A monthly injection of antiretroviral treatment may be enough for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) carriers to keep infection at bay, rather than one pill per day, according to a study released today at the 9th edition of the research conference on The HIV.
The work, presented in Paris by North Carolina University scientist Joseph Eron, suggests that carriers in a state of viral suppression respond well to injections regardless of whether they are given every four weeks or every eight.
Currently, HIV carriers must take one tablet daily so that the virus is undetectable and can not be transmitted, although it is not possible to eliminate it completely.
"For some seropositives, a long-term injectable treatment may be more comfortable and less stigmatizing (than the current one), which could increase the rate of follow-up," say the authors of this trial, which has already been tested by several hundred people.
Continuity in taking the drug is vital because, among other effects, antiretroviral resistant viruses may appear, a possibility that "worries" the co-chair of the conference, Jean-François Delfraissy.
Asked by the French daily Libération, Delfraissy today referred to the possibility of treating patents with patches "with capacity to act for weeks", as well as to use these solutions for preventive purposes.
According to the latest data provided by the United Nations Program on the Fight against AIDS (UNAIDS), 36.7 million people are currently infected with HIV, and 53% of them have access to antiretroviral drugs.
