Di Inggris Raya, Tes HIV Dapat Dilakukan Sendiri

Kompas.com - Perangkat tes HIV mandiri untuk pertama kalinya diizinkan dipakai di Inggris, Skotlandia dan Wales. Alat ini memungkinkan seseorang melakukan tes di rumah dan mendapat hasilnya dalam 15 menit.

Berbeda dengan perangkat lain, hasil tes tidak perlu dikirim ke laboratorium. Alat ini bekerja dengan mengidentifikasi setetes kecil darah, yang seringkali baru diketahui tiga bulan setelah infeksi terjadi.

Para ahli memperingatkan hasil tes positif harus dipastikan klinik, lapor wartawan BBC Smitha Mundasad.

Organisasi kemanusiaan berharap alat ini akan mengurangi sebagian dari 26.000 orang di Inggris yang belum diketahui status HIV-nya

Sama dengan tes kehamilan

Diagnosa dini dipandang memungkinkan seseorang segera mendapat perawatan dan dapat mencegah komplikasi serius. Orang-orang yang berhasil dirawat dipandang lebih kecil kemungkinan menularkan infeksi.

Tes yang "Anda lakukan sendiri" ini dibuat perusahaan Bio Sure UK dan bisa dibeli online.

Alat ini bekerja dengan cara yang sama dengan tes kehamilan dengan mengukur tingkat antibodi -protein yang dibuat sebagai reaksi terhadap virus- dalam darah seseorang.

Perangkat ini menganalisa tetesan kecil darah dari ujung jari. Dua garis berwarna ungu akan muncul jika seseorang HIV positif.

Experimental AIDS vaccine blocks HIV in monkeys

Cbsnews.com - An experimental drug compound is showing promise against the virus that causes AIDS.

Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, Harvard Medical School and more than a dozen other institutions developed the novel drug candidate and tested it in rhesus macaques, monkeys which can carry simian HIV, a virus similar to the one that infects humans.

They found that macaques inoculated with the drug compound known as eCD4-lg did not catch the virus, even when they were repeatedly exposed to high levels of it over an 8-month period.

Results of the study were published today in the journal Nature.

In addition to protecting monkeys, the researchers say lab tests indicate the drug candidate blocks every known strain of HIV-1 and HIV-2, the two main types of the virus that infect humans.

"Our compound is the broadest and most potent entry inhibitor described so far," lead researcher Michael Farzan, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute, said in a press statement. "Unlike antibodies, which fail to neutralize a large fraction of HIV-1 strains, our protein has been effective against all strains tested, raising the possibility it could offer an effective HIV vaccine alternative."

It was built on previous research by Farzan's lab into a receptor called CCR5, which plays a key role in enabling HIV to latch onto the surface of a cell and begin replicating. The new drug compound binds to two sites on the surface of the virus simultaneously, preventing it from infecting a cell.

"This is the culmination of more than a decade's worth of work on the biochemistry of how HIV enters cells," Farzan said. "When we did our original work on CCR5, people thought it was interesting, but no one saw the therapeutic potential. That potential is starting to be realized."

To work like a vaccine, the researchers attached eCD4-lg to an adeno-associated virus (AAV), a virus harmless to humans that can be used as a vehicle.

Noted AIDS researcher David Baltimore, a Nobel laureate whose firm, Calimmune, is working on a separate gene therapy approach to HIV, told Science he considers these latest findings "impressive." But he sounded a note of caution since it's only been tested in a laboratory and in animals. "It's perhaps a better construct than the antibodies we've been using, but it's a matter of how it plays out in human trials," Baltimore said. "I don't think it's easy to tell how that will happen."

San Francisco Could Be First City to Offer Free HIV Prevention Pills

Sfweekly.com - Thirty years ago, San Francisco became known as the birthplace of the AIDS movement.

Now, it might be the city to effectively quash AIDS out — or at least stop its spread.

Supervisor David Campos has called a hearing for thisThursday to discuss the possibility of distributing a new AIDS miracle drug, called PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis, but more commonly known by its brand name, Truvada), to all San Francisco residents, regardless of income.

While there's not a cure for AIDS, Truvada has been shown to virtually eliminate the risk of contracting HIV through intercourse or intravenous injection if it's taken as a daily regimen similar to a birth control pill. Its two components, tenofovir and emtricitabine, work in conjunction with other medications to prevent the virus from establishing a permanent infection.

That's welcome news for anyone who grew up with AIDS as a death sentence, though it's also led some celebrants to prematurely declare the end of the disease. As op-ed writer Josh Barro pointed out in a July column for the New York Times, the 99 percent efficacy figure that proponents often throw around, when discussing this new wonder drug, isn't actually based on any clinical studies — it's a statistical prediction.

That said, free or cheap Truvada could revolutionize AIDS treatment in San Francisco, where 2,066 people have been diagnosed with the disease in the last five years, according to Campos' legislative aide Laura Lane. What's in dispute isn't the drug's efficacy, but its availability, she contends: fewer than 1,000 San Franciscans are currently using it.

How San Francisco will pay for this proposed free Truvada program is still open for discussion.

HIV test 'home kits' made legal in the UK

Voice-online.co.uk - THE UK has passed a law allowing people to use kits to test themselves for HIV at home.

Until now, it was illegal to carry out a HIV test at home in the UK and read the results yourself.

Many would perform the tests - usually ordered online - at home and send away their results to receive a diagnosis over the phone.

At present, no test has been developed that meets European guidelines, but The Terrence Higgins Trust HIV charity said the tests could be introduced into the UK this year or in early 2015.

The trust found that 97 per cent of 915 users in its study said they would use the HIV self-sampling again. The charity said that in one weekend it received 3,000 orders for the test.

Dr Michael Brady told the BBC: "What we had not anticipated was just how popular the scheme would be, with demand very nearly outstripping supply on more than one occasion."

But he added: "It [home testing] is not for everyone, which is why it is important to have a range of options available."

There are about 100,000 people infected in the UK, including around 22,000 who have the human immunodeficiency virus but do not know they are infected.

Heather Leake Date, HIV specialist pharmacist and spokesperson for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said the tests would help reduce the risk of new HIV infections.

She said: "HIV self-testing kits may help increase diagnosis by providing more choice for people who have been at risk but are reluctant to get a test in person from existing services."

Could the cure for AIDS come from fungus? Russian institute thinks folk-remedy from mushrooms may be answer

Chaga mushroom ( Inonotus obliquus ) is a common birch and some other deciduous trees rot fungus.

Has a cure for AIDS finally been found?

One group of Russian scientists thinks so — and they say the answer is down to a centuries-old folk remedy.

According to the Wall Street Journal's Emerging Europe blog, mushrooms found in certain parts of Siberia could hold a promising answer to the deadly AIDS virus.

Scientists at Siberia's Vector research institute said that a certain mushroom — the Chaga — could not only hold strong medicinal purposes, but fight against viruses like HIV, smallpox, and even influenza, the institute said on their website.

The institute, which was established during the Cold War, goes on to say the development is "promising."

The Changa fungi grows on birch trees in the northern stretches of Russia, and while scientists at Vector say that there are no solid tests linking the mushroom with combatting HIV, researchers say the betulinic acid in the fungus is thought to be very toxic to cancers and other viruses.

In Russian lore, many funguses have medicinal purposes, and have been used to treat any number of ailments throughout the centuries.

No sign of HIV return in bone marrow transplant patients, say scientists

Guardian.co.uk - Two men who became free of HIV infection after bone marrow transplants have stopped taking Aids drugs without any sign of the virus returning, according to scientists.

Talk of a cure is premature, the doctors told the International Aids Society conference in Kuala Lumpur, but the news will raise hopes that progress can be made towards a treatment that will not only keep the virus at bay but eventually eradicate it.

The two men, who had longstanding HIV infections, were given bone marrow transplants at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Centre in Boston because they were suffering from cancers of the blood. Tests showed that as their own cells were replaced by cells from the bone marrow donor, the levels of virus in their blood steadily dropped to undetectable.

One of the men stopped taking antiretroviral medication to suppress HIV almost four months ago and the other seven weeks ago. They still have no detectable HIV in their blood cells.

"While these results are exciting, they do not yet indicate that the men have been cured," said Timothy Henrich, from the division of infectious diseases at Brigham. "Long-term follow up of at least one year will be required to understand the full impact of a bone marow transplant on HIV persistence."

One of the patients became infected with HIV in the early years of the epidemic, and the other was infected as a baby. They are both monitored frequently. Scientists have conducted extensive tests to try to find HIV not only in their blood cells but also in tissue and have not found anything, although they cannot be sure it is not there. HIV is able to hide and remain at low levels but remain capable of becoming active.

The virus could still be present in an organ such as the brain or in the gastrointestinal tract, Henrich said. "If the virus does return, it would suggest that these other sites are an important reservoir of infectious virus and new approaches to measuring the reservoir at relevant sites will be needed to guide the development of HIV curative strategies."

Even if the virus does not reappear, bone marrow transplants are not feasible for everybody. There is a 15-20% mortality rate and the patient has to take drugs to suppress their immune system thereafter. But the experiences of the two men will teach scientists a great deal more about how to combat the virus.

The International Aids Society, which brings together researchers in the field worldwide, has led efforts towards a hunt for a cure for HIV infection as successive attempts to design a vaccine have failed.

The case of the "Berlin patient", later identified as American Timothy Ray Brown, was proof that a cure was possible. Brown underwent a stem cell transplant because of cancer, but his doctors managed to find a donor who had genetic resistance to HIV – a rare thing. Brown has been cured of both HIV infection and cancer, but the treatment carries major risks and is hugely expensive, and it would be very unlikely that many donors with genetic resistance to the virus could be found.

In March it was announced that a child born with HIV in Mississippi had been "cured" by being given very prompt antiretroviral therapy after birth. The child's mother stopped giving the baby drugs at around the age of 18 months and no longer went for regular checks to the hospital. When they returned five months later, the child had no detectable virus. Scientists are uncertain why it happened, but speculated that the early use of drugs – within 30 hours of the birth – may have prevented the virus taking hold.

Henrich said he was cautious but excited about the scientific developments. "Five years ago if you'd mentioned a cure, research people wouldn't have taken you seriously," he said. "We're not there yet. Are we close? Probably not, but who knows? This could be a rapid learning curve in the next few years."

Panduan baru dalam pengobatan HIV

Detik.com - WHO menyakini pengobatan dini pada orang dengan HIV akan mampu menekan penyebaran virus.

Sebuah panduan baru dalam perawatan HIV diperkirakan akan memberikan jutaan orang di negara berkembang berkesempatan mendapatkan obat yang bisa menyelamatkan hidup mereka.

Badan Kesehatan Dunia, WHO merekomendasikan kepada pasien untuk mulai melakukan perawatan pada tahap awal penyakit yang dideritanya itu.

WHO mengatakan panduan yang diluncurkan pada Konferensi Internasional AIDS di Kuala Lumpur ini akan mampu membantu menghindari jumlah tambahan kematian sebanyak 3 juta orang akibat AIDS pada 2025 mendatang.

Lembaga sosial bernama MSF menyambut baik langkah tersebut tapi mereka mengatakan langkah ini harus dibarengi dengan investasi lebih banyak.

Panduan pengobatan baru ini akan mengharuskan seorang pasien mengkonsumsi sebuah pil beserta tiga jenis obat-obatan lain saat dia dinyatakan positif mengidap HIV.

Konsumsi obatan-obatan ini dilakukan pada tahap yang sangat dini saat sistem kekebalan tubuh mereka masih kuat.

Sejumlah negara seperti Algeria, Argentina dan Brasil telah menjalani pengobatan yang didasari atas panduan baru dari WHO.

Konsultasi panjang

Saat ini tidak semua orang yang membutuhkan bisa mendapatkan pengobatan secara dini meskipun sejumlah kebijakan untuk membantu para pasien telah dibuat dalam beberapa tahun terakhir agar mereka bisa memperoleh akses lebih luas dalam pengobatan HIV.

WHO menyebut panduan ini merupakan bentuk dari wujud perubahan besar dalam kebijakan mereka.

Mereka berharap dari perubahan kebijakan ini akan menghasilkan peningkatan akses pasien dengan HIV terhadap obat-obatan di negara berkembang.

Mereka memperkirakan jumlah pasien yang bisa mengakses obat-obatan dengan cara ini akan meningkat dari 16 juta orang menjadi 26 juta orang atau 80 persen dari total orang dengan HIV yang ada di dunia saat ini.

Diperkirakan panduan ini akan memunculkan tambahan anggaran sebesar 10 persen dari biaya keseluruhan dalam menangani HIV/AIDS di seluruh negara berkembang.

WHO merasa bahwa negera donor dan negara berkembang akan bisa diyakinkan bahwa usulan tentang pengobatan dini ini jauh lebih efektif secara biaya.

Kebijakan ini sendiri disetujui dalam konfrensi di Kuala Lumpur setelah melalui konsultasi selama satu tahun lebih dengan menunjukan adanya bukti-bukti yang telah dipertimbangkan bahwa pengobatan dini berperan dalam mengurangi penyebaran virus.

Study: Bee Venom Kills HIV

Usnews.com - Bees could hold the key to preventing HIV transmission. Researchers have discovered that bee venom kills the virus while leaving body cells unharmed, which could lead to an anti-HIV vaginal gel and other treatments.

Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that melittin, a toxin found in bee venom, physically destroys the HIV virus, a breakthrough that could potentially lead to drugs that are immune to HIV resistance. The study was published Thursday in the journal Antiviral Therapy.

"Our hope is that in places where HIV is running rampant, people could use this as a preventative measure to stop the initial infection," Joshua Hood, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement.

The researchers attached melittin to nanoparticles that are physically smaller than HIV, which is smaller than body cells. The toxin rips holes in the virus' outer layer, destroying it, but the particles aren't large enough to damage body cells.

"Based on this finding, we propose that melittin-loaded nanoparticles are well-suited for use as topical vaginal HIV virucidal agents," they write.

Theoretically, the particles could also be injected into an HIV-positive person to eliminate the virus in the bloodstream.

Because the toxin attacks the virus' outer layer, the virus is likely unable to develop a resistance to the substance, which could make it more effective than other HIV drugs.

"Theoretically, melittin nanoparticles are not susceptible to HIV mutational resistance seen with standard HIV therapies," they write. "By disintegrating the [virus'] lipid envelope [it's] less likely to develop resistance to the melittin nanoparticles."

The group plans to soon test the gel in clinical trials.

Child born with HIV cured by US doctors

Guardian.co.uk - Doctors in the US have made medical history by effectively curing a child born with HIV, the first time such a case has been documented.

The infant, who is now two and a half, needs no medication for HIV, has a normal life expectancy and is highly unlikely to be infectious to others, doctors believe.

Though medical staff and scientists are unclear why the treatment was effective, the surprise success has raised hopes that the therapy might ultimately help doctors eradicate the virus among newborns.

Doctors did not release the name or sex of the child to protect the patient's identity, but said the infant was born, and lived, in Mississippi state. Details of the case were unveiled on Sunday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

Dr Hannah Gay, who cared for the child at the University of Mississippi medical centre, told the Guardian the case amounted to the first "functional cure" of an HIV-infected child. A patient is functionally cured of HIV when standard tests are negative for the virus, but it is likely that a tiny amount remains in their body.

"Now, after at least one year of taking no medicine, this child's blood remains free of virus even on the most sensitive tests available," Gay said.

"We expect that this baby has great chances for a long, healthy life. We are certainly hoping that this approach could lead to the same outcome in many other high-risk babies," she added.

The number of babies born with HIV in developed countries has fallen dramatically with the advent of better drugs and prevention strategies. Typically, women with HIV are given antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy to minimise the amount of virus in their blood. Their newborns go on courses of drugs too, to reduce their risk of infection further. The strategy can stop around 98% of HIV transmission from mother to child.

In the UK and Ireland, around 1,200 children are living with HIV they picked up in the womb, during birth, or while being breastfed. If an infected mother's placenta is healthy, the virus tends not to cross into the child earlier in pregnancy, but can in labour and delivery.

The problem is far more serious in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, around 387,500 children aged 14 and under were receiving antiretroviral therapy in 2010. Many were born with the infection. Nearly 2 million more children of the same age in the region are in need of the drugs.

In the latest case, the mother was unaware she had HIV until after a standard test came back positive while she was in labour. "She was too near delivery to give even the dose of medicine that we routinely use in labour. So the baby's risk of infection was significantly higher than we usually see," said Gay.

Doctors began treating the baby 30 hours after birth. Unusually, they put the child on a course of three antiretroviral drugs, given as liquids through a syringe. The traditional treatment to try to prevent transmission after birth is a course of a single antiretroviral drug. The doctor opted for the more aggressive treatment because the mother had not received any during her pregnancy.

Several days later, blood drawn from the baby before treatment started showed the child was infected, probably shortly before birth. The doctors continued with the drugs and expected the child to take them for life.

However, within a month of starting therapy, the level of HIV in the baby's blood had fallen so low that routine lab tests failed to detect it.

The mother and baby continued regular clinic visits to the clinic for the next year, but then began to miss appointments, and eventually stopped attending all together. The child had no medication from the age of 18 months, and did not see doctors again until it was nearly two years old.

"We did not see this child at all for a period of about five months," Gay told the Guardian. "When they did return to care aged 23 months, I fully expected that the baby would have a high viral load."

When the mother and child arrived back at the clinic, Gay ordered several HIV tests, and expected the virus to have returned to high levels. But she was stunned by the results. "All of the tests came back negative, very much to my surprise," she said.

The case was so extraordinary, Dr Gay called a colleague, Katherine Luzuriaga, an immunologist at Massachusetts Medical School, who with another scientist, Deborah Persaud at Johns Hopkins Children's Centre in Baltimore, had far more sensitive blood tests to hand. They checked the baby's blood and found traces of HIV, but no viruses that were capable of multiplying.

The team believe the child was cured because the treatment was so potent and given swiftly after birth. The drugs stopped the virus from replicating in short-lived, active immune cells, but another effect was crucial. The drugs also blocked the infection of other, long-lived white blood cells, called CD4, which can harbour HIV for years. These CD4 cells behave like hideouts, and can replace HIV that is lost when active immune cells die.

The treatment would not work in older children or adults because the virus will have already infected their CD4 cells.

"Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns that begins within days of exposure may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment by preventing such viral hideouts from forming in the first place," said Dr Persaud. "Our next step is to find out if this is a highly unusual response to very early antiretroviral therapy or something we can actually replicate in other high-risk newborns."

Children infected with HIV are given antiretroviral drugs with the intent to treat them for life, and Gay warned that anyone who takes the drugs must remain on them.

"It is far too early for anyone to try stopping effective therapy just to see if the virus comes back," she said.

Until scientists better understand how they cured the child, Gay emphasised that prevention is the most reliable way to stop babies contracting the virus from infected mothers. "Prevention really is the best cure, and we already have proven strategies that can prevent 98% of newborn infections by identifying and treating HIV-positive women," she said.

Genevieve Edwards, a spokesperson for the Terrence Higgins Trust HIV/Aids charity, said: "This is an interesting case, but I don't think it has implications for the antenatal screening programme in the UK, because it already takes steps to ensure that 98% to 99% of babies born to HIV-positive mothers are born without HIV."

Ditemukan Terapi HIV dan Kanker yang Potensial

Kompas.com - Kanker dan HIV merupakan penyakit yang menjadi momok karena belum ada obat yang bisa menyembuhkannya. Hal tersebut mungkin saja berubah dengan dikembangkannya terapi terbaru oleh para ilmuwan di Jepang.

Para ilmuwan di RIKEN Pusat Alergi dan Imunologi dan National Institute of Advanced Industri Sains dan Teknologi, University of Tokyo, menemukan cara meningkatkan sistem imun pasien. Teknik tersebut dianggap sebagai metode terbaik karena mampu mengurangi kemungkinan penolakan tubuh terhadap transplantasi.

Sebuah studi yang diterbitkan dalam jurnal Cell Stem Cell memfokuskan penelitian pada sitotoksik sel T, yaitu sel imun yang dapat mengenali secara cepat tanda-tanda dari sel kanker yang menyerangnya.

Saat sel asing, baik itu sel lain, virus, maupun bakteri menyerang, sebenarnya tubuh sudah membuat sendiri mekanisme pertahanan, yaitu dengan mengerahkan sel-sel imun untuk melawannya. Hanya, sistem pertahanan ini belum terlalu kuat untuk menghadapi penyakit, seperti kanker dan HIV. Oleh karena itu, para peneliti berharap dengan menyuntikkan sel tambahan, sistem imun pun dapat diperkuat dalam melawan kedua penyakit ini.

Penelitian ini melibatkan dua percobaan dengan target yang berbeda. Satu percobaan menargetkan sel kanker kulit, sedangkan yang lainnya menargetkan HIV. Para peneliti mengekstraksi sel T yang dapat melawan sel penyakit yang kemudian dikonversi menjadi sel punca sehingga jumlahnya dapat bertambah dengan cepat. Sel punca yang sudah diproduksi tadi dikonversi kembali menjadi sel T. Secara teori, sel T baru ini seharusnya lebih kuat untuk melawan kanker kulit dan HIV.

Para ilmuwan mengatakan bahwa temuan ini merupakan suatu terobosan yang inovatif, tetapi masih pada tahap awal. Masih belum jelas apakah sel T yang direkayasa kembali benar-benar bisa melawan infeksi yang mereka diciptakan. Selain itu, keamanan penggunaan metode ini apabila diaplikasikan kepada penderita kanker maupun HIV juga belum dipertimbangkan.

John Burn, dari Institut Kedokteran Genetika di Universitas Newcastle, Inggris, menyatakan perhatiannya terhadap hasil penelitian ini.

 "Apabila sel-sel T hasil rekayasa ini terbukti efektif, ini masih menjadi tantangan dalam menghasilkannya dengan jumlah besar, tetapi tetap aman dan ekonomis," katanya. "Meskipun begitu, hasil penelitian ini memberikan janji nyata terhadap alternatif pengobatan baru ketika terapi konvensional telah gagal."

Perpres Tentang Obat ARV Generik Disambut Positif

Kompas.com - Keputusan pemerintah Indonesia untuk menerbitkan Perpres tentang paten tujuh obat HIV dan Hepatitis B disambut positf oleh berbagai pihak. Langkah ini dinilai sebagai suatu hal yang berani dan sangat penting bagi pengendalian HIV/AIDS di Indonesia.

"Langkah yang diambil Indonesia ini merupakan sebuah manuver penting, tidak hanya berdampak penting bagi para penderita HIV di negaranya yang selama ini telah gigih berkampanye mendukung langkah tersebut, namun juga bagi negara-negara berkembang lainnya ", ungkap Direktur Advokasi Kebijakan Access Campaign MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières/Dokter Lintas Batas) Michelle Childs dalam siaran persnya kepada Kompas.com.

"Ini merupakan sebuah lisensi dengan dampak terbesar yang pernah dikeluarkan oleh pemerintah, serta dengan jelas mencerminkan realitas jangkauan opsi-opsi pengobatan yang dibutuhkan," tambahnya.

Pada 3 September lalu, pemerintah mengeluarkan Peraturan Presiden Republik Indonesia Nomor 76 Tahun 2012 tentang Pelaksaaan Paten oleh Pemerintah terhadap Obat Antiviral dan Antiretroviral, yang intinya mengatur tentang “hak guna pemerintah” - sejenis lisensi wajib yang membebaskan pemerintah dari pembatasan hak paten. Langkah ini ditempuh guna memproduksi tujuh jenis obat-obatan generik yang sangat penting dalam terapi HIV dan Hepatitis B.  Paten yang diambil alih ini tadinya dimiliki oleh perusahaan farmasi terkemuka seperti Merck, GSK, Bristol Myers Squibb, Abbott and Gilead.

Obat-obatan tersebut adalah efavirenz, abacavir, tenofovir, lopinavir/ritonavir, didanosine, dan kombinasi dosis-tetap tenofovir/emtricitabine serta tenofovir/emtricitabine/efavirenz.  Selama ini obat-obatan ini didapatkan dengan cara mengimport dari luar negeri. Dengan hadirnya Perpres ini, produksi obat-obatan ini bisa dilakukan oleh perusahaan dalam negeri yang ditunjuk pemerintah dengan kewajiban pembayaran royalti sebesar 0,5% kepada perusahaan pemegang paten. Hal ini akan menjamin sekitar 310.000 orang yang hidup dengan HIV di Indonesia untuk bisa memiliki akses terhadap obat-obatan penting penyambung nyawa mereka.

Sambutan positif juga disampaikan Indonesia AIDS Coalition (IAC), sebuah LSM yang bekerja mempromosikan transparansi dan akuntabilitas pemerintah dalam program penanggulangan AIDS di Indonesia.  IAC menilai penerbitan Perpres tersebut sebagai langkah yang membanggakan dan mengundang perhatian dunia internasional.

"Kehadiran Perpes ini telah menunjukkan pemerintah kita berdiri bersama kepentingan rakyat banyak dan bukan kepentingan korporasi. Indonesia AIDS Coalition menyambut baik keluarnya Perpres 76 ini”, ujar Aditya Wardhana, Direktur Eksekutif IAC.

Hadirnya Perpres ini kata Aditya akan sangat membantu menurunkan epidemi AIDS di Indonesia. Tingkat keberhasilan terapi obat ARV pada ODHA (Orang dengan HIV dan AIDS) telah terbukti secara ilmiah mampu menurunkan tingkat penularan baru HIV sebesar 96 persen. Dengan semakin banyaknya jenis ARV, maka harapan dan keberhasilan pengobatan pada ODHA akan semakin meningkat sehingga penularan baru dapat diturunkan.

Perlu diketahui bahwa selama ini ganjalan bagi ODHA dalam memulai dan menjalankan terapi ARV adalah masih adanya ketakutan akan efek samping dari obat yang jenisnya terbatas serta keberlanjutan terapi ini. Adanya produksi dalam negeri dengan jenis yang memadai diharapkan akan memupus ketakutan-ketakutan ini.

“Kehadiran ARV secara berkesinambungan juga akan membantu menghilangkan stigma bahwa HIV sama dengan kematian. Ini adalah pesan positif bagi kesehatan publik. Dengan terapi ARV, ODHA bisa tetap bertahan sehat sampai berpuluh tahun. Ini merupakan kampanye bagi masyarakat untuk kemudian berani melakukan tes HIV. Lebih cepat kita tahu status HIV, semakin cepat kita bisa kendalikan epidemi AIDS ini bersama” tutup Aditya.

Alat tes HIV segera dipasarkan

OraQuick

Detik.com - Sebuah alat untuk mengecek HIV diperkirakan akan mulai dijual di AS beberapa bulan mendatang, setelah mendapatkan persetujuan dari regulator.

Alat tes OraQuick memungkinan setiap orang untuk melakukan tes HIV sendiri, dengan cara mengecek ludah yang diseka dari mulut dan hasilnya dapat diketahui 20 - 40 menit kemudian.

Pemerintah AS memperkirakan sekitar 1,2 juta orang di AS terinfeksi HIV positif, tetapi sekitar 20% tidak menyadarinya.

Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan FDA mengatakan alat tes itu akan menjangkau orang yang kemungkinan tidak pernah melakukan pemeriksaan.

Alat tes HIV diperkirakan akan dipasarkan melalui 30.000 toko obat dan peralatan rumah tangga, serta dijual melalui internet.

Perusahaan yang memproduksi, OraSure, belum mengatakan harga pasti alat tes tersebut, tetapi menyebutkan tidak akan lebih dari $60 atau sekitar Rp. 561 ribu.

"Kami berharap seluruh toko menjual produk ini," kata Kepala Eksekutif Douglas Michels.

Perusahaan menyatakan akan memasarkan alat tes itu secara luas, tambah Michels.

Memperdayakan masyarakat
Persetujuan untuk menjual alat tes itu mendapatkan sambutan hangat dari kelompok peduli HIV/Aids.

"Tes ini akan memberikan kekuasaan kepada setiap orang untuk mengetahui status HIV mereka, kapan , bagaimana dan dengan siapa mereka mau," kata Tom Donohue, pendiri Whos Positive, kepada Associated Press.

Tetapi dalam pernyataan yang disampaikan FDA menyebutkan hasil tes dengan menggunakan OraQuick mungkin tidak akurat 100%, dan tetap mengharuskan setiap orang untuk mengkonfirmasi hasil tes kepada petugas media profesional.

OraSure mengatakan dalam uji coba, alat tes itu dapat dengan tepat mendeteksi HIV terhadap ODHA sekitar 92%.

Dan 99% akurat untuk hasil yang negatif, atau mengidentifikasi bahwa seseorang tidak mengindap virus itu.

Bagaimanapun, Dr Jonathan Mermin, direktur unit HIV dari Pusat Pencegahan dan Kontrol Penyakit, mengatakan orang dengan hasil tes negatif harus melakukan tes lagi setelah tiga bulan, karena dibutuhkan beberapa pekan sebelum pertahanan tubuh terhadap HIV muncul.

Petugas kesehatan profesional telah menggunakan versi lain tes OraQuick sejak 2002.

Selama dua dekade tercatat sekitar 50.000 kasus baru HIV di AS setiap tahun.

Drug moves toward FDA approval for HIV prevention

Latimes.com - A pill that has long been used to treat HIV has moved a step closer to becoming the first drug approved in the U.S. to prevent healthy people from becoming infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that Gilead Sciences' Truvada appears to be safe and effective for HIV prevention. It concluded that taking the pill daily could spare users "infection with a serious and life-threatening illness that requires lifelong treatment."

On Thursday, a panel of FDA advisors will vote on whether Truvada should be approved as a preventive treatment for people who are at high risk of contracting the human immunodeficiency virus through sexual intercourse. The FDA is not required to follow the advice of its panels, but usually does.

An estimated 1.2 million Americans have HIV, which attacks the immune system and, unless treated with antiviral drugs, develops into AIDS, a fatal condition in which the body cannot fight off infections. If Truvada is approved, it would be a major breakthrough in the 30-year campaign against the AIDS epidemic. No other drugs have been proven to prevent HIV and a vaccine is believed to be decades away.

Gilead Sciences Inc., based in Foster City, Calif., has marketed Truvada since 2004 as a treatment for people who are infected with the virus. The medication is a combination of two older HIV drugs, Emtriva and Viread. Doctors usually prescribe the medications as part of a drug cocktail that makes it harder for the virus to reproduce. Patients with low viral levels have reduced symptoms and are far less likely to develop AIDS.

Researchers first reported in 2010 that Truvada could prevent people from contracting HIV. A three-year study found that daily doses cut the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 44%, when accompanied by condoms and counseling. Another study found that Truvada reduced infection by 75% in heterosexual couples in which one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not.

Because Truvada is on the market to manage HIV, some doctors already prescribe it as a preventive measure. But FDA approval would allow Gilead Sciences to formally market its drug for that use.

Some patient advocacy groups say the drug is an important new option to prevent HIV, alongside condoms, counseling and other measures. Last month, AIDS United and more than a dozen other advocacy groups urged the FDA to approve Truvada.

But support is not unanimous.

Although the FDA is legally barred from considering cost when reviewing drugs, healthcare providers have raised concerns about Truvada's price tag: $900 a month, or nearly $11,000 per year. Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's largest health insurance plans, generally cover drugs approved by the FDA, and analysts expect most large health insurers to follow suit.

In addition, some researchers object that Truvada is not as good a preventive option as condoms, and they say the drug has a mixed record in protecting women.

Senyawa Pembunuh Virus HIV Ditemukan

Kompas.com - Zhilei Chen, asisten profesor di A&M University di Texas yang berkolaborasi dengan Scripps Research Institute, menghasilkan penelitian besar dengan menemukan senyawa PD 404,182 yang bisa membunuh virus HIV, penyebab AIDS.

Penemuannya dipublikasikan di jurnal American Society of Microbiology bulan ini. "Ini adalah senyawa kecil bersifat virusidal, artinya punya kemampuan membunuh virus, dalam hal ini adalah HIV. Pada dasarnya, virus ini bekerja dengan membuka virus," kata Chen seperti dikutip Medical Xpress, Kamis (24/11/2011).

"Kami menemukan ketika HIV kontak dengan senyawa ini, virus itu rusak dan kehilangan material genetik. Dalam hal ini, virus 'terlarut' dan RNA-nya (material genetik HIV) terpapar. Karena RNA tak stabil, sekali terpapar akan hilang dengan cepat dan virus tak bisa menginfeksi," tambah Chen.

Hal yang lebih mengejutkan, senyawa ini bekerja langsung menyerang bagian dalam virus, bukan protein pada bagian dinding kapsulnya. Ini kabar bagus sebab dengan demikian, virus sulit untuk berevolusi mengembangkan resistensi.

Penemuan bahwa senyawa ini bisa membunuh virus HIV sebenarnya tak sengaja. Mulanya, Chen hendak menguji keefektifan PD 404,182 untuk melawan virus Hepatitis C. Tapi setelah mencobanya pada HIV, ternyata senyawa itu bekerja lebih efektif.

Dengan penemuan ini, Chen yakin bahwa senyawa tersebut bisa dikembangkan untuk upaya preventif, misalnya dalam bentuk gel vagina yang berguna mencegah infeksi HIV lewat hubungan seksual. Chen membuktikan bahwa ketika kontak dengan cairan vagina, senyawa ini akan tetap efektif.

Karena menyerang bagian dalam kapsul virus, bukan membrannya, Chen juga yakin senyawa ini aman dipakai manusia.

Mayoritas senyawa virusidal bekerja pada membran luar kapsul virus yang karakteristiknya hampir serupa dengan membran sel manusia sehingga bisa merusak.

Pisau Cukur Berpotensi Menularkan HIV/AIDS

Surya.co.id - Penggunaan pisau cukur secara bergantian seperti yang lazim digunakan di tempat-tempat pemangkasan rambut, berpotensi menularkan penyakit HIV/AIDS.

Ayundrawan Mohune, ketua “Huyula Suport”, sebuah Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat (LSM) yang berfokus pada penanggulangan dan mitra penderita HIV/AIDS, mengungkapkan hal ini di Gorontalo, Jumat.

Dia menjelaskan, penularan bisa terjadi dari darah penderita HIV/AIDS yang terdapat dalam pisau cukur itu, yang kemudian dalam rentang waktu dekat digunakan pada orang lain.

“Jika pisau cukur yang membawa darah penderita itu, kembali melukai kulit kepala orang lain, maka disitulah rentan terjadi penularan,” jelasnya.

Jika demikian, lanjutnya, maka peristiwa “kecelakaan kecil” berupa luka tanpa sengaja akibat tersayat pisau cukur itu, dapat membawa dampak yang besar bagi seseorang.

“Kita sendiri, bahkan bisa jadi tidak pernah tahu, bahwa sedang telah mengidap HIV/AIDS, lalu menularkannya kepada orang lain, dengan cara yang sebenarnya sepele,” kata dia.

Untuk menanggulangi hal tersebut, dirinya menyarankan, jika hendak memangkas rambut, hendaknya membawa atau menyediakan sendiri peralatan pisau cukur.

Penularan dengan cara kontak darah, yang terjadi melalui luka terbuka, menurutnya selama ini belum banyak diketahui oleh masyarakat awam.

Pengidap AIDS Sembuh berkat Transplantasi Sel Darah

Kompas.com - Sebuah transplantasi sel darah yang cukup langka kemungkinan besar menyembuhkan pria pengidap AIDS di Berlin, Jerman. Meski demikian, tim dokter menyatakan, metode ini tidak bisa dipraktikkan secara luas.

Pria berusia 40 tahun pengidap AIDS ini mendapatkan transplantasi darah sel punca tahun 2007 untuk mengobati leukimia yang dideritanya. Ternyata donor itu bukan cuma sama jenis darahnya, melainkan juga berdampak pada mutasi genetik yang memberikan ketahanan alami terhadap HIV (virus yang menurunkan sistem kekebalan manusia). Kini, tiga tahun pasca-transplantasi, pengidap AIDS itu tidak menunjukkan gejala penyakit leukimia atau infeksi HIV.

"Terapi tersebut cukup menarik dan memberi bukti penyembuhan HIV, namun metode itu terlalu berisiko untuk menjadi terapi standar, bahkan bila donor yang sejenis bisa didapatkan," kata Dr Michael Saag, mantan ketua HIV Medicine Association, organisasi kedokteran yang secara khusus menangani terapi AIDS.

Pencangkokan sumsum tulang atau sel punca, yang akhir-akhir ini banyak dilakukan, sudah banyak dipakai dalam terapi kanker, tetapi jika dilakukan pada orang sehat, dokter belum mengetahui risikonya. Terapi tersebut akan menghancurkan sistem imun alamiah tubuh dengan obat-obatan dan radiasi lalu menggantinya dengan sel donor untuk menumbuhkan sistem imun yang baru. "Kegagalan atau risiko komplikasi dari metode ini mencapai 5 persen atau lebih," kata Saag.

Karena itulah penggunaan metode tersebut pada orang yang sehat tidak menjadi pilihan utama mengingat risikonya yang besar, terutama jika obat-obatan masih mampu menjaga kondisi orang dengan HIV. "Bisa menjadi pengecualian jika orang dengan HIV juga menderita kanker. Transplantasi bisa dipertimbangkan," katanya.

Aktivis AIDS Puji Pernyataan Paus

Kompas.com - Kemungkinan pergeseran pandangan Paus Benediktus XVI terhadap penggunaan kondom merupakan sebuah langkah maju yang signifikan dan positif, kata Direktur Eksekutif UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, dalam sebuah pernyataan.  "Langkah ini mengakui bahwa perilaku seksual yang bertanggung jawab dan penggunaan kondom memiliki peran penting dalam pencegahan HIV. Hal ini akan membantu dalam mempercepat revolusi pencegahan HIV," kata Sidibe, Sabtu (20/11/2010), sebagaimana dilaporkan CNN, Minggu.

Gereja Katolik Roma secara tegas menentang kontrasepsi artifisial, termasuk dengan menggunakan kondom. Paus Benediktus menuai badai protes tahun lalu ketika ia menentang penggunaan kondom sebagai cara untuk mengendalikan AIDS dalam sebuah kunjungan ke Afrika, benua yang paling terpukul oleh penyakit tersebut. "Anda tidak bisa menyelesaikan masalah AIDS dengan mendistribusi kondom," kata Paus kepada wartawan pada Maret 2009. "Sebaliknya, (pendistribusian) itu meningkatkan masalah."

Namun, dalam suatu komentarnya yang dipublikasikan pada hari Sabtu, Paus menguraikan kemungkinan pengecualian dalam penggunaan kondom. "Mungkin ada kasus-kasus khusus yang dapat dibenarkan, misalnya ketika seorang pelacur menggunakan kondom, dan ini dapat menjadi langkah pertama menuju suatu sikap moral, asumsi pertama tentang tanggung jawab, untuk membangun kembali kesadaran akan fakta bahwa tidak semua diperbolehkan dan bahwa seseorang tidak bisa melakukan semua yang diinginkannya," kata Benediktus. "Namun, ini bukan cara yang benar dan tepat untuk mengalahkan HIV." Paus menambahkan, seksualitas yang humanis tetap merupakan metode terbaik.

"Apa yang membuat (pernyataan Paus) ini punya nilai berita adalah bahwa dia berbicara tentang pengecualian. Sebelumnya tidak ada pengecualian sama sekali," kata James Martin, seorang imam Yesuit dari New York dan penulis.

Pernyataan Paus Benediktus itu mungkin merupakan pertanda tentang pergeseran sikap Gereja Katolik Roma dalam masalah ini. Surat kabar resmi Vatikan mengutip pernyataan Paus tersebut, yang merupakan bagian dari sebuah buku yang akan diterbitkan dalam minggu ini. Buku berjudul Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times itu ditulis  wartawan Jerman, Peter Seewald, dan diterbitkan Ignatius Press.

Panduan Baru Terapi HIV/AIDS

Kompas.com - Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia mengeluarkan panduan baru terapi antiretroviral bagi orang dengan HIV/AIDS. Negara berkembang diminta mempercepat pemberian obat antiretroviral sehingga tingkat kematian dan penularan tertekan.

Demikian terungkap dalam Clinical Research Meeting 2010 yang diselenggarakan Perhimpunan Dokter Peduli AIDS Indonesia, Kamis (30/9).

Prof Zubairi Djoerban dari Pusat Pelayanan Terpadu HIV RS Cipto Mangunkusumo mengatakan, keberadaan obat antiretroviral memberikan harapan. Kerusakan sistem imun yang progresif akibat infeksi HIV dapat dicegah dengan memulai terapi antiretroviral sejak dini, saat orang yang terinfeksi belum menunjukkan gejala apa pun.

Panduan antiretroviral Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia (WHO) mendorong diagnosis lebih awal dan memulai penanganan ketika hasil perhitungan CD4 kurang dari 350 sel per mm. CD4 merupakan salah satu penanda kekebalan tubuh. Terapi dini itu juga dianjurkan bagi pasien dengan tuberkulosis, infeksi hepatitis B kronik, dan perempuan hamil untuk menekan risiko kematian. Dalam panduan sebelumnya, pemberian antiretroviral setidaknya dimulai sejak hitungan CD4 kurang dari 200 sel per mm.

Zubairi mengatakan, terapi sejak dini lebih baik karena angka kematian menurun. Pemberian obat antiretroviral lebih dini mengurangi kematian hingga 75 persen. ”Bahkan, terapi antiretroviral dapat mencegah penularan hingga 92 persen. Angka kejadian tuberkulosis juga dapat ditekan sampai dengan 50 persen,” ujarnya.

Dia berpendapat, Indonesia seharusnya berusaha mengadopsi panduan baru tersebut, mengingat cepatnya laju HIV/AIDS walaupun dalam implementasinya tetap mempertimbangkan infrastruktur dan ketersediaan obat.

Di dunia, pengguna obat antiretroviral mencapai 5,2 juta orang. Di Indonesia sendiri sekitar 25.000 orang dengan HIV/AIDS telah mendapatkan obat. ”Merupakan kejahatan jika orang dengan HIV/AIDS tidak diobati. Siapa pun yang sudah waktunya mendapatkan obat, harus diobati,” ujarnya.

Ketua Perhimpunan Dokter Peduli AIDS Indonesia Samsuridjal Djauzi mengatakan, sejak program nasional antiretroviral dimulai pada 2004, angka kematian turun dari 46 persen menjadi 17 persen dalam dua tahun. Jika orang dengan HIV/AIDS dapat bertahan dari infeksi oportunistik, biasanya harapan hidupnya bagus.

Newly Discovered Antibody Defeats 91 Percent of HIV Strains

Popsci.com - American researchers are working on three antibodies that may mark a new step on the path toward an HIV vaccine, according to a report published online Thursday in the journal Science.

One of the antibodies suppresses 91 percent of HIV strains, more than any AIDS antibody ever discovered, according to a report on the findings published in the Wall Street Journal. The antibodies were discovered in the cells of a 60-year-old African-American gay man whose body produced them naturally. One antibody in particular is substantially different from its precursors, the Science study says.

The antibodies could be tried as a treatment for people already infected with HIV, the WSJ reports. At the very least, they might boost the efficacy of current antiretroviral drugs.

A vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, would likely work by activating the body's own ability to produce antibodies that would ward off the disease. The latest discovery is more promising than a trial in Thailand last year in which scientists said an HIV vaccine reduced the chances of infection by just 30 percent. That study had also been plagued with controversy because in one analysis, the results were not statistically significant.

The WSJ says the new discovery -- involving scientists from the National Institutes of Health, Harvard Medical School, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Columbia University -- is part of a renaissance in HIV vaccine research, which will be in focus later this month in Vienna, home to this year's International AIDS Conference.

It is welcome news for the the 33 million people the United Nations estimated were living with AIDS at the end of 2008.

The WSJ outlines the painstaking method the team used to find the antibody amid the cells of the African-American man, known as Donor 45. First they designed a probe that looks just like a spot on a particular molecule on the cells that HIV infects. Then they used the probe to attract only the antibodies that efficiently attack that spot. They screened 25 million of Donor 45's cells to find just 12 cells that produced the antibodies.

Scientists have already discovered plenty of antibodies that either don't work at all or only work on a couple HIV strains. Last year marked the first time that researchers found "broadly neutralizing antibodies," which knock out many HIV strains. But none of those antibodies neutralized more than about 40 percent of them, the WSJ says. The newest antibody, at 91 percent neutralization, is a marked improvement.

Still, more work needs to be done to ensure the antibodies would activate the immune system to produce natural defenses against AIDS, the study authors say. They suggest three test methods that blend the three new antibodies together -- in raw form to prevent transmission of the virus, such as from mother to child; in a microbicide gel that women or gay men could use before sex to prevent infection; or as a treatment for HIV/AIDS, combined with antiretroviral drugs.

If the scientists can find the right way to stimulate production of the antibodies, they think most people could produce them, the WSJ says.

Obat Jerawat Berpotensi Lawan AIDS

Obat jerawat yang sudah dikenal selama bertahun-tahun dan berharga murah ternyata mampu mencari target sel imun yang terinfeksi, seperti virus HIV yang sedang tidur, sebelum mereka kembali dan menyebarkan infeksi.

Para peneliti dari Amerika Serikat mengatakan, obat antibiotik, minocycline, yang selama ini lebih banyak dipakai untuk mengatasi jerawat, punya kekuatan untuk melawan HIV. Jika obat ini ditambahkan ke dalam standar terapi pengobatan AIDS, hasilnya diyakini akan lebih besar lagi.

"Saat ini, fokus para ahli dalam mengatasi HIV adalah menjaga agar virusnya tetap terkunci dalam keadaan tidur. Apabila obat-obatan yang ada saat ini efektif untuk mencegah terjadinya replikasi virus, minocycline adalah senjata lain untuk melawan virus," kata Janice Clement, profesor molekuler dari Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, AS.

Dia menambahkan, minocycline bekerja dengan target sel imun, yang disebut sel-T, dan membuatnya tidak bisa bereproduksi. Dengan demikian, HIV jadi sulit untuk menyebar dan menyebabkan AIDS.

"Obat ini akan memberikan hasil yang baik karena targetnya sangat spesifik," kata Gregory Szeto, yang meneliti tentang virus di laboratorium. Hasil penelitian ini dipublikasikan dalam Journal of Infectious Diseases.