IDSA’s “Science Speaks”: Starting HIV treatment at diagnosis slashes drop out, drug failure rates, China study finds
Antigone Barton, senior editor and writer of “Science Speaks,” discusses findings from a study led by Yan Zhao and Zunyou Wu of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on HIV treatment initiation at diagnosis. Barton notes, “Patients diagnosed with HIV who started antiretroviral treatment within 30 days had significantly lower rates of dropping out of treatment, and higher rates [of] successful treatment, than those who started later … The findings on the benefits of immediate treatment upon diagnosis are important, the authors note, at a time when too few patients gain the benefits of ‘early’ treatment” (6/1).