More than two million children worldwide were living with the HIV virus in 2007, most of whom were infected before they were born, a joint study by United Nations humanitarian organisations has said.

Scientists have known for more than a decade that a protein associated with the HIV virus is good at crossing cell membranes, but they didn’t know how it worked. A multidisciplinary team from the University of Illinois has solved the mystery, and their findings could improve the design of therapeutic agents that cross a variety of membrane types.

Vaccines have led to many of the world’s greatest public health triumphs, but many deadly viruses, such as HIV, still elude the best efforts of scientists to develop effective vaccines against them.

A plentiful ingredient found in human semen drastically enhances the ability of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to cause infection, according to a report in the December 14, 2007, issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

A mutation in a little-studied structural region of the AIDS virus can cause resistance to several HIV drugs, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine by Gilda Tachedjian and colleagues from Australia, Canada, and the United States.

European Union experts state that Estonia has the fastest rate of HIV virus infection in Europe, with most of the new cases in drug users.

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is a growing threat in Asia. The United Nations says nearly a million Asians contract the virus each year. It is spreading fast in Indonesia, where prostitution is a major cause. Trish Anderton visited one organization in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, that is trying to slow the spread of HIV AIDS, and finds the work is slow and difficult.

Researchers have determined how people can catch HIV that causes AIDS though oral sex with infected partners. As it turned out, there may be no injuries inside of the mouth but a partner may still catch the virus while having oral sex. After twenty five years of an extensive research American doctors have determined that humans have a molecule that comes in contact with the virus.

A new UC Irvine study sheds light on how HIV develops into AIDS and suggests a possible way to block the deadly transformation.

Libya has called on other Arab countries to join Tripoli in condemning Bulgaria for pardoning six medical workers convicted in Libya of infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus.

Researchers from Rome, Italy, describe a finding in the August 2007 print issue of The FASEB Journal that could lead to new drugs to fight the HIV/AIDS virus, as well as new vaccines to prevent infection. It has been known that HIV proteins disable the antibody-forming part of the immune system (the “homeland defense” or acquired immune system).

An experimental sex lubricant designed by Australian researchers could help block both HIV and genital herpes, a study suggests. Tests on lab animals have shown that the microbicide gel, called Viva Gel, inactivates the HIV virus and another responsible for genital herpes.