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What people need to know about new HIV treatments.


 Despite the spate of recent news stories about revolutionary new and successful AIDS treatments and morning-after clinics against new HIV infection, safe sex remains the only sure way to avoid infection and stay healthy. There is still no cure for HIV infection, scientists have not been able to eliminate HIV from anyone who has been infected, and HIV treatments have difficult side effects, do not work for everyone, often have complicated dosing schedules, and are expensive. A growing range of options to treat HIV infection and AIDS is, however, available. For years, AZT was the only approved drug for people with HIV/AIDS. 11 anti-HIV drugs are now on the market, with at least 5 more drugs likely to become available over the next 2 years. Combining 3 or more of these two types of drugs, which interfere with HIV's ability to replicate, can dramatically reduce the viral load in many people; retrospective studies have shown that people with lower viral loads live longer. These drugs, if used quickly after exposure, may also be able to prevent infection. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) refers to the use of anti-HIV drugs within hours of exposure to HIV in the attempt to avoid infection. A study of health care workers' use of PEP after on-the-job exposure found PEP to reduce the odds of infection by 79% for those who took AZT within hours of exposure by needle stick. A pilot study to be conducted in San Francisco will test the effectiveness of a 28-day PEP drug treatment regimen for people recently exposed to HIV. A new, and still imperfect, test capable of detecting HIV load in the blood as early as 4-7 days after exposure may be used to help identify candidates for PEP. The early use of available treatments may be able to keep the immune system healthy for a long time. Some scientists are also testing the theory that HIV may be able to be eradicated if detected early and treated aggressively for 3 or more years.
