|
Black Men in Focus in
US HIV Drug Trial |
 |
The AIDS Research
Consortium of Atlanta is recruiting gay black men for a clinical trial
to test whether the AIDS drug tenofovir is safe for use in people who
are HIV-negative.
The study is part of a long-term project, including similar trials in
Botswana and Thailand, to determine if the drug can be used to prevent
HIV infection.
In Georgia in 2005, 78 percent of persons diagnosed with AIDS and 81
percent of those diagnosed with HIV were African Americans.
"African-American men are disproportionately affected by HIV and
underrepresented in clinical trials," said Melanie Thompson, the study's
lead investigator. "We are testing in order to know whether a drug is
safe for the people who will ultimately use the drug." "While the study
is open to men of any race, we are working hard to enroll as many men of
color as possible," she said.
During the trial, men will be given daily doses of tenofovir or a
placebo. Participants will complete a computerized questionnaire about
their sexual activity and receive risk-reduction counseling and condoms
at every visit. As a control, half the group will not receive tenofovir
for the first nine months in order to determine if participation in an
HIV
prophylaxis safety study could unintentionally encourage men to take
more sexual risks.
Thompson said that while 43 percent of men enrolled in the study are
black, many African Americans are reluctant to participate because of
misunderstandings about the trial, fear within the black community about
clinical trials, and the stigma still attached to homosexuality.
Despite its large numbers of at-risk men, a lack of organization within
the gay black community has made it difficult to mobilize against HIV.
"The black gay community has become complacent about HIV and STDs as a
whole," said Duncan Teague, recruitment coordinator for the project. |
|
| |
|
|
| We are providing the above information as a public
service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay
media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases
does not constitute endorsement. The above summaries were prepared
without conducting any additional research or investigation into the
facts and statements made in the articles being summarized, and
therefore readers are expressly cautioned against relying on the
validity or invalidity of any statements made in these summaries. This
CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News
Update also includes information from CDC and
other government agencies, such as background on MMWR articles, fact
sheets and announcements. |
| HIV1 - ELISA
Antibodies |
|
-
Most people
infected with HIV carry the virus for years before manifesting AIDS.
During that period, infected people will have few, if any, symptoms yet
they can transmit the virus.
-
The
percentage of women with AIDS has increased steadily, and the percentage
of people infected heterosexually has also increased, surpassing the percentage
infected through injecting drug use.
-
During 2001, there were 35575 newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
now
that 40,000 new cases of HIV transmission occur every year.
-
Of
the people infected with the virus of AIDS in the USA in the year 2001, 42%
were whites, 37% blacks, 20% Hispanics and <1% Asians and Pacific
Islanders and <1% American Indians and Alaska Natives.
-
During the 1990s, the HIV epidemic shifted steadily toward a growing
proportion of AIDS cases in blacks and Hispanics and in women.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) is the cause of AIDS (Acquired
Immuno
Deficiency Syndrome).
The presence of HIV in the body can be detected in several ways. The
most common is the HIV-ELISA Antibodies test.
The
HIV-ELISA
looks for the body
response to the virus
manifested by the
presence in your blood of
Antibodies
to HIV proteins. Antibodies are special proteins that our Immune System
produce in response to the presence of HIV.
The test performed on your
sample actually consists
of two tests: a Screening test and a Confirmatory test. The
screening test procedure is called an
ELISA—Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay
or an EIA (Enzyme Immunosorbent Assay). The
confirmatory test is used in the event your HIV-ELISA is positive and/or
equivocal and is the procedure used is the Western
Blot Assay (WB)
The screening and
confirmatory tests are usually done using small samples of blood. If a
sample of blood tests positive repeatedly in the screening test, it will be
confirmed through the Western Blot test. People will be informed that they are infected
with HIV only after both the screening and confirmatory tests
have shown a positive (reactive) result.
Positive HIV antibody tests results
are over 99% accurate when confirmed. Negative HIV antibody tests are over
99% accurate if it has been at least six months after a contact with a
potentially HIV-infected partner. False negatives or false positives occur
rarely.
Antibodies to HIV can be
detected in the blood, in the urine or in the saliva. People produce
antibodies with different speeds and therefore the time interval between
infection and the development of antibodies to HIV can go from four weeks
to six months from the exposure date or SDC (
Suspected
Date
of
Contact).
The appearance of antibodies in a blood or urine sample of a person which
was known to be negative to HIV is called
Seroconversion.
The HIV Elisa results are usually available in one or two business days.
|
|
|
