Contagious and Infectious Diseases

West Nile Virus Makes Its Way to San Francisco

September is one of the few months when San Franciscans can actually enjoy warm weather. Unfortunately, we can't really relax and enjoy it: Those freeloading mosquitoes are sucking away that one small pleasure. Health officials are warning residents to watch out for mosquitoes after they found a de ... More >>

David France: ACT UP in the Plague Years

FDA Approves Drug That Reduces the Spread of HIV

Truvada, the first drug shown to drastically reduce the spread of HIV, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration today as a successful preventative measure for people at high risk of contracting the virus. Produced by Foster City-based biotech company Gilead Sciences Inc., Truvada h ... More >>

SF AIDS Walk to Convene in Golden Gate Park This Weekend

It's that time of year again. This Sunday, a crowd of 25,000 is expected to gather at Golden Gate Park to begin a 6.2-mile trek across the city to raise millions for the San Francisco Aids Foundation and other Bay Area HIV/AIDS organizations. The 26th Annual SF AIDS Walk claims the money raised by ... More >>

AIDS Activistis Use Good Friday to Shame the Catholic Church

The only thing that might make Good Friday even better for some is a loud protest of the Catholic Church. We'll leave that one to San Francisco's AIDS activists who have made a long list of institutions they plan to shame today, including banks, cops, and Catholics.To remember the 20,000 San Francis ... More >>

Marijuana-Like Compounds Stop Spread of AIDS, Study Says

​In many ways, without AIDS, there would be no medical marijuana. But there could be a twist, according to new research: With medical marijuana (or synthetic marijuana-like compounds), there could be less AIDS.Researchers believe there's a link between cannabis use -- or at least drugs that share ... More >>

On World AIDS Day, No Talk of 'Barebacking' in San Francisco

​Today is World AIDS Day, and the men and women who have devoted themselves to fighting this pandemic -- from Bono to former President George W. Bush -- can justifiably take credit for a lot of progress.The day has particular resonance in San Francisco, which was at the forefront of formulating a ... More >>

Pros and Condoms: S.F. Emphasizes HIV Treatment, but a New Generation Advocates Bareback Sex

HIV Activist Calls Mayor Ed Lee a Name the Chronicle Would Never Print

Wonder how he feels about Jeff Sheehy ... ​In this election, Mayor Ed Lee has been called many charming names -- crooked, double-crossing, sneaky, Republican. Now he can add "dick" to that growing list of insults.    According to the Bay Area Reporter, Jeff Sheehy, who was the HIV czar f ... More >>

Sergio Romo, Giants Pitcher, Helps Kids Kick Whooping Cough

Whoop Whoop!​Apparently the tried-and-true forms of medical bribery -- a lollipop or a Winnie the Pooh Band-Aid -- just aren't cutting it anymore.But you know kids, these days -- they have such high expectations. Which is why the city has recruited Giants pitcher Sergio Romo to rub elbows with fiv ... More >>

Angels, Resurrected

Whooping Cough Epidemic Prompts Possible Crackdown on Unvaccinated Kids

​So far this year, whooping cough has killed five babies in California. Although none of those were San Francisco children, cases of whooping cough in this city have increased sixfold -- and now the San Francisco Department of Public Health is considering a crackdown on children who are not vaccin ... More >>

Just Fantastic: $82.1 Million Cut to State's Office of AIDS

​Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed a state budget that will cut roughly $82.1 million from the state's Office of AIDS, says that office's chief, Dr. Michelle Roland. The state cuts promise to disproportionately hit cities like San Francisco, which is among the nation's top ... More >>

San Francisco Department of Public Health Contained Measles Outbreak, Possibly Saving Lives

Without a measles vaccine, your children's lives may be in danger.Just weeks ago, a San Francisco man who had traveled abroad brought back a deadly souvenier. He had spent some time in Europe with a friend who had been diagnosed with measles, and several days aft ... More >>

Sunday Photos: AIDS Walk through Golden Gate Park

Pro-Circumcision AIDS Researcher Left S.F. a Pariah, Came Back a Visionary

U.S. State Department: now with HIV!

MRSA-Killing Fogger Invented by Brits: Bloody Good Job

SF's Staph Problem, Please Report to the State

Get Your Teenage Soccer Slut HPV-Proofed

Keep Those Nasty Bits Squeaky Clean: USA300 Wants You!

Embattled Harvey Milk Democratic Club prez Brian Basinger starts another Democratic Club

Lust for Life

Testing of a promising HIV vaccine requires volunteers who will couple for the cause

Sloganeering

For years the city has been using racy ads to sell HIV prevention. Do they work?

Radio Free Nepal

An S.F. organization is providing radios and radio programming that just may save lives a world away

Super-Hyped Infection

Sensational headlines coupled with fearmongering public health reports have HIV-positive men in San Francisco running scared. It doesn't have to be that way.

Unreality Show

The 9-11 Commission is a nutty distraction from the dangers we face

Vicious Cycle

Federal investigators clear AIDS prevention programs of wrongdoing -- and then reinvestigate them

Staying Alive

An AIDS vaccine should be our government's highest priority. So why is one researcher forced to seek funding from the War on Terrorism?

Saving Togo

One man's hope for Nigeria's tiny neighbor

Out of Africa

Some say Phyllis Kanki saved Senegal from AIDS. But can the controversial triage approach she's developing at Stanford protect the continent's western edge from the devastation suffered in the south?

Too Young to Die

They are the "AIDS babies." Born before doctors learned how to prevent HIV transmission to newborns, hundreds of California kids are growing up under the burden of a deadly disease.

A Day to Remember

World AIDS Day

Sticking Point

An AIDS vaccine designed by renowned researcher Don Francis is in final testing. The Plague could be over - but the gay and scientific establishments are utterly unenthused.

Private Places

Gay activists push for return of traditional bathhouses

Fighting AIDS on the Body's Own Ground

Researchers are stunned by a gland they thought dormant

Safe Haven?

Gay-bashing survivor applies for political asylum

Savage Love

Positive and Unprotected

More HIV-infected gay men are choosing unprotected sex with infected partners; questions about the dangers go begging

Dog Bites

Men Behaving Viciously

How ACT UP San Francisco spreads spit, fake blood, used cat litter, and potentially deadly misinformation through the AIDS community

Letters

The AIDS Civil War

The promise of a new treatment has opened a painful divide

The Living Daylights

Some people with HIV don't get sick for years and years and years. Their lives might contain the clues for the cure.

Petrelis the Pest

Michael Petrelis has entered the AIDS debate once again

City of Night

Homeless gay youths in San Francisco run an extraordinary risk of HIV infection, according to city statistics. On the street, safety is a matter of economics -- and hope.

Getting Hep

Hepatitis B is the Rodney Dangerfield of diseases: It just can't get respect. But it sure can kill you.

Conscientious Injectors

The enforcement of drug laws should be less hurtful than the dangers inherent indrug use itself, say the "harm reductionists" at Prevention Point, who practice what they preach by distributing 1.5 million needles to the city's drug users

Letters

Outbreak

AIDS dissidents Peter Duesberg and Bryan Ellison find new enemies: each other