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Failing to meet HIV prevention goals could cost nation $18 billion

Failure to reduce new HIV infections in the United States by 50 percent in the next two years not only will have substantial human consequences, but could cost the nation more than $18 billion. A study by Emory University Rollins School of Public Health professor David Holtgrave, PhD, analyzed the fiscal implications of the failure to meet this national goal set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2001. The results will be published in the June issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Long-life contact lenses

A Texas scientist has discovered that a special metal coating could allow contact lens wearers to keep their lenses in for longer periods of time. Coating contacts with a one-molecule-thick layer of selenium, an antibacterial metal, keeps them bacteria-free for at least two months, says Ted Reid of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. Although selenium can be toxic to humans in large quantities, these lenses would apparently be safe, with less selenium than you’d find in an average lunch. Reid hopes the coating could be used on other internal devices, like heart valves and catheters, and even suggests selenium-coated molecules could be used to keep people exposed to HIV from becoming infected. In other eye news, new eye-tracking software developed by scientists at Cambridge University could help computer users with disabilities write more quickly, accurately, and comfortably than before.