HIV study: 76% drop in cases with expanded treatment!

New HIV infections among gay and bisexual men in San Francisco could fall 76 percent over the next five years due to the city's push to test people for the virus and advice that those infected begin taking antiretroviral therapy regardless of their CD4 T-cell count, say UCSF researchers.

The finding is the result of a study conducted by Edwin Charlebois, MPH Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine at UCSF, and colleagues to be published in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases .

"By expanding when we start antiretroviral therapy to people already in care we can have a significant impact on the HIV epidemic here in San Francisco," Charlebois told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview.

Last year the UCSF Division of HIV/AIDS at San Francisco General Hospital became the first clinical practice in the country to recommend treatment upon diagnosis to all of its HIV-infected patients. The San Francisco Department of Public Health also adopted the policy, which was not without controversy.

Some AIDS doctors, people living with HIV, and activists question the need for HIV-positive people to immediately begin taking the drugs. Federal guidelines recommend that HIV-positive people begin treatment when their CD4 T-cell count falls below 500.

Advocates of the treatment policy say it not only benefits HIV-positive patients, whose major organs would otherwise be under attack by the virus, but also has community benefits. As the B.A.R. reported last month, local epidemiologists point out that the policy helps to suppress people's viral loads, and that in turn, reduces their chances of transmitting HIV to sexual partners.