Contagious and Infectious Diseases

Cocaine Vaccine Could Block High, Save Hollywood

Good news for Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, and celebrity clubbers everywhere. Maybe. Researchers are getting closer to inventing an anti-cocaine vaccine that works on humans. The academics announced over the weekend that the concoction works on primates:

Half of U.S. Meat Contaminated With Superbugs

Nearly half of U.S. meat is contaminated with "superbugs"--antibiotic-resistant bacteria--according to an Environmental Working Group analysis of recently released government tests. Medical News Today reported the findings. The "dirtiest" meat is ground turkey, 81 percent of which contained the da ... More >>

[Updated] Whole Foods Recalls Smoked Salmon

Updated: 1/30 1:54 p.m. Whole Foods is recalling an additional lot code (for a total of two lot codes) of Whole Catch Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon (4 oz.), UPC code 0 99482 40880 0, cold smoked and sliced, because it may contain listeria. The second lot code is 7425A2297A. The recall has also expande ... More >>

'Influenza Sorbet' Takes on Chicken Soup

Step aside, chicken soup. An Ohio-based ice cream maker has a sorbet to help with flu symptoms, ABC News reports. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams' Influenza Sorbet contains honey, ginger, cayenne pepper and orange and lemon juice. Oh, and Maker's Mark bourbon. "My mother and grandmother made something ... More >>

Smoked Salmon Recalled for Listeria

Put down that lox. It might be loaded -- with bacteria. A Seattle-based company is recalling 371 cases of ready-to-eat smoked salmon because the fish may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, Food Safety News reports. Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC issued a voluntary recall of its Nathan's Brand ... More >>

The Meth-Gay Sex Nightmare

Daniel Robison barely escaped the deadly addiction

U.S. Prosecutors Probe Deadly Cantaloupe Outbreak

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Colorado is looking into dropping the hammer on Jensen Farms, the cantaloupe processor linked to a Listeria outbreak last year that killed at least 30 people. The company is now the subject of a criminal investigation by the federal government, Businessweek reports. B ... More >>

Meatball Co. Recalls 325,000 Pounds of Frozen Meat

New Jersey-based meatball-maker Buona Vita Inc. is recalling nearly 325,000 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat meat and poultry products due to possible Listeria contamination, CBS News reports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Saturday that the r ... More >>

AIDS Healthcare Foundation Turns 25, Continues to Grow Globally

The HIV/AIDS advocacy group that brings you those condom and HIV-testing billboards all over Los Angeles turned 25 over the weekend, as first reported by LGBT POV. Founded by the feisty Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been on the front lines of battling HIV/AIDS since 1987 -- a p ... More >>

Men Have Dirtier Mouths Than Women

Some of you have really dirty mouths. And we're not just talking about the performers in Porn Valley who now have to use condoms on location shoots under a new city of L.A. law. A new study published this week in the journal JAMA says that seven percent of the folks in the U.S. aged 14 to 69 have t ... More >>

HIV Infections in Los Angeles: There's a Map For That

So you want to know how many of your neighbors have HIV or where the hotspots for the virus are in L.A. County? There's a map for that. A new location service developed with the help of Emory University called www.aidsvu.org will help you fined "zip-code-level" info on HIV cases. L.A. will be one ... More >>

Ready for Some Action?

UCLA Scientists Invent HIV-Blocking Anal Gel

cure.med.ucla.eduDr. Peter Anton, who led the study.​In the worldwide race to cure HIV, researchers out of Los Angeles have made some of the biggest recent breakthroughs. By late 2009, UCLA had discovered human blood stem cells could be used to fight HIV-infected cells. And by this August, USC ... More >>

Listeria Update: 23 Deaths Since September

clayirving​A listeriosis outbreak first reported last month has now resulted in 23 deaths, making this the deadliest outbreak since 1985, when 52 people died from the Listeria strain contracted via Mexican-style soft cheese. The sad food story began last month when a Colorado produce company i ... More >>

The Greater Good Review

Let's Get Retarded: Anti-Vaccine Group Claims Federal Law Trumps California's New Rule That Allows Girls to Get HPV-Prevention Drug

Bachmann vs. HPV.​The organization that injected the specter of retardation-via-vaccine is at it again, this time criticizing California's new law allowing 12-year-old girls to avoid cancer by getting HPV-prevention shots without their parents' consent. Now, we're not sure if the National Vac ... More >>

Listeria Hysteria: Romaine Lettuce Recalled Over Contamination Fears

Flickr/MuffetCalifornia's True Leaf farms has recalled their romaine​ Stop! Put down that salad fork! No, not because you're using the wrong fork. California's True Leaf farms is recalling 2,498 cartons of chopped romaine lettuce because it may be contaminated with listeria bacteria, although ... More >>

South L.A.'s Rampant Chlamydia Problem to Be Tackled by... Local Church Ladies?

South L.A. gets tested.​Another "don't ask, don't tell" policy is being trampled today in the Southland: The backward, Palin-vetted, abstinence-only approach to sex-ed that's long plagued popular Christian culture. About 18 churches throughout L.A. County Supervisor Mark-Ridley Thomas' STD-ri ... More >>

Porn Industry Gets Back to Work as Performer Thought to be HIV Positive Apparently Isn't

Star ForemanDearth Vader look-a-like at Exxxotica convention last month.​It was the HIV case that set off a war of words between the porn industry and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. And it turns out it wasn't an HIV case at all. The adult video trade group Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announc ... More >>

Criticism of Porn's HIV Scare Sparks Outrage at Manwin, the Adult Video Juggernaut That Employed Performer in Question

mofos.com​Updated at the bottom with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's response. First posted at 5:09 p.m. The company that employed a porn star who might be HIV-positive today said the man did not continue to work, nor did he work with other performers, after a test indicated he might have th ... More >>

36 Million Pounds of Ground Turkey Recalled

Flickr/Social Mediarts​The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey in the wake of a multi-state outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella linked to the death of a California man, the Chicago Tribune reports. Seventy-seven people in 26 states reported b ... More >>

Drinking Tea and Coffee May Protect Against "Superbug"

Flickr/Dominic's pics​ Regular tea and coffee drinkers might be less likely to carry the antibiotic-resistant "superbug" MRSA in their nostrils, according to a new study reported by Reuters. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston found that of more than 5,500 A ... More >>

Born to Act Up

Richard Zaldivar: The Man Behind the Wall

AIDS Isn't Over, People, So Stop Acting Like it Is: A Warning From HIV's First Responder, UCLA's Michael Gottlieb

michaelgottliebmd.comDr. Michael S. Gottlieb.​A lot of you kids out there just don't remember the days when sex could kill and condoms weren't just optional. It's unfortunate, because as the 30th anniversary of the discovery of AIDS approaches in June, it's still a full-on, official epidemic, ... More >>

Legionella Bacteria at the Playboy Mansion: OK. It Totally Festered in the Grotto.

MySpaceBack away slowly​Update: Confirmed, once and for all, by the LA Times: Health officials identified legionella bacteria in a whirlpool spa at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles during an investigation in February that began when people were sickened after attending a fundraiser. We're n ... More >>

Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Activist Mourned By Non-Profit Leaders in Los Angeles

HIV/AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor​Elizabeth Taylor's passing is mourned by HIV/AIDS activists in Los Angeles. Taylor had worked on the front lines of HIV/AIDS activism for decades, especially after the 1985 death of her longtime friend, movie star Rock Hudson. "She was a singular champion ... More >>

Pneumonia Outbreak at the Playboy Mansion: Could It Have Festered in the Grotto?

Girls of the Grotto: Worth subsequent diarrhea?​Updated after the jump: At least one "model" (is that what they're calling 'em these days?) who worked the Febuary 3 Playboy event contracted the bug. VIDEO of her harrowing tale, and more proof it came from the grotto. Update: The infection cou ... More >>

Flu Season: Three Dead In L.A. County, 50 Infected In Outbreak At A Local School

Tristen.PeltonGet your shot on.​The sun is shining and winter seems kind in L.A. this week, but not beneath the surface. Three people have died of influenza in the last two weeks, the county reports, marking the first fatalities of the 2010-11 flu season. Don't panic, but ... The county also ... More >>

Derrick Burts, Porn Actor Who Sparked Latest HIV Scare In San Fernando Valley Industry, Speaks Up For Condom Use (But Offers Strange Story Of How He Came Up Positive)

MySpaceDerrick Burts.​A performer who set off the latest HIV scare in adult film has turned against his employers and is speaking out against the adult video industry and its resistance to mandatory condom use. Derrick Burts teamed up with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which unleashed his t ... More >>

World Champion Surfer Andy Irons Dies From Dengue Fever

Andy Irons died, reporteldy from dengue fever.​ Three-time world-champion surfer Andy Irons has died, according to Surfer magazine. The publication reports he was headed from a world tour stop in Puerto Rico to his home base of Hawaii after falling ill and was possibly grounded in Dallas befo ... More >>

Porn Industry Group Finally Reports HIV Case To L.A. County Health Officials

The porn industry took its time reporting an HIV-positive actor.​The porn industry's main health-care organization caved and sent the results from a positive HIV test to the county, as mandated by state law. The Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Healthcare Foundation turned the results in Tuesday ... More >>

Porn Actor Has HIV, But L.A. County Health Department Has Yet To Do Anything About It, According To AIDS Healthcare Group

diebmx via FlickrIs the county lagging on HIV-in-porn report?​Is the porn industry pushing its luck with this latest report of HIV? The AIDS Healthcare Foundation says it is. According to AHF, Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Healthcare, the group that conducts voluntary STD testing for the adul ... More >>

San Fernando Valley Porn Actor Tests Positive For HIV; AIDS Activists Who Want Mandatory Condoms In Porn Say We Told You So

Steve LaAIDS Healthcare Foundation protested outside Larry Flynt Publications recently. ​A porn actor has tested positive for HIV, the industry's health care foundation has told reporters. It doesn't come as a surprise: Several actors in the San Fernando-based biz have tested positive in the ... More >>

Movie Review: The Other City

Check Your Eggs: Millions Recalled Due to Salmonella

Flickr/stevendepolo​An outbreak of salmonella in eggs has prompted a nationwide recall and lead to hospitalizations in counties across the U.S., including in California, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Since May, at least 266 people across the state have become ill after eating contaminated ... More >>

Desmond Tutu Criticizes President Barack Obama's AIDS Strategy

Rev. Desmond Tutu​AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein isn't the only person slamming President Barack Obama's AIDS strategy, which L.A. Weekly reported last week. Now Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu has spoken out. "I appreciate that tough financial times require the ... More >>

Was George Bush's AIDS Strategy Better Than Barack Obama's?

AIDS Healthcare Foundation​AIDS Healthcare Foundation founder Michael Weinstein came out swinging yesterday at a Washington D.C. press conference, offering up that President Barack Obama's AIDS strategy measures up poorly to his predecessor's, former president George W. Bush. "The New York T ... More >>

AIDS Activist Richard Zaldivar Puts Archbishop Jose Gomez on Notice

AIDS activist Richard Zaldivar​AIDS activist Richard Zaldivar put Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez on notice the other day -- firmly, yet respectfully demanding that the church play a more vigorous role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community. "Roughly 70 percent of our ... More >>

Huge AIDS Breakthrough From UCLA Announced (Application, Though, Still Likely Far Off)

UCLA AIDS Institute.​UCLA researchers this week published data that for the first time shows human blood stem cells can be engineered to attack HIV-infected cells and that the process could not only prove to be a breakthrough for AIDS patients but also for the sufferers of other viral diseases ... More >>

Group Tries To Force Condoms On Porn Stars (Good Luck With That)

Porn star Belladonna.​The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been on a tear against the porn industry and its often unhealthy ways. On Friday it convened a UCLA symposium of health-care groups in a step toward getting the state to force male porn stars to use condoms. God bless them for it, but ... More >>

Mr. Fielding, Tear Down This Wall

The folks at Neon Tommy, the USC School of Communication and Journalism publication, have written an open letter to Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county's director of public health, asking him to be more forthcoming about how the county is dealing with the 57-death swine flu outbreak here. So far they' ... More >>

Swine Flu Deaths Covered Up In California

Neon Tommy, the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism publication, has been rebuffed by several counties in California in its attempt to obtain records of swine flu deaths.Neon Tommy​ Only after some persistence did Los Angeles County allow the USC journalists to take a peek ... More >>

Queer Town: Hollywood Protest Slams Schwarzenegger's Cuts to HIV/AIDS Services

With L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein in attendance, a crowd of more than1,000 people gathered in front of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Friday afternoon, shut down Santa Monica Boulevard and pro ... More >>

Swine Flu Notes: Where's the Pork?

We're one week into L.A.'s chapter of the swine flu pandemic/panic and already people are asking, "Where's the pork?" Raised on bio-disaster movies and braced for the worst upon hearing of Mexico's initial death toll, Angelenos were expecting (not, I should stress, hoping) to see bodies in the stree ... More >>

Aids Conference Take 3: Lost in Translation

AIDS Conference Take 1: Rejecting Bill Clinton

The AIDS Conference opened with a bang on Monday: An activist take-over of a symposium hosted by a pharmaceutical company (which decided to stop distributing HIV drugs to kids) and a speech by Bill Clinton where I suppose he said some quotable things. On Sunday night the gala opening happened at ... More >>

Gay Syphilis Scourge Skyrockets

County officials dawdle, leisurely launching another questionable ad campaign

Michael Kearns

The Actorvist