Early HIV viral
levels can predict treatment success

HIV patients who are able to suppress blood-based viral levels to below 400 copies per milliliter of blood between six and 18 months after beginning antiretroviral therapy are highly likely to maintain long-term viral control, according to a study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Reuters Health reports that researchers in Denmark studied more than 2,000 HIV patients, and 96% of those with viral loads under 400 copies after six to 18 months of therapy maintained that low viral level after six years of treatment. Only 57% of study subjects who had viral levels above 400 copies after six to 18 months of treatment were able to suppress those levels to below 400 copies at the six-year mark.

After six years of treatment, about 93% of HIV patients who suppressed blood-based viral levels below 400 copies for six to 18 months after starting drug therapy were still alive. Among those with early viral levels that remained above 400 copies, about 76% were still living after six years of treatment.

Lead researcher Nicolai Lohse of Odense University Hospital in Odense, Denmark, says that because long-term treatment success was predicted by early viral control, physicians should work with their HIV patients to ensure that HIV levels are adequately suppressed during early stages of treatment. (Advocate.com)