Treatment Interruptions Are Safest With High CD4 Counts

Structured treatment interruptions could be safe for the majority of HIV-positive adults whose lowest-ever CD4-cell count did not fall below 250 cells per cubic milliliter of blood, researchers report in the November 1 issue of Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Researchers from Texas studied 107 HIV patients who were planning to stop or had already stopped highly active antiretroviral drug therapy. The scientists examined the clinical effect of the treatment breaks at 60-day intervals for up to 13 months and found that only 28% of HIV-positive adults who had a lowest CD4-cell level above 250 cells dropped below that benchmark while on a drug holiday and had to restart HAART, while 100% of study participants with nadir CD4-cell counts below 250 cells again dropped below that level and resumed medications Based on this data the researchers say treatment breaks are safe and do not result in adverse outcomes for patients who began HAART with CD4-cell counts above 250 cells.