National News  | Illinois HIV Care Connect Reaches Out Via Social Media and Spanish Language Web Site ILLINOIS :: HIV/AIDS
Fort Mill Times (08.19.2013) | | | Illinois HIV Care Connect, a statewide network providing HIV support services, will expand its social media involvement to increase awareness of its offerings. The network, a program of the Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA), provides free case management services and health services to people with HIV/AIDS. “This effort is all about extending HIV prevention and treatment across Illinois,” said Tom Hughes, IPHA executive director. “By preventing HIV and helping those living with HIV find early and ongoing treatment, we can improve health outcomes and reduce medical costs.”
The network launched an English-language Web site in 2009 and introduced a Spanish-language Web site earlier this year. Now, Illinois HIV Care Connect is adding English-language Twitter feed, Facebook pages, and Google+ pages. Illinois has approximately 36,000 HIV-infected residents. According to CDC, approximately 20 percent of new US infections comprise Hispanics, while the largest number of new infections comprises people between ages 20–34. Because social media is popular with young people, Illinois HIV Care Connect is focused on reaching out to these two target groups. Additionally, the network soon will launch both English and Spanish mobile versions of its Web site.
The Illinois HIV Care Connect Web site receives more than 800 monthly hits, making it a valuable source of information for HIV-infected people and their healthcare providers. The program also manages and provides information about the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program, Continuation of Health Insurance Coverage program, and other services. |  Read Full Article | Share this Article     | | Back to Top  |  | | | International News | Medical News  | First Direct Evidence of HPV-Related Tonsillar Cancer on the Rise in Canada CANADA :: STDs
Medical Xpress (08.13.2013) :: By Lawson Health Research Institute | | | Oropharyngeal cancer, which affects the throat, including the tonsils and base of the tongue, is usually caused by smoking and alcohol use; however, HPV recently has emerged as a major cause of this type of cancer. Dr. Anthony Nichols of Lawson Health Research Institute, Dr. David Palma of Lawson Health Research Institute and Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study to determine the impact of HPV-related tonsillar cancer in Canada.
The researchers searched the London Health Sciences Centre pathology database for information on patients diagnosed with tonsillar cancer in three time periods: 1993 to 1999, 2000 to 2005, and 2006 to 2011. They reviewed patients’ charts for information on diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up, and analyzed biopsy samples to discover whether the patients had HPV in their DNA.
The researchers analyzed 160 patient records and found 57 percent of cases had HPV in the DNA, particularly in cases involving young nonsmokers. The incidence of the cancer increased significantly throughout the selected time periods. Treatment included radiation and a mixture of chemotherapy and radiation. Survival rates improved and recurrence-free survival increased from 53 to 82 percent. Five-year survival rates increased from 37 to 83 percent.
Nichols commented that the data indicated this disease would result in a major impact on the Canadian health system in the future and suggested a focus on prevention strategies, including vaccinations and developing better treatments with fewer side effects to preserve patient quality of life.
The full report, “The Epidemic of Human Papillomavirus and Oropharyngeal Cancer in a Canadian Population,” was published in the journal Current Oncology (2013; 20 (4):212–219). | | Read Full Article | Share this Article | | Back to Top | | | Local and Community News  | IUPUI Receives $290,000 NEH Grant for International Research Team to Study Origins of HIV/AIDS INDIANA :: HIV/AIDS
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (08.15.2013) | | | An international team led by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) professors has received a three-year National Endowment for the Humanities award to study the origins of HIV/AIDS. Rather than identifying the first HIV case, the project, “An International Collaboration on the Political, Social, and Cultural History of the Emergence of HIV/AIDS,” would consider “larger historical, political, economic, social, and cultural relations and processes” that contributed to HIV’s emergence. The team would include three HIV researchers (virologists Preston Marx and François Simon and epidemiologist Ernest Drucker) and six humanities scholars led by Professor William H. Schneider and Professor Didier Gondola, chair of the IUPUI history department.
Drucker stated that the project would place the medical, public health, and biological dimensions of HIV’s origin in historical context. There was wide scientific agreement that immune viruses had been present among African chimp and monkey populations for tens of thousands of years. Fewer than 100 years ago, some of these evolved into viruses that affected humans. DNA sequencing has identified 12 strains, including HIV-1 and HIV-2, which have caused most of the epidemic.
The team would explore the social and cultural consequences of the introduction of western medicine shortly before the appearance of the HIV epidemic. Study topics included changes in great ape and monkey hunting; social transformations during colonialization; and western medical interventions, including immunization campaigns and blood transfusions, which facilitated virus transmission. Gondola, an expert in the history of Brazzaville and Kinshasa, would investigate the relationship of urbanization, migration, and gender on the emergence of AIDS. Project activities would include fieldwork and research into archival records and colonial and medical service records in Europe and Africa.
By applying the “critical humanities approach,” the research team aimed to develop a model that would help medical science and public health researchers understand disease emergence. | | Read Full Article | Share this Article | | Back to Top | | | | News Briefs | | | | | Las Cruces' Red Ribbon Bash is Evening of Fun to Help Those in Need NEW MEXICO :: HIV/AIDS
Las Cruces Sun-News (08.16.2013) :: By Cassie McClure | | | The 15th annual Las Cruces, N.M., Red Ribbon Bash, with the theme “Top Hats and Stilettos,” will take place on August 24 at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. The event will begin with a cocktail hour at 6:00 p.m. followed by a formal dinner at 7:00 p.m. The program will include live music by the Liars, a well-known local band, and a silent auction. The Red Ribbon Bash is an annual fundraiser for the Southern New Mexico Aid and Comfort Program, a volunteer organization that helps HIV-infected persons in 13 New Mexico counties. The organization functions in partnership with the Department of Health and the New Mexico Community Foundation and assists with items not covered by any other federal or state organization, such as glasses and dental and prescription co-pays for people with HIV/AIDS. The New Mexico Department of Health reported 137 new HIV infections for 2012, the second year new infection rates declined. At the end of 2011, New Mexico reported 3,468 residents with HIV/AIDS. For more information about the Red Ribbon Bash, visit www.redribbonbash.org or phone (575) 993–2121. | | Read Full Article | Share this Article | | Back to Top | | | |
8/21/2013
No comments:
Post a Comment