Infant Boys Better at Resisting HIV Than Girls?
BRISBANE, Australia — Infant boys appeared more likely than girls to be able to resist in utero vertical transmission of HIV, even when their mothers had less than optimal antiretroviral therapy, a longitudinal study showed. Of 281 mother-child pairs, five babies — all boys — had persistently undetectable HIV viral loads even when they were […]
Young Women Prefer Vaginal Ring as HIV Prevention
When given the option, adolescent girls and young women in Africa overwhelmingly opted to use either a drug-eluting vaginal ring or oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to protect against HIV infection, a researcher reported. In the so-called REACH trial, 67% of adolescent girls and young women preferred to use the dapivirine vaginal ring, 31% were happy […]
Study shows differences between brains of girls, boys with autism
Brain organization differs between boys and girls with autism, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The differences, identified by analyzing hundreds of brain scans with artificial intelligence techniques, were unique to autism and not found in typically developing boys and girls. The research helps explain why autism symptoms differ […]
Acceptance of Vaginal Ring and Oral PrEP Increasing in Young African Women
By and large, young women and adolescent girls in Africa use and accept new methods of preventing sexually transmitted HIV, researchers reported. Of the 247 adolescent girls and young women who participated in the REACH-034 trial, 77.8% had at least moderate adherence to use of the monthly dapivirine-eluting vaginal ring and 58.6% had at least […]
COVID-19 Lockdown in Uganda Increased Gender-Based Violence
Women and young girls confined to their homes during the COVID-19 lockdowns experienced increases in sexual violence and exposure to HIV, researchers in Uganda reported. At a press conference at the virtual International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science, Rose Apondi, MPH, an HIV-prevention specialist with the CDC in Kampala, Uganda, said that when […]