UNCLE POOH'S BLOG

Researchers are hoping they are one step closer to a HIV vaccine – using HIV. At the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogens, Treatment, and Prevention in Rome, researchers with the Maryland-based VirxSys Corporation announced the findings of their VRX1273 vaccine. The vaccine is a genetically altered version of SIV, the version of HIV found in non-human primates. Over the course of six months, five infected monkeys were injected with the vaccine three times, while five others were given a placebo vaccine. After 18 months, it was found that 40% of the vaccinated monkeys had very low to undetectable amounts of virus in their bodies. “We are well on the path to a functional cure, at least in monkeys,” says Laurent Humeau, VirxSys vice president of research and development. “Although this pre-clinical study is modest in terms of size, it is highly unusual to see near non-detectable levels of the virus not only circulating in the blood, but also in the reservoi

(CNN) -- Authorities say the body of a woman who died in a Massachusetts public pool went undetected for days as swimmers continued to use the pool before the victim was found floating. The body of Marie Joseph, 36, was discovered by teenagers Tuesday evening in the Vietnam Veterans Swimming Pool in Fall River, Massachusetts, according to Bristol County district attorney's spokesman Gregg Miliote. Joseph had gone to the pool on Sunday with a 9-year-old neighbor and his family. She collided with the boy while the pair careened down a pool slide, Miliote said. After the collision, the boy surfaced but the woman did not, he said. It was not clear Thursday what happened after the collision or whether the boy and his family sought Joseph's whereabouts when they left the pool. Authorities continued to investigate the cause of death Thursday. The pool -- which is 12 feet deep at its deepest --- was described as "cloudy" by a health inspector who examined the po