As the world marks World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, world-renowned infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, MD, and his colleague Greg Folkers, MS, MPH, highlight advances made in the treatment and prevention of HIV that could finally end the pandemic, but caution, “History will judge us harshly should we squander this opportunity.” The two explore a path forward for eliminating HIV/AIDS.

A new study from UC San Francisco shows it may be possible to control HIV without long-term antiviral treatment — an advance that points the way toward a possible cure for a disease that affects 40 million people around the world. 

New research in The Journal of Immunology suggests that a lack of dietary iron can negatively affect the ability of immune cells to respond to viral infection in the lungs. In mice with dietary iron deficiency and influenza, immune cells struggled to produce a key signal needed to fight viruses and did not regain this ability even when iron levels returned to normal. Researchers say this could lead to new dietary interventions to support healthy T cell function, strengthen protection against infections, and prevent harmful immune responses by promoting healthy iron levels.

Bird flu viruses are a particular threat to humans because they can replicate at temperatures higher than a typical fever, one of the body’s ways of stopping viruses in their tracks, according to new research led by the universities of Cambridge and Glasgow.

Europe is failing to test and treat HIV early, with over half (54%) of all diagnoses in 2024 being made too late for optimal treatment. New data released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe warns that this critical testing failure, combined with a growing number of undiagnosed cases, is severely jeopardising the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.