By Vanessa Bates Ramirez

Compared to life 100 years ago, life these days is pretty good by many measures. You’ve probably heard the statistics: poverty and infant mortality are down, life expectancy is up, and infectious diseases are being controlled, if not cured. In short, more humans than ever before are having their basic needs met, and it’s undeniable that the world is getting better.

By Gerard Gallagher

Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, for HIV prevention has a similar efficacy in women with “abnormal” vs. “normal” vaginal microbiota, according to recent findings.

By the School of Public Health

Testing the children of HIV-infected adults already receiving care may efficiently diagnose HIV-infected children before they exhibit symptoms, according to researchers from the University of Washington School of Public Health.

By referring HIV-infected parents to have their children tested, researchers revealed many untested older children and found that prevalence of HIV was high. This new active referral model significantly increased the rate of pediatric testing with limited additional costs to health systems.

By Bruce Jancin

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – Oral antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV also reduces the risk of acquiring herpes simplex virus type 2, according to research presented at the 21st International AIDS Conference.

“Given the limited interventions for primary prevention of HSV-2, efficacy against HSV-2 provides additional benefit to oral PrEP,” observed Connie Celum, MD, professor of global health and medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle.