AIDS cure hopes dashed

One of the most worrying and depressing features of the AIDS virus is that it appears to leave its victims infected, and able to infect others, for life. So there was great excitement back in March when it appeared that a little American girl, born with the virus, had been cured by retroviral drugs.

These medicines are able to keep the virus in check, but it had always seemed that once treatment stopped, the disease would advance again. Then along came the ‘Mississippi baby’ who was treated within a few hours of birth, with apparently dramatic results.

The shattering of these hopes with the reappearance of the virus in the four year old has been "obviously disappointing" in the words of Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the USA’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  

The world has made progress on reducing the number of people newly infected with AIDS. In 2012, the figure was 2.3 million, down by a third since 2001, but that still leaves more than 35 million people across the world living with the disease.

US tornadoes - biggest outbreak ever

The USA has just suffered its most active tornado outbreak since records began. Between April 25 and April 28, no fewer than 362 struck, including 312 during one 24 hour period. The previous record was 148 over two days in April 1974.

The twisters killed at least 350 people in Alabama and 6 other states, making this the deadliest episode since the Tupelo-Gainesville outbreak of 1936 when about 435 people were killed by 17 tornadoes in the states of Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.

This time the worst hit was Alabama, where 250 people were killed. The winds also caused death and destruction in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was the town that suffered most, where the clear-up is expected to cost at least £40m.

The deadliest tornado in US history remains the Great Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which caused the deaths of more than 700 people. (See my blog of April 18)

American tornadoes

Over the last few days, more than 60 tornadoes have ripped through North Carolina in the USA, killing 21 people. Another 24 people died in the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia. There were also flash floods and hailstones the size of grapefruit.

It was the highest number of tornadoes recorded in the US since 1984 when 42 people were killed. The Governor of North Carolina said that homes had been demolished as though they were made of paper.

The worst twister in US history was the Great Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925 which devastated Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing more than 700 people. The highest number of deaths were in Illinois – 613 – the biggest number in a single state in US history.

The town worst hit was Murphysboro, where 234 people were killed – the worst toll for a single town in US history. For more details see A Disastrous History of the World.