Recent news

May 2011

Treating HIV-positive people with antiretrovirals protects partners, study finds

May 13, 2011 -- HIV-positive men and women reduced the risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by taking oral antiretroviral drugs when their immune systems were relatively healthy, according to findings from a study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The clinical trial, known as HPTN 052, was scheduled to end in 2015 but the findings are being released early, following a scheduled review of the study data by an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB). The DSMB concluded that it was clear that use of antiretrovirals by HIV-positive people with relatively healthier immune systems substantially reduced transmission to their partners.

According to the study, which was being conducted in nine countries, earlier treatment reduced the risk of HIV transmission by 96 percent. "We now have evidence from a randomized trial confirming what has been seen in observational settings: ARV treatment is prevention," said AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren. "These data must serve as a clarion call to funders, policy makers, civil society and implementers. HPTN 052 shows a prevention benefit that must be translated into programmatic reality. If deployed effectively, efficiently and ethically, early initiation of treatment will be fundamental to turning the tide of the epidemic.”

The study was conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network, which is funded by NIAID with additional support from the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. Additional support was provided by the NIAID-funded AIDS Clinical Trials Group. “Previous data about the potential value of antiretrovirals in making HIV-infected individuals less infectious to their sexual partners came largely from observational and epidemiological studies,” said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci. “This new finding convincingly demonstrates that treating the infected individual—and doing so sooner rather than later—can have a major impact on reducing HIV transmission.” See the links below for more information.

MORE NEWS