The Viral Truth: Making Sense of HIV/AIDS News

HIV infections in the porn industry are not a new phenomenon. While testing is voluntary, some studios require their actors to be tested every 30 days and have documentation from the Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Healthcare Foundation showing that they do not have HIV or any other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). But clearly, this method isn't foolproof, especially if the actor has had unprotected sex in between tests. In 2004, Darren James, who was unaware of his HIV status, unknowingly infected three actresses. Twenty-two performers are reported to have tested positive for HIV since James, including a female performer who tested positive last year.

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"Why She Sued Her Husband for $12 Million and Won" opened with beautiful, educated Bridget, who had met and married the love of her life. It was a fairy tale -- until the day, 10 years ago, that she found out she was HIV positive. Later, she learned her husband was HIV positive, too. And that he had slept with men without using condoms. And that he was the one who had given her HIV. She later sued her husband for $12 million and won.

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"This print is also just symbolism for who I am now," Mondo Guerra, a Project Runway contestant, explains during deliberations. "It's just very, very personal and it tells a story."

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It's funny that even though I have been writing about HIV/AIDS since 2006, this year's United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) was my first opportunity to attend any type of HIV/AIDS conference -- ever.

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Whether you're political or not, you can't help but raise your eyebrows at some of the things Republican U.S. Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell has said, whether it's with respect to her campaign against masturbation or dabbling in witchcraft. Last week, a C-SPAN video surfaced of her in 1997, talking about government funding for HIV. She says, "A lot of the money that we're spending goes to things we know will not prevent AIDS, but indeed continue to spread the disease, when a lot of our money goes to distribute condoms in high schools, when a lot of our money goes to distributing material that is literally pornographic." Which sounds like she's saying that using condoms spreads HIV.

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Nearly two weeks ago, television networks joined forces to raise awareness and money for cancer -- and to no surprise, America paid attention. Stand Up to Cancer clocked in a record 18.3 million viewers and raised a whopping $80 million. And while I watched dozens of celebrities talk about the importance of finding a cure, a thought hit me.

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I wonder where we'd be right now if those first few cases of AIDS had been found in straight white guys. If the disease hadn't been initially referred to as "gay cancer" or GRID (gay-related immunodeficiency disease). If HIV/AIDS hadn't been associated from the start with lifestyle, rather than biology.

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It's been more than a month since a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel unanimously recommended approval of Egrifta (tesamorelin). That recommendation appeared to put Egrifta firmly on track to become the first approved treatment for lipohypertrophy (unusual fat gain) in people with HIV.

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The NNRTI efavirenz (EFV, Sustiva, Stocrin) is one of the most popular first-line HIV medications, but its risk of associated neurological side effects sometimes leaves people seeking other options. An NNRTI in late-stage development, TMC278 (rilpivirine), appears firmly set on offering treatment-naive people a viable alternative.

It's too soon to predict whether TMC278 will succeed in that goal. But research presented at AIDS 2010 appears to support this young upstart's progress toward U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, perhaps within the next several months.

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For what feels like the first time in months, there's good news about U.S. AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting lists.

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