HIV therapy avoided by released prisoners

GALVESTON, Texas, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- University of Texas medical scientists say they've found most prison inmates with HIV don't seek appropriate treatment immediately following release.

The researchers said they discovered approximately 80 percent of Texas prison inmates infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS, fail to fill an initial prescription for anti-retroviral therapy within 30 days of their release from prison. And that, said the researchers, potentially increases the risk of harmful health consequences due to treatment interruption.

The researchers blamed the failure to seek continued therapy on the fact that most former inmates don't have health insurance during the first several months following their release, so accessing anti-retroviral therapy in a timely manner is difficult.

"Those who discontinue (therapy) at this time are at increased risk of developing a higher viral burden, resulting in greater infectiousness and higher levels of drug resistance, potentially creating reservoirs of drug-resistant HIV in the general community," the scientists said.

The study, led by Jacques Baillargeon of the University of Texas Medical Branch, is reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.