their average CD4 count (578) was not significantly different
to when they started treatment. Dr Mercedes Molina said:
Discontinuing therapy in patients with low risk of progression to Aids
is safe, improves quality of life - and saves money." Stopping therapy
saved over £190,000.
Best results yet in hep C treatment
The 42nd ICAAC Conference heard that three-quarters of the earliest-starting
patients in an ongoing clinical trial of hepatitis C (HCV) treatment have
achieved undetectable HCV viral loads - the best results so far. In contrast
with HIV, an undetectable HCV viral load generally means that the virus
has been cleared from the body - essentially a cure. The Puerto Rican
trial gave 76 patients pegylated interferon (180 mcg weekly), and also
gave 43 of them the antiretroviral ribavirin (800mg/day).
Undetectable VL = (usually) undetectable in semen
The majority of gay men with an undetectable viral load in their blood
have an undetectable viral load in their semen - even while they have
an untreated urethral infection. Research presented at the Public Health
Laboratory Service conference showed that just one of 24 men with undetectable
virus in their blood had detectable HIV in their semen and he was infected
with gonorrhoea, suggesting that the infection was "particularly
inflammatory."
STI vaccines on their way
Vaccines for two of the most common sexually transmitted infections are
being developed, the 42nd ICAAC Conference in San Diego was told. The
vaccines closest to availability are ones against the virus that causes
both genital warts and cervical and anal cancer - the human papilloma
virus (HPV). However, a herpes vaccine remains at least five years away
from being clinically available.
Chlamydia: an equal opportunities infection
Chlamydia is becoming more common in men who have sex with men. More than
seven per cent of
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gay and bisexual men in an Edinburgh GUM clinic were found to have rectal chlamydia between 1999 and 2002. It is already the most common STI seen in GUM clinics in
