• Viral Load: Small Change by Sixth Day of Treatment Can Often Predict Poor Response
  It may be possible to detect a failing antiretroviral regimen, in many cases, after the first six days of treatment.

• New Resistance Test Combines Phenotype and Genotype
  The first resistance testing which combines both phenotypic and genotypic testing, from the same company on the same report, is intended especially for difficult treatment decisions.

• Protease Inhibitors in Children: Combination Therapy Reduced Death by Two Thirds
  A study of over a thousand HIV-infected children from 1996 through 1999 provides more definitive information on the benefits of improved treatment. The article and an accompanying editorial also discuss the risks of treatment in children, prevention of maternal transmission of HIV, and the status of efforts to prevent and treat pediatric AIDS in developing countries.

• South Africa: Activists, Physicians Sue Government to Prevent Maternal Transmission, Ask International Support
  After five years of civil society lobbying for widespread programs to prevent maternal transmission in South Africa, activists have sued the government, which has been notably reluctant to move toward widespread access to antiretroviral treatment.

• HIV Testing 101 (Part 1 of 2)
  A look at antibody testing for HIV -- including ELISA and confirmatory testing with Western blot, the "window period" between infection and when the body produces antibodies that can be detected, oral HIV testing, urine testing, and the rapid test.

ISSN # 1052-4207

Copyright 2001 by John S. James. Permission granted for noncommercial reproduction, provided that our address and phone number are included if more than short quotations are used.