AIDS treatment works in two HIV strains

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A triple-drug treatment effective against one type of aids also appears effective against another in patients with complications, say U.S. researchers.

Two groups of previously untreatable patients with HIV-1 subtype C were successfully treated with a combination of antiretroviral drugs that worked in patients with subtype B.

The first group also had tuberculosis and the second group had Kaposi's sarcoma, a form of cancer usually associated with skin lesions. HIV-1 subtype C, is rapidly spreading in developing countries where TB and KS are major causes of death among AIDS patients.

The TB group was treated with didanosine, lamivudine, and efavirenz. The KS group with stavudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine. After three months, 94 percent of the TB group and 80 percent of the Kaposi group had undetectable levels of the HIV virus -- rates equivalent to or better than those in studies involving Western patients infected with the B subtype.

The study is in the February1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases. An editorial in the journal said the study proved that treatment success obtained in developed countries can be replicated in poorer settings and that patients in developing countries with opportunistic infections can benefit from antiretroviral therapy.