Early ARV treatment 'a huge benefit'

29 May 2015 - 02:28 By Katharine Child

The sooner people diagnosed with HIV start taking antiretrovirals, the less likely they are to become seriously ill or develop Aids. A study to determine when a ARV therapy should be begun, led by the US National Institutes of Health, was ended early when it became overwhelmingly evident that people with HIV should start taking ARVs as soon as possible.The study, which followed 4685 subjects in 35 countries, had been expected to be completed in 2017.The researchers divided HIV- positive people into two groups. They gave half of the subjects ARVs when they still had a relatively healthy CD4 count of more than 500 and tracked them for three years.The other subjects were not treated with ARVs until their CD4 count dropped below 350.In the first group there were 41 instances of Aids, death or serious ill health, compared to 86 in the group that started treatment later.National Institutes of Health director Anthony Fauci said: "We now have proof that it is a significantly greater health benefit to an HIV-infected person to start ARV therapy sooner rather than later."Early therapy not only improves the health of individuals but lowers viral load, reducing the risk that they will transmit HIV to others."These findings have global implications for the effective treatment of HIV."Doctors Without Borders spokesman Eric Goemaere said there was not enough money to give ARVs to all those who needed them."What is urgently needed is a focus on the 15million people who don't even know that they have the virus."..

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