SCIENCE NEWS - Decreasing HIV infection risk through Breast feeding

Mothers infected with HIV, the AIDS virus, face a dilemma when it comes to feeding baby: Because some of their virus can be shed in breast milk, babies risk becoming infected as they drink it.

Two research teams are now investigating a germ-warfare strategy to treat such vulnerable infants. They would supplement breast milk with HIV-quashing bacteria. These beneficial microbes can’t guarantee a child won’t become infected, but they could greatly diminish the chance this will happen, says HIV specialist Ruth Connor of Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, N.H. They reported isolating certain lactic acid bacteria from the breast milk of healthy women that substantially inhibit the growth and infectivity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1, or HIV-1. b. In test-tube studies, all 38 strains of bacteria tested — representing 15 different species — showed some inhibition of HIV.

Lin Tao, a microbiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Department of Oral Biology, has spent the better part of a decade working on a probiotic treatment for infants whose mothers are infected with HIV. The strain his group is studying does far better than others but still falls short of wiping out all HIV that might enter an infant’s gut. That’s why his group’s new strategy is to include a second probiotic, one that can bolster an infant’s immune system. The first bacterium reduces the number of virus particles that survive in the infant gut. The second bug, by enhancing immunity, increases the threshold number of viruses needed to cause infection, Tao says.

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SCIENCE NEWS - A new vaccine-delivery system with 100 tiny dissolvable needles in a Band-Aid–like patch

The worst thing about getting a vaccination is the big, scary hypodermic needle. So researchers have invented a new vaccine-delivery system that replaces the large single needle with 100 tiny dissolvable ones embedded in a Band-Aid–like patch. 

Once the microneedles pierce the skin, they dissolve into the surrounding bodily fluid, releasing the vaccine in the process. The whole thing takes anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes, says Sullivan, its lead developer, on July 18 in Nature Medicine.

Since the patch just needs to be slapped on and can be stored at room temperature, medical training and careful handling aren’t required. People could pick up the patches from the pharmacy or even get them in the mail and vaccinate themselves, says Sullivan, who now works for medical device manufacturer Becton, Dickinson and Company. The researchers say that the patch could be used to replace a number of needle vaccinations, including the annual flu shot.

SO YOU CAN VACCINATE YOURSELF without going to a doctor!!! Sounds exciting!!

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