Even with effective anti-HIV therapies, doctors still have not been able to eradicate the virus from infected individuals who are receiving such treatments, largely because of the persistence of HIV in hideouts known as viral reservoirs. One important reservoir is the gut, where HIV causes much of its damage due to the large number of HIV target cells that reside there.

A combination of drugs widely used to treat infections caused by HIV appears to stop brain damage caused by the virus as well, according to a study published in the October 9, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

A new joint study by UCLA and the Rand Corp. shows that more than half of children with an HIV-infected parent are not consistently in that parent's custody.