Study Finds No Evidence of Benefits of Early HAART

A medical literature analysis of 31 AIDS studies by researchers in Massachusetts and Sydney, Australia, shows no evidence that HIV-positive adults have better clinical outcomes when antiretroviral therapy is started during primary, or acute, HIV infection. The study, published in the March 26 edition of the journal AIDS, found no existing data to suggest that therapy during primary infection results in slowed disease progression compared to later initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy. There also was no evidence that a short-term course of anti-HIV drugs during acute infection slows future disease progression. Primary HIV infection usually occurs one to three weeks after HIV exposure and is marked by such flulike symptoms as fever, swollen lymph glands, muscle aches, weight loss, and diarrhea as well as extremely high blood-based viral loads and sharp decreases in CD4-cell counts.