19 August 2008
The CD4+ T-cell threshold for treating HIV should be raised from 200 to 500 CD4+ cells/ml, which will include infected individuals whose immune systems are still fairly healthy, according to new guidelines published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The change is spurred by the increase in available drug regimens, as well as by new insights into the comorbidities of longstanding HIV infection such as renal disease.
The guidelines were released to coincide with the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, where Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said a cure for AIDS is theoretically possible.
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HIV remains most common in in the US among men who have sex with men and among African Americans. This information comes from the first estimates of HIV incidence in the US based on new tests that can distinguish recent infections from longstanding HIV, which appear in another article in the same issue of JAMA.
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Also in the News
Determined effort has conquered XDR-TB in a community program, according to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In most cases, TB drug resistance in patients with HIV has its origins in another country. This suggestion comes from a new study published by the CDC.
Worldwide, TB is the leading cause of death for HIV patients, according to other information from CDC.
