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A new study finds that the
percentage of HIV-positive Americans receiving highly active antiretroviral
therapy (HAART) increased during the past decade.
The research team examined data on
45,000 HIV patients receiving clinical care. The results indicated that between
2000 and 2008, the proportion of people prescribed HAART climbed by nine
percentage points, to 83 percent.
Among patients receiving HAART, the
proportion whose viral loads were suppressed grew from 54 percent in 2000 to 81
percent in 2008. An increase in median CD4 cell counts among patients who died
of HIV also was noted.
Keri Althoff, an assistant professor
in the epidemiology department of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School
of Public Health, was the study’s lead author. The results “are good news for
the HIV epidemic in the US, but there is room for improvement,” Althoff said in
a statement released by the school. She called for continued efforts to link
those infected to care and treatment, “not only for the individual’s health,
but to reduce the likelihood of transmission to others.”
The study, “US Trends in
Antiretroviral Therapy Use, HIV RNA Plasma Viral Loads, and CD4 T-Lymphocyte
Cell Counts Among HIV-Infected Persons, 2000 to 2008,” was published in the
Annals of Internal Medicine (2012;157(5):325-335).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
