexual contact.
* Infected blood. HIV can be spread when a person:
o Shares needles, syringes, cookers, cotton, cocaine spoons, or eyedroppers used for injecting drugs or steroids.
o Is accidentally stuck with a needle or other sharp item that is contaminated with HIV.

It is now extremely rare in the United States for HIV to be transmitted by blood transfusions or organ transplants. Blood and organ donors are screened for risk factors. All donated blood and organs are screened for HIV.

Health care workers are no longer considered to be at high risk of exposure to HIV. Policies are in place in health facilities that require protection from accidental exposure. Workers must properly dispose of sharp objects and wear protective gloves, gowns, and eye and face protection. These measures have been effective in protecting health care workers from HIV.

Spread of HIV to babies:

A woman who is infected with HIV can spread the virus to her baby during pregnancy, delivery, or breast-feeding.

* Most children younger than 13 years who have HIV were infected with the virus by their mothers.
* The risk of a woman spreading HIV to her baby can be greatly reduced if she is on medicine that reduces her viral load (HIV RNA) to undetectable levels during pregnancy, if she receives AZT (ZDV) before the baby is born, and if she does not breast-feed her baby. The baby should also receive treatment after it is born.

Ways HIV cannot be spread:

HIV does not survive well outside the body. Therefore, HIV cannot be spread through casual contact—such as sharing drinking glasses or by casual kissing—with an infected person. HIV is not transmitted through contact with an infected person's saliva, sweat, tears, urine, or feces, or through insect bites.

Contagious and incubation period:

The incubation period—the time between when a person is first infected with HIV and when early symptoms develop—may be a few days to several weeks.

It can take as little as 2 weeks or as long as 6 months from the time you become infected with HIV for the antibodies to be detected in your blood. This is commonly called the "window period," or seroconversion period. During the window period, you are contagious and can spread the virus to others. If you think you have been infected with HIV but you test negative for it, you should be tested again 6 months later.

After you become infected with HIV, your blood, semen, or vaginal fluids are always infectious, even if you receive treatment for the HIV infection.

Stages of HIV:

Most people go through the following stages after being infected with HIV if the infection is not treated:

* Acute retro viral syndrome, which has symptoms similar to mononucleosis. This often develops within a few days of infection, but may occur several weeks after the person is infected.
* HIV without symptoms (asymptomatic). It may take years for HIV symptoms to develop. But even though no symptoms are present, the virus is multiplying (or making copies of itself) in the body during this time. HIV multiplies so quickly that the immune system cannot destroy the virus. After years of fighting HIV, the immune system starts to weaken.
* HIV with symptoms (symptomatic). After your immune system starts to weaken, you are more likely to develop certain infections or illnesses, such as some types of pneumonia or cancer that are more common in people who have a weakened immune system.
* AIDS, which occurs during the last stage of infection with HIV. If HIV goes untreated, AIDS develops in most people within 12 to 13 years after the initial infection. With treatment for HIV, the progression to AIDS may be delayed or prevented.

A small number of people who are infected with HIV are rapid progressors. They develop AIDS within a few years if they do not receive treatment. It is not known why the infection progresses faster in these people.

Nonprogrammable and HIV-resistant:

A few people have HIV that does not progress to more severe symptoms or disease. They are referred to as nonprogrammer.

A small number of people never become infected with HIV despite years of exposure to the virus. For example, they may have repeated, unprotected sex with an infected person. These people are said to be HIV-resistant.

Heat-Related Illnesses

2009-05-30T01:33:00.000-07:00

A healthy body temperature is maintained by the nervous system. As the body temperature increases, the body tries to maintain its normal temperature by transferring heat. Sweating and blood flow to the skin (thermo regulation) help us keep our bodies cool. A heat-related illness occurs when our bodies can no longer transfer enough heat to keep us cool.

A high body temperature (hypothermia) can develop rapidly in extremely hot environments, such as when a child is left in a car in the summer heat. Hot temperatures can also build up in small spaces where the ventilation is poor, such as attics or boiler rooms. People working in these environments may quickly develop hypothermia.

High temperature caused by a fever is different from a high body temperature caused by a heat-related illness. A fever is the body's normal reaction to infection and other conditions, both minor and serious. Heat-related illnesses produce a high body temperature because the body cannot transfer heat effectively or because external heat gain is excessive.

Heat-related illnesses include:

* Heat rash (prickly heat), which occurs when the sweat ducts to the skin become blocked or swell, and cause discomfort and itching.
* Heat cramps, which occur in muscles after exercise because sweating causes the body to lose water, salt, and minerals (electrolytes).
* Heat edema (swelling) in the legs and hands, which can occur when you sit or stand for a long time in a hot environment.
* Heat tetanus (hyperventilation and heat stress), which is usually caused by short periods of stress in a hot environment.
* Heat syncope (fainting), which occurs from low blood pressure when heat causes the blood vessels to expand (dilate) and body fluids move into the legs because of gravity.
* Heat exhaustion (heat prostration), which generally develops when a person is working or exercising in hot weather and does not drink enough liquids to replace those lost liquids.
* Heatstroke (sunstroke), which occurs when the body fails to regulate its own temperature and body temperature continues to rise, often to 105°F (40.6°C) or higher. Heatstroke is a medical emergency. Even with immediate treatment, it can be life-threatening or cause serious long-term problems.

Often, environmental and physical conditions can make it difficult to stay cool. Heat-related illness is often caused or made worse by dehydration and fatigue. Exercising during hot weather, working outdoors, and overdressing for the environment increase your risk. Caffeine or alcohol also increase your risk for dehydration.

Many medicines increase your risk of a heat-related illness. Some medicines decrease the amount of blood pumped by the heart (cardiac output) and limit blood flow to the skin, so your body is less able to cool itself by sweating. Other medicines can alter your sense of thirst or increase your body's production of heat. If you take medicines regularly, ask your doctor for advice about hot-weather activity and your risk of getting a heat-related illness.

Other things that may increase your risk of a heat-related illness include:

* Age. Babies do not lose heat quickly and they do not sweat effectively. Older adults do not sweat easily and usually have other health conditions that affect their ability to lose heat.
* Obesity. People who are overweight have decreased blood flow to the skin, hold heat in because of the insulating layer of fat tissue, and have a greater body mass to cool.
* Summer heat waves. People who live in cities are especially vulnerable to illness during a summer heat wave because heat is trapped by tall buildings and air pollutants, especially if there is a high level of humidity.
* Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart failure, and cancer. These conditions change the way the body gets rid of heat.
* Travel to wilderness areas or foreign countries with high outdoor temperatures and humidity. When you go to a different climate, your body must get used to the differences (acclimate) to keep your body temperature in a normal range.

Most heat-related illnesses can be prevented by keeping the body cool and by avoiding dehydration in hot environments. Home treatment is usually all that is needed to treat mild heat-related illnesses. Heat exhaustion and heatstroke need immediate medical treatment.

The spectrum of kidney disease in patients with AIDS in the era of antiretroviral therapy

2009-01-30T05:57:00.000-08:00

With prolonged survival and aging of the HIV-infected population in the era of antiretroviral therapy, biopsy series have found a broad spectrum of HIV-related and co-morbid kidney disease in these patients. Our study describes the variety of renal pathology found in a prospective cohort of antiretroviral-experienced patients (the Manhattan HIV Brain Bank) who had consented to postmortem organ donation.

Nearly one-third of 89 kidney tissue donors had chronic kidney disease, and evidence of some renal pathology was found in 75. The most common diagnoses were arterionephrosclerosis, HIV-associated nephropathy and glomerulonephritis. Other diagnoses included pyelonephritis, interstitial nephritis, diabetic nephropathy, fungal infection and amyloidosis.

Excluding 2 instances of acute tubular necrosis, slightly over one-third of the cases would have been predicted using current diagnostic criteria for chronic kidney disease. Based on semi-quantitative analysis of stored specimens, pre-mortem microalbuminuria testing could have identified an additional 12 cases.

Future studies are needed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of more sensitive methods for defining chronic kidney disease, in order to identify HIV-infected patients with early kidney disease who may benefit from antiretroviral therapy and other interventions known to delay disease progression and prevent complications.

Heterosexual risk of HIV-1 infection per sexual act

2009-01-30T05:35:00.000-08:00

Thelancet did a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies of the risk of HIV-1 transmission per heterosexual contact.

43 publications comprising 25 different study populations were identified. Pooled female-to-male (0·04% per act [95% CI 0·01—0·14]) and male-to-female (0·08% per act [95% CI 0·06—0·11]) transmission estimates in high-income countries indicated a low risk of infection in the absence of antiretrovirals.

Low-income country female-to-male (0·38% per act [95% CI 0·13—1·10]) and male-to-female (0·30% per act [95% CI 0·14—0·63]) estimates in the absence of commercial sex exposure (CSE) were higher. In meta-regression analysis, the infectivity across estimates in the absence of CSE was significantly associated with sex, setting, the interaction between setting and sex, and antenatal HIV prevalence.

The pooled receptive anal intercourse estimate was much higher (1·7% per act [95% CI 0·3—8·9]). Estimates for the early and late phases of HIV infection were 9·2 (95% CI 4·5—18·8) and 7·3 (95% CI 4·5—11·9) times larger, respectively, than for the asymptomatic phase. After adjusting for CSE, presence or history of genital ulcers in either couple member increased per-act infectivity 5·3 (95% CI 1·4—19·5) times versus no sexually transmitted infection. Study estimates among non-circumcised men were at least twice those among circumcised men. Low-income country estimates were more heterogeneous than high-income country estimates, which indicates poorer study quality, greater heterogeneity of risk factors, or under-reporting of high-risk behaviour.

Efforts are needed to better understand these differences and to quantify infectivity in low-income countries.

Use of Saliva as a Lubricant in Anal Sexual Practices Among Homosexual Men

2009-01-30T05:30:00.001-08:00

Objectives: Compared with other sexually active adults, men who have sex with men (MSM) are more frequently infected with several pathogens including cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B virus, and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Because one common element between these organisms is their presence in saliva, we evaluated saliva exposure among MSM in a heretofore relatively unrecognized route-via use of saliva as a lubricant in anal sex.

Methods: MSM in a San Francisco population-based cohort were interviewed regarding use of saliva by the insertive partner as a lubricant in various anal sexual practices.

Results: Among 283 MSM, 87% used saliva as a lubricant in insertive or receptive penile-anal intercourse or fingering/fisting at some point during their lifetime; 31%-47% did so, depending upon the act, in the prior 6 months. Saliva use as a lubricant was more common among younger men and among HIV-infected men when with HIV-infected partners. Even among MSM following safe sex guidelines by avoiding unprotected penile-anal intercourse, 26% had anal exposure to saliva via use as a lubricant.

Conclusions: Among MSM, use of saliva as a lubricant is a common, but not ubiquitous, practice in anal sex. The findings provide the rationale for formal investigation of whether saliva use in this way contributes to transmission of saliva-borne pathogens in MSM.

Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on the Incidence of Herpes Zoster in HIV-Infected Children

2009-01-30T05:24:00.000-08:00

Levin, Myron J MD*; Anderson, Jeffrey P MPH†‡; Seage, George R III ScD†‡; Williams, Paige L PhD†§; for the PACTG/IMPAACT 219C Team

From the *Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center, Aurora, CO; †Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research; ‡Department of Epidemiology; and §Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.

Received for publication July 1, 2008; accepted November 14, 2008.

Supported by funding from the Statistical and Data Analysis Center at Harvard School of Public Health, under the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases cooperative agreement #5 U01 AI41110 with the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group and #1 U01 AI068616 with the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group. Overall support for International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials was provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [U01 AI068632] and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

A portion of this analysis was presented at the 13th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, February 5-8, 2006, Denver, CO.

All of the authors made substantial contributions to the conception, design, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data for this article; contributed substantially to the drafting and revision of this article; and have given final approval for submission of this article.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or the National Institutes of Health.

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has reduced herpes zoster (HZ) incidence in HIV-infected children, yet it remains common.

Methods: We evaluated perinatally HIV-infected youth with varicella infection enrolled between 1993 and 2006 in a prospective cohort study. Incidence rates (IRs) and 95% confidence intervals of HZ were estimated by calendar year, age group, and HAART use. The effect of initiating HAART was also evaluated by fitting Cox survival models adjusted for potential confounders.

Results: Among 536 perinatally infected children with documented prior varicella (median follow-up = 6.8 years), 116 (22%) developed HZ (IR = 3.2 events/100 person-years, confidence interval: 2.6 to 3.8). IRs increased from 1993 to 1996 and then declined significantly through 2006 (P <>

Conclusions: Although HAART has markedly reduced the IR of HZ, it remains a frequent complication in HIV-infected children. The risk of HZ is similar in the 90 days before and after initiating HAART.

Monitoring AIDS Treatment By Physical Symptoms Is Effective

2009-01-22T07:46:00.000-08:00

When millions of HIV-infected people in poor countries began receiving advanced drug therapies, critics worried that patient care would suffer because few high-tech laboratories were available to guide treatments.

But according to a study being published in The Lancet, these concerns are as yet unfounded.
In fact, the study indicates that when clinicians use simple physical signs of deteriorating health - such as weight loss or fever - these doctors can provide therapies almost as effective as those relying on the most advanced laboratory analysis.

"The results of this study should reassure clinicians in Africa and Asia, who are treating literally millions of people without these laboratory tests, that they are not compromising patient safety," said a coauthor of the paper, Dr Charles Gilks, who is the Coordinator of Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) and HIV Care at WHO in Geneva. "In fact, the outcome of their treatment is almost as good as of those patients in the USA and Europe where laboratory-guided treatment is the norm."

The aim of the study was to look at the medium and long-term consequences of different approaches to monitoring antiretroviral therapy in a resource-limited setting: using clinical signs and symptoms alone as recommended in WHO guidelines; or more sophisticated and costly but far less accessible immunological and virological load tests. The scientists used a model that had been tried and tested in London, and shown accurately to predict the course of the epidemic in the UK over 20 years, but with various changes to reflect realities on the ground.

According to the study authors, survival rates for individuals assessed for clinical symptoms alone were almost identical to survival rates for those who underwent laboratory monitoring. The 5-year survival rate was 83% for individuals monitored for viral load, 82% for CD4 (a critical immune component) monitoring, and 82% for clinical monitoring alone. Corresponding values over a 24-year period were 67%, 64% and 64% respectively.

Although the survival rate was slightly higher with viral load monitoring, study authors pointed out it was not the most cost-effective strategy in the poorest countries. The study also examined whether clinical observation alone was effective in determining when to switch patients from WHO-recommended first-line treatments to more costly second-line medicines. Again, diagnosis based on an assessment of clinical symptoms was almost as effective as those relying on expensive laboratory tests.

Study authors concluded that for patients on the WHO first-line regimen of stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine, the benefits of CD4 count or viral load monitoring were only modest at best.

The study, conducted by a prominent group in the United Kingdom working with WHO scientists, employed mathematical models which were designed to identify emerging problems and problems that might appear after long-term use of ART. But more work must be done. The study is based on mathematical projections and not on real-world patients. While there is little real-world data yet available because these drugs have been used for such a short time in these countries, the little existing information does support the findings. Other studies are ongoing and more results should be available soon.

Monkeys Able To Fend Off AIDS Like Symptoms With Enhanced HIV Vaccine

2009-01-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that using an immune system gene to enhance a vaccine used to study HIV in macaque monkeys provides the animals with greater protection against simian HIV (SHIV) than an unmodified vaccine. This multi-year study found that the addition of a molecule called Interleukin-15 effectively boosts the effects of a vaccine derived from the DNA of simian HIV. The study illustrates that DNA vaccine effectiveness can be improved by the inclusion of specific immune adjuvants, or helpers.

The findings are published in last week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"DNA vaccine technology has great promise for the development of vaccines and immune therapeutics for a variety of infectious diseases and cancers," says senior author David B. Weiner, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn. While previous studies have established that the technology can induce immune responses safely, "improving the immune potency of this platform is critical for further development in humans."

The research builds on previous work aimed at engineering a more potent immune response to SHIV DNA vaccine technology. Mouse model studies previously showed that the cytokine IL-15 -- a substance that can improve the body's natural response to infection and disease -- helps better immune responses and protection, while this study mirrors those findings in a larger, non-human primate species.

In this study, the group of macaques that was injected with the vaccine containing a loop of DNA enabling them to make IL-15 developed no signs of AIDS-like symptoms when exposed to live SHIV, compared to four animals in the control group that received only the DNA vaccine. The modified vaccine appeared to help suppress viral replication among the IL-15 group.

Next, Weiner's team will study the protected macaques to determine the actual mechanism of their protection, and seek out any pockets of the virus that may be hiding in specific immune compartments. The approach will also be tested for safety and immunogenicity in humans through the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

The lead author of the study is Dr. Jean Boyer, of the University of Pennsylvania. Co-authors include researchers from the National Cancer Institute, the Southern Research Institute in Frederick, MD, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, MD, Genomix (San Diego, CA) and Wyeth (Pearl River, N.Y.). The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Intramural Research Program of the NIH.

PENN Medicine is a $3.5 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn's School of Medicine is currently ranked #3 in the nation in U.S.News & World Report's survey of top research-oriented medical schools; and, according to most recent data from the National Institutes of Health, received over $379 million in NIH research funds in the 2006 fiscal year. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, rated one of the nation's "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S.News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice.

HIV/AIDS Advocates Protest Novartis' Case Challenge India Patent Law

2009-01-21T05:08:00.000-08:00

Some HIV/AIDS advocacy groups are calling on pharmaceutical company Novartis to drop its legal challenge to the Indian government's patent laws, saying that if the company wins the case it could restrict access to anti retroviral drugs for millions of people worldwide, South Africa's Business Day reports.

Novartis is challenging a section of India's Patents Act that aims to restrict certain kinds of patents, according to Business Day. Novartis brought a civil lawsuit against the Indian government after the country in January 2006 rejected the company's attempt to patent a new version of its leukemia drug Gleevec on the basis that the drug is a new formulation of an existing drug (Musgrave, Business Day, 1/25). According to the AP/International Herald Tribune, India's patent law, which went into effect in January 2005, allows patents for products that are new inventions developed after 1995, when India joined the World Trade Organization, or for an updated drug that exhibits improved efficacy. Although some Indian drug companies and groups say that Gleevec is a new formulation of a drug developed before 1995, Novartis says that it is an improved drug (Rabinowitz, AP/International Herald Tribune, 1/29).

Decisions concerning patents on some newer HIV/AIDS drugs in India have not been announced (Business Day, 1/25). If Novartis wins the case, it could potentially set a precedent for other pharmaceutical companies seeking patent protection for drugs, including anti retrovirals, some HIV/AIDS advocates have said (AP/International Herald Tribune, 1/29).

Medecins San Frontieres International Council President Christophe Fournier last month said the organization relies on reduced-cost, quality drugs produced in India to provide treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.
According to the group, anti retrovirals produced in India are used to provide treatment to more than 80% of the 80,000 people in more than 30 countries who receive treatment from the organization's projects (Business Day, 1/25). A court in Chennai, India, heard arguments in the case on Monday (AP/International Herald Tribune, 1/29).
According to the New York Times, the court was asked to clarify regulations on patents for new versions of existing drugs whose original patents have expired. Novartis spokesperson John Gilardi said, "We are trying to gain clarity as to what guides India's patent laws. ... This is not about access to medicines.

It is about establishing whether India is going to step up and adopt the minimum international standards required for the protection of intellectual property." Unni Karunakara, medical director of MSF's campaign to broaden access to medicines, said, "Novartis is trying to shut down the pharmacy of the developing world." A decision in the Novartis case is not expected until Feb. 15 (Gentleman, New York Times, 1/30).

Obama, McCain Silent On HIV/AIDS Epidemic Facing The Black Community

2009-01-21T04:36:00.000-08:00

The HIV/AIDS "plague has long been the single biggest health issue in poor black communities" in the U.S., which is "all the more reason" for presumptive presidential nominees Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) to "speak out on the crisis and spell out just what they will do about it," Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author and political analyst, writes in a New America Media opinion piece, adding, "So far they haven't done that." He writes that the candidates "have given countless speeches on the terrorism fight, the Iraq War, the Iran missile threat, immigration, the housing and banking crisis, a tanking economy and affordable health care," which are "crucial problems" facing the U.S. However, "as devastating as these problems are to many families, they do not pile up bodies and wreak catastrophic havoc on entire sectors of the population, mostly poor black communities" like the HIV/AIDS epidemic does, according to Hutchinson.

"HIV/AIDS is not even mentioned as an item in the detailed health care plan on" McCain's official Web site. Obama and his wife publicly took HIV tests last year, and he subsequently offered a pledge to create a national strategy on AIDS. However, he "hasn't publicly addressed the issue since," Hutchinson writes, noting, "In a campaign position paper Obama has said he will push for more funds for AIDS treatment, education and testing. But much of his emphasis has been on African nations." Hutchinson writes that "even if McCain had boned up on the AIDS crisis and laid out a plan to confront the crisis, and Obama had fleshed out more details about confronting the crisis in African-American communities, it's still no substitute for speaking out on the campaign trail about the crisis and pushing government, health agencies and private donors to do more to combat the AIDS plague."

He concludes that both candidates "should break their silence now" (Hutchinson, New America Media, 8/1).

At 23 Sept 2006 Was registered some efforts In The Fight Against AIDS In Ukraine Joined By Clinton Foundation

2009-01-21T04:35:00.000-08:00

President Bill Clinton and two Ukrainian foundations, headed by Elena Franchuk and Victor Pinchuk, signed an agreement of cooperation today that will expand the work against HIV/AIDS in Ukraine.

Under the agreement Ukraine will receive access to the best practices to fight epidemics and the latest know-how in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. The Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS foundation will cooperate with Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative for the next five years in implementing project aimed at reducing HIV/AIDS escalation, care and support of people living with HIV/AIDS in Ukraine. Elena Franchuk and Victor Pinchuk are contributing US$2.5 million toward the project.

The funds will be used during the next five years to pay for programs aimed at slowing the growth of new HIV/AIDS cases, as well as for treatment and support of people living with HIV/AIDS in Ukraine.

"I'm happy to be working with the Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation on expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services in Ukraine," President Clinton said. "Through their generous support, we will be able to greatly increase the number of people with access to these services, and I am grateful for the partnership."

"The work of Clinton Foundation made tremendous difference in treatment and care of people living with HIV/AIDS in many countries. I am sure that Ukraine will benefit from President Clinton's expertise," Elena Franchuk said. "For the ANTIAIDS Foundation this partnership means an expansion of our activities, which have been centered for the last three years on media campaigns. Now, to change the AIDS situation in Ukraine, the country needs the best international experience and know-how in combating the epidemics."

Work during the first year of the project will be centered on the Dnepropetrovsk region, in the southeast part of Ukraine, which is home to more than 3 million people. The program's initiatives will be replicated in other regions of Ukraine in following years.

Specifically, the programs will work to increase access to rapid testing, improve laboratory capacity, train and mentor health care workers, introduce HIV treatment/substitution therapy and to improve drug procurement processes. The program will also work nationally in Ukraine to expand HIV testing legislation, develop rapid HIV test guidelines, register methadone for use and improve distribution and drug procurement processes and prices.

The agreement is the result of discussions started in 2004, when representatives of The Clinton Foundation visited Ukraine at the invitation of Ms. Franchuk. Following that visit an agreement between the Clinton Foundation and the government of Ukraine was signed, which assisted the government in receiving access to the lowest prices on generic antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment. The agreement allowed more patients in Ukraine to receive access to live-saving therapy as part of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria grant.

The work continued in 2005 during President Clinton's visit to Ukraine, with the signing of a memorandum which identified priority directions of cooperation of Clinton Foundation and the Government of Ukraine in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The five year program resulted from that memorandum. The Elena Franchuk "ANTIAIDS" Foundation and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation expressed their readiness to join efforts in the implementation of this project and committed the US$2.5 million.

Former U.N. Special Envoy For HIV/AIDS In Africa Lewis Calls On Canada To Commit $855M To Global Fund

2009-01-21T04:32:00.000-08:00

Stephen Lewis, former United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, on Friday at a press conference called on the Canadian government to commit 900 million Canadian dollars, or about $855 million, during the next three years to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Toronto Star reports. Lewis also called on Canada's leaders to increase foreign aid contributions as part of the country's membership in the Group of Eight industrialized nations (Black, Toronto Star, 8/11).

Lewis at the press conference said that Canada is decreasing its financial aid commitments aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS in developing countries. Lewis said Canada is "going in reverse" in funding commitments, adding, "It's just delinquency to fall further behind" (CanWest/Calgary Herald, 8/11).

In addition, Lewis at the press conference released the results of a Canadian Coalition for Youth and HIV/AIDS in Africa poll. The poll found that 46% of respondents believe it is "very" important for the government to increase access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries, while 45% found it "somewhat" important. The coalition - which includes Canadian chapters of CARE, Plan, Save the Children and World Vision - also called on the government to increase funding to fight HIV in developing countries.

According to the poll, nine out of 10 respondents believe HIV/AIDS is a serious problem, and 62% believe it is an international emergency. In addition, 48% of survey participants said the government is spending too little to fight HIV/AIDS in developing countries. Ninety percent of participants said Africa is the most vulnerable area worldwide to HIV/AIDS, and 92% understood that the continent is the hardest hit by the spread of the virus.

The poll also found that 70% of respondents believed they are well-informed about HIV/AIDS, compared with 80% in 2005. The poll was based on a sample of 1,429 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, the Star reports (Toronto Star, 8/11).

Thai HIV/AIDS Advocates To Ask Administrative Court For Review Of Ruling That Found Abbott Did Not Violate Trade Laws

2009-01-21T02:00:00.000-08:00

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand plan to ask the country's Administrative Court to evaluate an Internal Trade Department's decision to not file suit against Abbott Laboratories for allegedly violating trade laws when the company canceled the registration of its anti retro viral Aluvia with the country's Food and Drug Administration, the Bangkok Post reports (Apiradee, Bangkok Post, 1/18).

The Thai government in January 2007 issued a compulsory license to produce a lower-cost version of Abbott's anti re trivial Kaletra. The drug company in May 2007 offered to sell Aluvia, an updated version of Kaletra, at a reduced price in Thailand on the condition that the country agree not to allow generic versions of the drug into the market, Siriwat Thiptaradol, secretary-general of the Thai FDA, said. The Thai Ministry of Public Health in June 2007 confirmed that it would continue with its plan to issue a compulsory license for the drug after Abbott and the health ministry could not reach a price agreement during negotiations. Thailand's FDA in October 2007 completed the registration of a generic version of Aluvia for use under the country's compulsory licensing program. The generic version is manufactured by the Indian generic pharmaceutical company Matrix Laboratories .

According to HIV/AIDS advocates, Abbott canceled registration of Aluvia in Thailand after the government issued a compulsory license for the drug. Advocates have said the move violated section 25 of the country's Trade Competition Act, which stipulates restrictions against a product being dominant in the market.

In addition, the advocates said that the canceled registration violated section 28 of the trade act, which places controls on parent companies' influence on subsidiaries' decisions, the Post reports.

Advocates later petitioned a trade competition panel at the Ministry of Commerce to look into the matter. The panel in late December 2007 ruled that Abbott's withdrawal of Aluvia's registration did not violate trade regulations.
Panel secretary Yanyong Phuangrach said the body determined the market value of Aluvia was too small to dominant the market and thus did not violate trade law.

Saree Ongsomwang - manager of the Foundation for Consumers, which petitioned the ministry panel to examine the issue - said advocates would ask the Administrative Court to review the panel's decision. Nimit Tienudom, chair of the AIDS Access Foundation, petitioned the panel to reveal additional details about its decision. He also proposed that a new panel of neutral academics be convened to examine the issue. Saree said she was "surprised by the panel's decision," adding, "They should have prioritized health problems caused by HIV/AIDS and consider essential lifesaving drugs as a special case rather than protecting the benefits of big pharmaceutical business" (Bangkok Post, 1/18).

GeoVax Reports Progress On Its AIDS Vaccine Technology

2009-01-21T01:57:00.000-08:00

GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GOVX), an Atlanta based, publicly traded biopharmaceutical company specializing in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, provided an operational update on the company's progress towards entering Phase 2 preventative human clinical trial testing and plans to proceed into therapeutic human trials with its AIDS vaccine.

Five successful human trials evaluating GeoVax AIDS vaccines have previously been reported.

Planned Phase 2 Human Clinical Trial for Prevention of AIDS

The Company's Phase 2 trial, conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), will involve 225 healthy volunteers from the United States and South America, and will further evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the GeoVax preventative vaccine (vaccine administered prior to infection with the HIV virus). In Phase 1 trials, both 1/10th dose and full dose of the GeoVax vaccine elicited anti-HIV T-cells, whereas the full dose was required to elicit good frequencies of antibody to the HIV Envelope glycoprotein. The larger Phase 2 human trial will broaden the base of safety and immunogenicity data for the full dose of the GeoVax AIDS vaccine with a view to protecting recipients from developing AIDS should they be exposed to the virus. The planned Phase 2 human clinical trial is currently scheduled to start early this fall, subject to FDA approval.

Preclinical Data for Use of Vaccine Technology as an AIDS Therapeutic Human Clinical Trials in Planning Stages GeoVax also announced summary data from a pilot study on therapeutic vaccination in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infected non-human primates with the SIV prototype for the GeoVax AIDS vaccine. In this small pilot study, conducted by Dr. Amara at Emory University, two non-human primates were infected with SIV. At 12 weeks post SIV infection, conventional anti-viral drug therapy was given to the primates to reduce the viral RNA infection levels to very low levels creating a non progressor status for the primate. Then the SIV prototype vaccine for the GeoVax AIDS vaccine was administered. Six weeks following the final vaccination, anti-viral drug treatment was stopped and the animals were monitored to determine whether the vaccine could control the SIV infection during the absence of the drugs.

The outstanding results from the study revealed the vaccine controlling the infection in the absence of drugs. In one primate, the reduction in viral levels over pre-drug treatment and vaccination levels was 1000 times. In the other, the reductions in viral levels were 100 times. The excellent control of the virus infection in the absence of drug treatment was associated with the vaccine raising the types of CD4 and CD8 T cells that are found in the rare individuals who spontaneously control their HIV infections.

Based on these excellent results, planning for a therapeutic trial in infected and drug treated humans has been initiated. The intent of therapeutic vaccination is for the vaccine to "control" HIV virus levels in infected individuals to very low levels thus blocking the development of AIDS. Successful therapeutic AIDS vaccination programs with GeoVax vaccines would lead to reduction in the use of costly anti-HIV medications and their often harmful side effects.

Dr. Harriet Robinson, GeoVax Co-founder and Senior V.P. of Research and Development, commented, "I had not anticipated the extent of vaccine control that was achieved in the already infected non-human primates. These are highly promising results that need to be extended into infected humans to see if the vaccine can be used to reduce the need for taking drugs. The results also warrant more extended studies in already infected non-human primates to explore parameters that both limit and enhance the ability for a vaccine to displace the need for drugs."

Dr. Robert McNally, CEO and President of GeoVax Labs, Inc., emphasized, "It is noteworthy to mention that the GeoVax AIDS vaccines being tested in the preclinical therapeutic trial is the same basic vaccine administered in the Company's human trials testing for a preventative use of the vaccine, vaccinating people before infection to prevent the development of AIDS should they become infected. Thus, a "one for two" vaccine could be a breakthrough solution for the company and the world, saving millions of dollars in redundant development costs and years of testing time by utilizing safety data already achieved in Phase 1 preventative human trials. More important, time to market could be significantly reduced, saving lives much sooner than otherwise."

Further, GeoVax's management is pleased to report that the company is currently engaged in negotiations with a NIH sponsored trial network to administer, conduct and co-sponsor GeoVax's Therapeutic human trial program. Management expects to receive approval for undertaking formal protocol development in the near future and will report more detailed plans accordingly.

"From an operational standpoint, we are very pleased with the overall progress of the company," stated Dr. Robert McNally. "Progress with ongoing preventative vaccine trials and now the potential to address therapeutic use of the vaccine gives GeoVax an expanding role in the fight to control AIDS."

About GeoVax Labs, Inc.

GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a biotechnology company, established to develop, manufacture, license and commercialize human vaccines for diseases caused by HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and other infectious agents. GeoVax's AIDS vaccine technology is the subject of 20 issued or filed patent applications. GeoVax AIDS vaccines are designed for use in uninfected people to prevent Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease (AIDS), caused by the virus known as HIV-1, should the person ever become infected. GeoVax AIDS vaccines also may be effective as therapeutics, treatment of people already infected with AIDS virus.

GeoVax's core AIDS vaccine technologies were developed by Dr. Harriet Robinson, Senior V.P. of Research and Development, through a collaboration of colleagues at Emory University's Vaccine Center, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and GeoVax.

GeoVax AIDS vaccines have moved forward in human clinical trials conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) based in Seattle, Washington. The HVTN, funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the largest worldwide clinical trials program dedicated to the development and testing of AIDS vaccines. Preclinical work enabling evaluation of GeoVax DNA and MVA vaccines was funded and supported by NIAID, which provided additional support to GeoVax AIDS vaccine development program with a $15 million IPCAVD grant awarded in late 2007.

Safe Harbor Statement: All statements in this news release, not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on expectations and assumptions on the date of this press release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, whether: GeoVax can develop and manufacture these vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner, GeoVax's vaccines will be safe for human use, GeoVax's vaccines will effectively prevent AIDS in humans, vaccines will receive regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed and marketed, GeoVax raises required capital to complete vaccine development, there is development of competitive products that may be more effective or easier to use than GeoVax's products, and other factors over which GeoVax has no control. GeoVax assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and does not intend to do so. Certain matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports.

Oral sex and risk-AIDS

2008-12-22T02:31:00.000-08:00

What is the relationship? - You ask. It turns out that quite a! At least so believe scientists from UCLA Dental Institute (USA). They held a special laboratory study and its results published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes at the beginning of December 2004.
The purpose of the experimental work was to study the influence of alcohol on the susceptibility of culture cells, mucous membrane lining of the mouth, to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIVE). To do so from the mucosa of the oral cavity of HIVE patients uninfected cells kept for 10 minutes at 4% ethanol (similar to the content of alcohol in the most popular among Americans alcoholic beverages - beer) and then subjected to HIVE. It turned out that alcohol-treated epithelial cells of mucous membrane of the mouth were 3-6 times more susceptible to HIVE than cells that are not affected by alcohol.
It is these results have allowed the head of the study, Dr. June-wing Ghent concluded that consumption of alcohol, even in traditional American and previously considered to be "harmless" concentration, significantly increases the risk of HIVE infection with oral sex.
The originality of this pilot study is that researchers tried to find the specific mechanism of HIVE infection in modern society, in which oral sex "heated" Alcohol has long been no surprise.

The problem of AIDS once again seen by scientists

2008-12-22T02:01:00.000-08:00

Since the detection of the world's first AIDS patient in 1981 in the scientific world, not rage disputes over how the same experience this disease. At one time in the post-Soviet space was quite popular version, that AIDS arose in the laboratories of American scientists who worked on the order of the CIA and the Pentagon. Subsequently, it turned out that this myth was artificially born purely for political reasons. It should be noted that the U.S. has never promoted version of that virus was developed by Russian scientists on whose orders or, as the basic version of the emergence of AIDS was recognized as the one on which this horrible disease we inherited a legacy of monkeys.
Currently known two types of AIDS virus. It is believed that one goes from green monkeys, and another - from anthropoid apes are likely orangutan. As of today in the scientific world leads people first became infected by a virus, then mutated into AIDS in 40-50th of the last century in countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guiana, Congo and the Central African Republic, where local residents have traditionally hunted on the monkeys and use their meat for food.
Recently, however, in the scientific world there were reports that questioned the accepted version of the emergence of AIDS. For example, with a rather exotic hypothesis made in the press group of scientists from the University of Melbourne. In their view, the AIDS virus came to Europe as a result of transfers aging rich testicles infected African chimpanzees. Such transplants with a view to rejuvenating practiced in France, Switzerland and Portugal.
Less exotic, but a scientific hypothesis put forward by the International Conference on Virology in Sydney, American specialists. They reported that the AIDS virus has been detected in the frozen tissues of people who died more than 30 years ago in the hospital of SST. Louis. They confidently stated that a comparative study of the virus 30 years ago and the current forms, can say that the virus mutated in the human body long before the outbreak of the disease in Africa, perhaps for hundreds of years. This discovery calls into question the old theory of the origin of the virus from African monkeys. Who knows, maybe after some time, scientists will prove that AIDS infection is much older than the accepted thinking, and that, for example, the dinosaurs became extinct it was from AIDS.

AIDS and human

2008-12-22T01:44:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest shocks of our time is the emergence and rapid spread of "disease Century" - AIDS. Today the name of this virus is not gone from the pages of newspapers, TV and sound with radios: in our country faced the problem of disposable syringes, make demands polls checking with AIDS, set up various funds to fight the virus and allocated huge sums of money to inspect and search medications. In other countries made similar studies, and so far the AIDS virus studied very well, but a vaccine against it could not be found. Recently, some Western scientists studying AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus), are not so much finding a vaccine, but rather explore the causes of the devastating effects of the virus in the human immune system. The properties of human blood, including the features available on individual species and racial groups. Perhaps as a result of these studies will find answers to the concerns of our questions: - Why only a small fraction of infected fall ill and die? - How are based on racial origin DIG sick? - Why did the bulk of sick and the dead are in Africa and the USA? This raises another, at first sight paradoxical, but a very important question: Is AIDS a real danger to our people?
The South African weekly "Patriot" reports that some data from several studies of Western scholars, suggesting that AIDS is acting strictly selective and destroys the immune system, resulting in the deaths of only those people whose veins runs the blood type of black people. That is, AIDS is a danger only to blacks, mulatto, Jews and Roma representatives whites kinds of people can be carriers of AIDS, but never ill if their immune system is not weakened by outside influences (drug addiction, alcoholism, homosexuality, etc.). This hypothesis is based on the fact that the blood of black and white type of people varies greatly in their qualities of immunological and biochemical indicators. When you mix black and white type of people (even through the centuries and generations) remains black blood biochemical indicators. This was demonstrated as far back as 1925 by soviet scientists who discovered the chemical reaction that gives the opportunity to find racial differences in blood. During the experiment, they took the blood of Russians (type of white people) and Jewish blood (black and white hybrid), produced from each response and got different results. This reaction identified Jews in 91.7% of all cases, that is enough for scientific and forensic evidence. All this allows to argue about the biochemical difference between Russian and Jewish blood. On the racial specificity of certain diseases, wrote in the 20's of the famous Soviet scientist BAN Peevishness (in his works dealt with, in particular malaria). Scientific studies have refuted demand proverb - "the blood of all the same - red. Blood is different for different types of people.
Our blood, the blood of white people, not such as the blood of blacks, mulatto and Jews. And should the hypothesis is confirmed, we can not be afraid of AIDS and boldly argued: AIDS is not dangerous white PEOPLE! Examples of indirectly supporting this hypothesis, many of them. Take the least sensational story with children, infected in children's hospitals city Alistair. The newspapers he predicted quick death, demanding placed in isolation. Who knows how much emotional pain experienced mother, listening to tales of mortal danger to their children and feeling ill of others? But time has passed, children grows up, strengthened and now his joyous laughter destroys the myth about AIDS. Nominated hypothesis Western researchers claimed: "danger to our health is not" But under the influence of public relations, many color, not knowing about these studies are afraid of AIDS.

Co-infection of HIV and hepatitis C

2008-11-11T01:52:00.000-08:00

The term co-infection is used when a person is sick two or more diseases simultaneously.Because the way of contracting HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) are the same, many infected with both HIV and HCV.

It is understandable that there are two diseases simultaneously greatly complicate your task of maintaining their health. HIV infection worsens hepatitis C, because the liver damage occurs quickly. It is therefore very important that your doctor understand how HIV and HCV affect your health. Some patients are observed simultaneously with a specialist in liver diseases and HIV doctors, who together make every effort to maintain the health of the patient. Because HIV medicines are processed in the liver, it is very important to regularly monitor its condition and to prevent damage by these drugs.If tests show that the liver responds poorly to HIV medicines, your doctor may appoint another drug.

It is important to remember following:

Everyone infected with HIV should take the test at GHS.

The condition of the liver must be constantly monitored, as well as drugs for HIV can damage the liver.

As HIV and HCV treatable, so talk with your doctor possible treatment for you.

Vaccinated against hepatitis A and B, if before that you were not infected.

Do not flap, and try as much as possible to learn about HIV and HCV, and work together with your doctor to maintain their own health.

The interaction of HIV with other body cells

2008-11-07T05:10:00.000-08:00

In addition to red blood cell reservoir of the virus may be endothelial cells of blood and lymph vessels, epithelial cells and related tissues, glacial cells of the nervous system and nerve cells. Routine AIDS psychosis and atrophy of the brain evolved precisely because of the ability of the virus to infect the central nervous system. The cells outside the vascular bed is not always a surface receptor proteins to the virus, which does not allow him adsorbed and penetrate the cell directly, but infection can occur if the merger with infected CD4-cells and macrophages.

Penetrating through the blood-brain barrier, the virus causes in the brain abnormal reproduction of glial cells surrounding the neurons, as well as the destruction occurring as a result of white matter brain development of primary brain lymphoma, and atrophy of certain nerves (vision in the first place).

The defeat of the nervous system indicated a third of AIDS patients and is manifested in four main clinical forms:

Brain abscesses (progressive nodal encephalopathy, streptococci meningitis, sub acute encephalitis may microdensitometer etiology.)

Swelling of the brain, such as primary and secondary brain lymphoma;

Vascular brain injury (brain hemorrhages) and heart (endocrinologist antibacterial thrombotic);

Focal brain lesions shells, characterized by self-meningitis.

HIV and pregnancy

2008-11-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

HIV-positive women who want to become pregnant HIV-negative men

During unprotected sex, there is little risk of infection with a male partner. This can be avoided if a woman uses a set of self-insemination. In this simple procedure, a woman inseminate himself during ovulation her partner sperm collected in a sterile jar. Most hospitals and organizations on women's health can offer advice and equipment.

HIV-negative women wishing to become pregnant HIV-positive men

Child transmission occurs when the virus is transmitted from an infected mother to child in outer, during birth or breast-feeding. If the father is HIV-positive, and my mother - no, the child will not be directly infected through the paternal sperm. If a woman is infected at the time of conception, there is a significant risk of transmission to the child because the viral load of women during interconversion is likely to be high. While there cases where women become pregnant of HIV-positive men and not infected, there is no reliable information to explain why this was possible.

Some couples wishing to conceive a child may try to minimize the risk of infection with women, engaging in unprotected sex only when the chances of getting pregnant are high, and the possibility of HIV infection is low. It happens during ovulation in women, or when the viral load her partner was not determined. However, the theory that during this period the risk of HIV transmission is reduced, has not yet been proved.

Danger Is kissing with HIV

2008-11-07T04:06:00.000-08:00

Does this mean that you need to stop kissing? Of course not. Kisses - an important part of sensual pleasures, and most people are not ready to relinquish them. But as far as dangerous? Is there a real risk of infection with the kiss? Let us look at the statistics. Joined studied in detail and only one case where the contamination occurred ... No, not with the kiss, but with bite. In doing so, the bite was to the blood and mouth bites were also visible blood. Thus, in the unanimous opinion of specialists Center for disease control USA - one of the most respected institutions in the world sanitary-and-epidemiological institution - the contamination occurred not through saliva and blood.

In saliva the virus is present in very low concentrations, insufficient for infection. Hundreds of thousands of registered cases of HIV transmission, in which was installed with an accuracy of the source of infection. If the saliva was a real risk, among those hundreds of thousands would be a significant proportion of people with HIV when people cough, sneeze, kiss. But 15 years of experience epidemiologists showed that the risk of HIV infection is virtually non-existent. Saliva can be dangerous only if it is visible blood.

This suggests two important conclusions. The first - a purely practical: if the lips and mouth you do not damage kissed to health. If you have cracks ulcers or bleeding gums, they should be treated, but have not yet been held - not kiss " suction" in the mouth and be careful with oral sex. You can not fear to share tender "shallow" kiss, fondle his lips and tongue neck, chest, shoulders lover (and let let your imagination).

The second conclusion was that the world people have very naivety desire to continue to live the way they lived before, before the AIDS epidemic. Assuming that can be infected with anything - through kissing, mosquito bites, door handle - then it will turn out that all doomed and there is no need to change their own behavior. Much easier to periodically run into hysteria, while continuing to rely on the maybe, than soberly recognize that risk can be significantly reduced.

Male sterility

2008-10-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sterility - this pathological state, which is characterized by an inability to obtain offspring of the couple for one year without the use of contraceptive methods. A long time believed that the cause of infertility is the woman's body. But now there is no doubt the existence of male forms of infertility.

Male sterility - it changes by the health of male reproductive system, not allowing a man to conceive offspring.

Male sterility specialists are divided into three forms:

1. secretory

2. retention

3. Immunologic

In addition, lead to infertility, many reasons, more detailed in the article «Erectile dysfunction».

Secretory form of male sterility

In this form of testicles, for various reasons do not produce healthy motile sperm in the quantities that are sufficient to successfully fertilized egg. The reasons for violations may include: hormonal disorders, genetic factors, severe chronic disease (diabetes), deferred inflammatory diseases of the reproductive organs (orchitis, mumps), edema testicle, varicolored, over wind testicle and others. The factors that encourage the emergence of the disease include: inadequate protein diet, vitamin deficiency, trauma testicles, occupational hazard (ionizing radiation, high temperature, contact with various toxic substances).

Retention form of male sterility

In this form of infertility there is an obstacle to follow spermatozoon of the testicles in urethra. This obstacle could be: congenital absence or narrowing of the site seminiferous tract, solder, remaining after an inflammatory or infectious process, cyst or tumor or nearby genital organs, scar after the operation.

Immunological form of male sterility

This form of infertility develops, usually after trauma testicle. In this form the body begins to produce antibodies to the testes tissue. In normal testes tissue and immune system are disconnected. When trauma happens contact of the two systems, and the immunity of the body begins to take testicles as an alien entity. Antibodies can be shaped directly to spermatozoon.

The treatment of male sterility

First and foremost, this is the removal of the causes that led to the development of infertility - the removal of inflammation in the circumcision operation at the dropsy testicle, varicolored. When retention form identifies the level and extent of the site obstruction and performed surgery to remove it. When hormonal variations prescribes to correct hormonal background. In the form immunological male infertility carried out comprehensive treatment, the course of androgen and enzymatic substance drugs.

The treatment of any form of male infertility (except in compromised), except for removing the causes, including activities aimed at stimulation of spermatophyte. These are the good way of life, full albumen food, sports, admission of certain hormones that have a stimulating influence on the testicles, receiving drugs that enhance blood circulation to the genitals, as well as the course vitamins therapeutics. When treating male infertility need to control semen perform every 2-3 months.

The treatment of male infertility - a lengthy process, which requires the full cooperation and understanding between the urology and patient. In our clinic specialists carefully and correctly approach to the problems of each patient. Modern laboratory identify the causes that lead to the development of infertility, to monitor changes in the body against the backdrop of therapy.

Gonorrhea

2008-10-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

Gonorrhea is assigned to the classic sexually transmitted sexually transmitted diseases. Causative agent of the acute infectious disease - streptococcus (Nerissa gonorrhea), which can infect the urethra epithelium (urethra), rectum, pharynx, vagina, cervix and eyes.
The history of gonorrhea
The first information on the clap familiar with the II century BC. e. It is believed that the so-called disease antique doctor Galen, which literally translated from Greek into Russian as « spermatophyte ». Then, sick people, not knowing the true causes of their suffering, mistakenly took exuding pus for seed. Only in 1879, Albert Nasser gonorrhea discovered bacterium, which was named streptococcus (Rotisserie gonorrheal).
Ways of contracting gonorrhea
Infection coccus infection occurs when sex into the vagina and rectum, as well as oral sex. Through the hands of the infection could spread to the eyes. Domestic contamination is unlikely, because coccus disease quickly kills off the human body. A prerequisite of contracting the organism is sufficient coccus, which can not provide a way home. In addition, the causative agent clap so newtons outside the human body that if relieve immediately after sexual intercourse, the risk of disease is reduced by more than 2 times.
The risk of infection with single sexual act (vaginal, anal) with gonorrhea patients is about 70%. Considerably less likely with oral sex. Women are often asymptomatic carriers of the causal agent for weeks or months, so they clap usually detected when examining the patient's sexual contacts. Given the numerous cases of asymptomatic coccus pharyngitis among prostitutes, unprotected oral sex with them can not be considered safe.
Often the disease is asymptomatic infection, with the mouth, pharynx and rectum among homosexual men. The same sometimes happens with the defeat of the urethra from heterosexual men in certain geographic regions.
It should be noted that gonorrhea - disease with the highest risk of infection for all sexually transmitted diseases.
The development of the disease gonorrhea
The incubation period of disease typically ranges from 2 to 10 days (usually 5-7 days) from the time of infection. Symptoms of gonorrhea in men are yellowish-white selection of the urethra, as well as pain and burning sensation when urination. Common symptoms of gonorrhea in men and women - itching and the allocation of the anus (rectum with lesions), pain in the throat (with the defeat of the pharynx).
In early disease there is some discomfort in urination channel, then a few hours later developed frequent and painful urination and appear purulent discharge. As the inflammation in the back offices urethra frequent urination happens with the urge mandatory.
Men with untreated pathologic process of inflammation of the testicles may, prostate glands and joints. In doing so, defeat the testicles and prostate gland can lead to complications - infertility and impotency. Chronic gonorrhea may eventually lead to strictures urethra.
Streptococcal pharyngitis (CNS lesion) is often asymptomatic, and sometimes painfully evident in the throat. Streptococcal proctorial where the infected rectum, usually as asymptomatic, although the pain in the rectum, itching and the allocation of the rectum. Such destruction as streptococcal pharyngitis and streptococcal proctorial are men (mostly homosexual and bisexual orientation), and among women.
Among men with different sexual orientation often occurs severe gonorrhea probity(gonorrhea rectum), in which rectos copy can detect mucosa-abscess raid on the wall of the rectum. Often, as a result of oral-genital contact they have developed streptococcal pharyngitis, when patients complain of sore throat and difficulty swallowing. In these cases, there redness pharynx and tonsillitis with mucous-abscess intact.
Streptococcal conjunctivitis occurs when streptococcal hit in the eye.

WAL MART PHARMACY -Innovations

2008-10-31T02:50:00.000-07:00

The basis for the success of the network «Wall-Mart» have original ideas. Many of them, Sam Walton perennial from competitors - for example, the idea of supermarket or discount the idea of trading. However, he was able to build on other people's art, to create one holistic algorithm, the philosophy of the company. Not surprisingly, the company «Wall-Mart» one of the first beginning readers to use in calculations with buyers. This not only drastically increased traffic, but will provide a detailed picture of daily demand.

In a corporation set up the best in the industry diversified electronic ordering and delivery of goods. Wall-Mart has entered into contracts with more than 3 thousand vendors, including leading international corporations, but none of the vendors had no more than 4% of total orders. Most of the goods sold on line, comes through their own special distribution centers. As a result, Wall-Mart is able to deliver the desired product in any of its stores in four times faster than its competitors.

The company has the best in the world of computer accounting system products. Each store has an electronic link with key suppliers, allowing information on each unit sold products tracked in real time. According to some estimates, the introduction of modern accounting systems goods corporation has up to 7 billion annual profit.

Corporate principles

No less interesting corporate principles developed by the company. This is especially the principles of customer service and the idea of corporate solidarity of the cultural foundation of business success. For example, «to sunset» suggests the expeditious processing of clients and fulfilling orders on the day they are received, that is, until sunset. Applying the «principle of ten feet», store employees caught at a distance of three meters from the client's obligation to welcome him and offer assistance.

Almost all shopping malls network «Wall-Mart» designed the same way. What would the city and in whatever country or have permanent customers, go to the supermarket with the familiar guise, they are confident that quickly find the correct section and products.

Essentially, that stores network buyers are attracted not only the wide range and low prices, but also a friendly atmosphere. One of the fundamental rules of the corporation states: «There is one boss - the buyer». In its supermarkets, Sam Walton tried to maintain the spirit of small shops, especially the friendliness and genuine attention to the client. He is not tired to repeat: «The more our stores are, the more we must avoid gigantically, preserving the atmosphere of a small shop».

However, almost the most important - is a tactic to stimulate employees. The desire to guide the company to reduce costs at all was a result that wage workers have always remained fairly low. However, the existence of a flexible system of bonuses not only mitigate this effect, but suggests that the esprit de corps Wall Marta plays an important role in maintaining the high competitiveness of the company.

Once Walton was the name of his subordinates «partner», replacing it by a few pejorative «sell». And the difference was not only lexical. «Partners» started to motivate percent of sales. Moreover, all employees Wall Marta received the right to invest an additional salary and pension contributions in company stock. This innovation was introduced more than 30 years ago, and today the company has about 2 thousand millionaires.

Father-Founder

Sam Walton's childhood coincided with the depression, then it all his life was modest and economical, and felt every penny (penny, that is). He was popular in school, all children a penny (the newspaper, etc.). A little bit of work in Jay-Si Penny, but then asked him about that, because even though it sold well, wrote a chicken paw, and accounts maintained disgusting. Then, taking the money, opened a franchise network of stores (department store).

At that time, California began to emerge discount stores and Sam began the first experiments in his shop. After a while he opened its own, not franchisee shop, and eventually it grew into the empire. He was always curious, always taking ideas from competitors (refers specifically to that one), never allows a single shop and stalls, wherever drove (and later oblate all at the plane).

Curious book, written with a strong "Southern" accent, with the jokes, although America does not open. By the end of book left an unpleasant taste.

For example, despite the fact that he thought all workers Wall Marta called associates (such as "co-comrades", "Partners"), its big money he does not pay, and pay its managers much lower than the industry as it important to keep prices low. They, however, issue shares within a year of work, but it started to do recently, and at the urging of his wife. The biggest money in shares were made during the first decade.

Despite the propaganda, as I understand, the chief - not the buyer, a shareholder. At the same time controlling stake (60 percent) still holds the Walton family.

WAL MART PHARMACY

2008-10-31T02:47:00.000-07:00

Growth strategy

The first store under the guise «Wall-Mart» was opened in Rogers in 1962, first the company grew slowly. By 1970, after transforming the company into an open joint stock company, the network consisted of only 18 stores with a turnover of $ 44 million, however, after 10 years, the total number of stores grew to 276, while volume sales - up to 1.2 billion.

By 1990 the network «Wall-Mart», there are 1, 700 supermarkets, has become the largest in the United States. Then followed its rapid expansion, which has not prevented even death in 1992, the founder of the network. Case continued heirs of Sam Walton. There are offices in Mexico and Canada and then to a dozen other countries. In the past few years, commercial space Wall-Mart steadily increased by 8% a year. Only in 2006, the company opened about 600 stores. Thanks to its enormous size of the corporation to invest enormous resources in the development of new markets. None of the competing companies had not been able to invest such funds in the expansion.

The success of Wall-Mart around the world has become a strategy of aggressive expansion, coupled with low prices. But the major role played by clear and specialty commercial enterprises in four areas:

-Shops and cheap goods» (diskauntery);

-supertsentry» (grocery supermarkets, combined with shops and cheap manufactured goods);

-clubs Sam» (requiring a paid membership of buyers);

-local markets» (here are sold exclusively food).

Innovative methods of the network «Wall-Mart» perfectly combined with classical methods of competition. For example, when moving to another market for the company to apply a series of simple but effective tactics, in particular deliberately underestimate the price in order to suppress competition. An important tool in the effective promotion of the consumer is that the top managers of Wall Marta seek to take into account the social context in which to live and work that consumer. For its purchase - not random «atomic» unit, but the agent is a cultural environment of the local social networks. Hence - a well-known tactic of Wall-Mart, aimed at creating a «human face» the company, its active work on its image, in particular the provision of financial assistance to local educational institutions, religious organizations, etc.

Reduce costs while moving into new markets contributed to the fact that the company prefers to buy existing network of shopping centers, and then rebuild them in line with its principles and connected to the unified system of delivery, and accounting items. Obviously, together with such networks, the company acquires and their customers.

Symptoms of syphilis

2008-10-30T03:00:00.001-07:00

Syphilis in a given period of time has certain characteristics:

Heavier during syphilis;

With syphilis there expressed decline in the immune system;

Increase in the number of hidden forms of syphilis;

Increasing smear serological reactions;

Growth of the nervous system lesions in the early stages of syphilis.

One of the main causes of changes in the clinic and current syphilis is broad and does not always justify the use of antibiotics. The application for the purpose of self, or if preventive antibiotics, including those previously used to treat syphilis (a group of penicillin) modifies the clinic and during syphilis, worsen the prognosis of disease.

Primary latent syphilis (syphilis I latens) - syphilis, characterized by the appearance of chancre, which is the erosion or ulcer. Also rising Regional lymph nodes.

In secondary syphilis appear rash, rash (roseola, papules, pustule) on the skin and mucous membranes. Runs this stage - undulating.

Congenital syphilis (congenital syphilis) - syphilis, in which the infection occurred from sick mother during intrauterine development.

Syphilis malignant - hard current syphilis lesion with extensive internal organs and nervous system, typical for patients with oppressed immune system, the presence of various diseases - HIV, hepatitis B, C, abuse addictions.

Analysis for syphilis

For the diagnosis of syphilis is necessary, except for special data history and objective survey of the patient, laboratory diagnosis of syphilis:

Bacteriological study;

Serologic studies of blood;

Study cerebrospinal liquid.

Modern laboratory diagnosis of syphilis:

Immunosorbent analysis;

Method immunobloting;

Polymerase chain reaction

Syphilis

2008-10-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

Syphilis - chronic venereal disease, transmitted, in the vast majority of cases, sexually. Infection with syphilis through household is fairly rare, about 3% of cases.

Classification flow of syphilis are divided on the incubation period, primary, secondary and tertiary periods. It should be noted that an unspecified syphilis, when the moment of infection pale trepanned can not be established.

Syphilis typically runs undulating. In the period of syphilis in the mucous membranes, skin, internal organs are usually the active manifestations of the disease. However, often few symptom manifestations of the disease or even without any signs of syphilis.

Syphilis affects the entire body including the skin, mucous membranes, internal organs, the nervous system. Syphilis can last from untreated patients for many years.

The course of the disease wave with the change of periods of worsening latent periods. In the hidden symptoms of syphilis are virtually non-existent, but the positive serological reactions of the blood indicate a syphilitic process.

The forms of syphilis

PRIMARY Syphilis (syphilis I primarily) - stage of syphilis, after the incubation period averaged 3 weeks, characterize emergence primary simplify - chancre, which is the erosion or ulcer (perhaps a few elements), painless, with clear, thick at the base . The emergence of chancre accompanied by an increase in lymph nodes. For primary syphilis is characterized by complications in the form of fimoz, paraffin, gangrene penis in the absence of antisyphilitic treatment.

Primary latent syphilis (syphilis I latent) - syphilis, characterized by a lack of clinical manifestations in patients starting treatment in the primary period of illness and receiving inadequate treatment of syphilis!

SECONDARY Syphilis (syphilis II secundaria) - the next stage of syphilis caused hematogenic (blood) spread of pathogens (pale treponem) from the primary focus.

For secondary syphilis is characterized by the emergence of fresh heavy rash (roseola, papules, pustule) on the skin torso, limbs and mucous membranes.

Secondary recurrent syphilis (syphilis II recidivism) - the period of secondary syphilis, which is manifested few polymorphic grouped rash on the skin and mucous membranes, the defeat of the nervous system, the emergence of syphilitic alopecia, extensive warts, "necklace of Venus," "omnibus" sifilid, papules on the palms and soles.

Secondary latent syphilis (syphilis II latens) - a secondary period of syphilis occurring latent, serological reactions of blood for syphilis - dramatically positive.

Tertiary Syphilis (syphilis III tertiaria) - following the secondary stage of syphilis, which leads to irreversible consequences in the body. Treatment at this stage can only be supportive.

Invisible Syphilis (syphilis latens) - syphilis, in which serological reactions of blood always remained positive, but until a certain time there are no signs of destruction of skin, mucous membranes and internal organs.

Early hidden cifilis (syphilis latens praecox) - latent syphilis, since the infection which took place less than 2 years.

Late latent syphilis (syphilis latens tarda) - latent syphilis, from the time of infection by more than 2 years.

Injuries latent syphilis (syphilis ignorat) - a disease with unknown prescription.

Congenital syphilis (congenital syphilis) - syphilis, in which the contamination comes from the sick mother during intrauterine development.

Early congenital syphilis - congenital syphilis among fetuses and children up to 2 years late congenital syphilis - among children older than 2 years, reflected changes in the type of tertiary syphilis.

Quiet congenital syphilis - congenital syphilis, in which the clinical manifestations are not available, but serological reactions of blood for syphilis are positive.

Syphilis Nervous System - NEYROSIFILIS (neurosyphilis): Early (neurosyphilis praecox) - prescription disease until 5 years later (neurosyphilis) - more than 5 years.

In early neyrosifilise affects the lining of the brain development of meningitis; increasing intracranial pressure leads to a syphilitic hydrocephalus; damaged vessels of the brain.

Late neyrosifilis leads to violations of the higher nervous activity and mental losses: the progressive paralysis, spinal suhotke, gum brain - the development of complete degradation and disability cards.

Syphilis visceral (syphilis visceralis) - syphilis, which affects the internal organs - heart and vascular system, brain, spinal cord, lungs, liver, stomach, kidney).

Syphilis innocentium - syphilis infection which occurs through the household. The most frequent way of contracting syphilis - sex, with various forms of sexual contact (vaginal, anal, oral).

Infection with syphilis occurs through small genital defects or extra genital skin, or through the mucosal epithelium in contact with ulcerous erosive or chancre, erosive papules on the skin and mucous membranes of genitals, mouth, wide condoms containing a large number of pathogens syphilis - pale treponem. Very rarely infected with syphilis may occur in close household contact, in exceptional cases - through the items items.

Syphilis transfusion - transfusion with blood from a patient with syphilis transfusion recipient developed syphilis. Perhaps infection of medical personnel in the examination of patients with syphilis, conducting medical procedures and manipulation during surgery, with an autopsy, especially newborns with congenital syphilis early. There intrauterine infection of the fetus through transplatsentarnoy the causal agent of syphilis transmission from an infected mother.

Syphilis decapitated - contamination occurs when hit trepanned directly into the blood (through a wound, with blood transfusion). Syphilis headless characterized by a lack of primary period immediately direct the development of a secondary stage.

Syphilis malignant - seriously leaking syphilis with massive defeat of internal organs and nervous system, typical for people with reduced immunity, related pathology, HIV, hepatitis B, C and alcohol abusers.

Homosexuality

2008-10-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

Homosexuality - sexual attraction to others of their gender. The word "Homosexual" comes from the Greek root "homo", which means "the same" and the Latin word "seksus" sex. Men gomoseksual-called domestic "blue". Pederast (from the Greek "sodomy" - love for the boys), or call form the male sodomite homosexuality, in which the sexual act committed by the introduction of the penis into the rectum. Female homosexuality is called lesbianism (lesbian love) or sophism, on behalf of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos, and obsessed fall for this. According to the scientists the United States, about 4% of men and 3% of women throughout their lives have exclusively homosexual behavior. In addition, some of the women and men experienced the same sexual attraction to persons of both sexes, they are called bisexual.

It should distinguish between homosexuality as a pathological attraction to those same sex (inverted) from the acquired at some time in the life of homosexual behavior. The latter may be formed and a person with heterosexual inclinations under the influence of the external factors (abuse, coercion, curiosity, greed). Such people are called randomly inverted, or pseudohomosexuality. In the West, and in the U.S. is increasingly expressed the view that homosexuality - not pathology, a version of the rules has an equal right to exist as heterosexuality. However, recent years broke out a new wave of discrimination of homosexuality in connection with the spread of AIDS, especially among homosexuality.

The causes of homosexuality are still not clarified. There are different views about the origin of this phenomen on. Some believe that the formation of homosexual attraction is due to genetic (hereditary) factors, while others link it with the pathology of the central nervous system, endocrine disruption. Many supporters of Freud's psychoanalytic theory.

Sexual contact homosexuality, leading to mutual sexual satisfaction, diverse. Most often, this mutual masturbation, oral-genital contact (stimulation of the genitals through oral), rubbing genitals on various parts of the body of a partner, etc. The division gomoseksualov on active (male role) and passive (female role) true only in cases pederasty. For women such roles are not true.