HIV resistant blood cells offer cure hope

In a bold new approach ultimately aimed at trying to cure AIDS, scientists used genetic engineering in six patients to develop blood cells that are resistant to HIV, the virus that causes the disease.

It's far too early to know if this scientific first will prove to be a cure, or even a new treatment. The research was only meant to show that, so far, it seems feasible and safe.

The concept was based on the astonishing case of an AIDS patient who seems to be cured after getting blood cells from a donor with natural immunity to HIV nearly four years ago in Berlin. Researchers are seeking a more practical way to achieve similar immunity using patients' own blood cells.

The results announced at a conference in Boston left experts cautiously excited.

"For the first time, people are beginning to think about a cure" as a real possibility, says Dr John Zaia, head of the government panel that oversees gene therapy experiments. Even if the new approach doesn't get rid of HIV completely, it may repair patients' immune systems enough that they can control the virus and not need AIDS medicines - "what is called a functional cure", he says.

Fatty dairy products not linked to lifespan

Despite concerns about saturated fats in dairy products, the milk and cheese in your diet may not have much effect on your longevity, according to Dutch researchers.

Their study, which was funded by the Dutch Dairy Foundation, followed more than 120,000 older adults for a decade.

It showed no relationship between men's dairy intake and their risk of dying during the study period. Among women, meanwhile, a high intake of dairy fat - from butter or other full-fat dairy - was linked to a small increase in deaths, particularly those due to heart disease.

In contrast, eating full-fat sour dairy products, including yogurt and sour cream, was tied to a slight decrease in deaths among both men and women.

However, none of those relationships prove that dairy products were the reason for the higher or lower risks. And even if they were, the effects were tiny, the researchers say.

So the findings offer little reason for people to either boost or lower their dairy intake, lead researcher Dr R. Alexandra Goldbohm, of TNO Quality of Life in Leiden, the Netherlands, says.

Don't let dogs or cats kiss the kids

Children should not allow themselves to be licked by pets, kiss them or let them into their beds, warns Ulrich Fegeler, spokesman for Germany's Professional Association of Children's and Young People's Physicians.

If a pet licks a child, he says, parents should immediately wash the spot thoroughly with soap and water to prevent possible transmission of Yersinia pestis bacterium, as well as other pathogens.

In both animals and humans, Yersinia pestis bacteria can settle in the mucous membranes of the throat and nasal conchae, which are shelf-like protrusions on the walls of the nasal cavity.

"That's why they can spread so easily," Fegeler says. "A large variety of animals can be infected without showing symptoms of disease." The bacteria can cause blood poisoning, ostitis, pneumonia and meningitis, and must be treated quickly with antibiotics.

Another bacterium sometimes present in the mouths of dogs and cats showing no signs of illness is Capnocytophaga canimorsus. In humans it can cause life-threatening infections such as gangrene, blood poisoning, meningitis and inflammation of the endocardium.

"Bites and large scratches should, therefore, always be treated by a pediatrician," Fegeler says.

Strict family hygiene around pets - hands should be washed after every contact, for example - is not sufficient, however. Pets should also be regularly examined by a veterinarian, de-wormed and kept free of fleas. Then, Fegeler says, there is nothing wrong with children having four-legged friends.

DPA-AFP