Despite the lack of progress toward an AIDS vaccine, researchers at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston nevertheless heard encouraging news about how testing and treatment can help prevent transmission of HIV.
In a three-year CDC study in Uganda, researchers found antiviral treatment of the infected partner decreases the chance of HIV transmission among serodiscordant heterosexual couples. The HIV-positive husband's use of antiviral drugs reduced his wife's HIV infection risk by at least 90 percent. The same protection was seen for the husband whose HIV-positive wife took the drugs.
The study, whose primary purpose was to discern if treatment led to a change in risky behavior, did find a modest increase in unprotected sex. However, the drugs provided significant protection, with just one spouse becoming infected during the study.
"Getting an early diagnosis, and getting treatment to drive down viral load, is going to be good for prevention," said Dr. Rebecca Bunnell, an investigator for CDC in Kampala, Uganda.
In another study presented, a door-to-door community HIV testing program showed significant uptake in the remote Bushenyi District in western Uganda. Of its 220,000 population, volunteers were able to get nearly 80 percent to agree to be tested for HIV. Among them, more than 4 percent had HIV, including partners in 866 serodiscordant couples.
Studies show an uninfected partner runs a 10 percent infection risk per year. HIV testing is important for prevention, since research also shows when serodiscordant couples learn a partner is infected, condom use jumps and unprotected sex drops by 80 percent.
02/07/08
UGANDA: AIDS Vaccine Not on Horizon, but Drugs Offer Hope
Source: http://www.sfgate.com ::Sabin Russell; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention