A preliminary, small study presented at the ASM Microbe conference suggests that it might be possible to take a single tablet of HIV treatment just three times a week and continue to maintain an undetectable viral load. The approach now needs to be tried out in a larger group of people and for a longer length of time – the study has only followed people for less than six months.
There are many reasons why people would prefer to take HIV treatment less often, including concerns about side-effects. The approach would also be attractive to health services trying to keep their budgets under control. On the other hand, a non-daily regimen might make it harder to remember to take pills consistently. And with fewer overall doses, a missed dose would be more likely to cause problems.
This kind of approach wouldn’t work with all anti-HIV drugs. Some drugs are cleared by the body quite quickly, meaning that they definitely need to be taken once or twice a day. Other drugs, such as efavirenz, stay in the bloodstream for longer, potentially making less frequent dosing feasible. Efavirenz is a mainstay of HIV treatment and is included in the tablets Atripla, Sustiva and Stocrin.
Previous studies have suggested that it is safe to take an efavirenz-based treatment for just five days a week and to miss the doses that would be taken at weekends. This has been tested in adults andadolescents.
The new study involved people who were already taking Atripla (efavirenz, tenofovir and emtricitabine) and already had an undetectable viral load. Half of the 61 patients continued to take it daily, while the other half were asked to take it only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Six months later, everyone in the study still had an undetectable viral load.
But people in the group taking the drug three times a week said that they were sleeping better and there were signs that the regimen might be better for their kidneys and bones. Adherence was good and people in this group said they preferred it to daily dosing.
This was a small study. The researchers now plan to continue it for three years to see if less frequent Atripla can be safely used over a longer period.
Source: www.aidsmap.com
Africanjam is website that came into service December 2013(with another domain) and on April 2014 the new domain Africanjam(dot)com came into use. It was found by John Kapela who is currently in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. This site provides news from Africa and all over the world in Politics, Sports, Entertainment as well as Technology tips and some Amazing Facts. We also provide Football updates from all over the world. Visit this site everyday for being in touch with everything happening in Africa and the whole world.
Follow us on Twitter @african_jam
Like our Facebook page Africanjam.com
