Monthly shots can keep HIV in check: Injections may be a better option than daily pills for some people

摘要

People living with HIV are a step closer to having a once-a-month treatment. There is no cure for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But combination anti-retroviral therapy, or ART, can halt viral replication, nearly eliminating the virus from the bloodstream and prolonging life expectancy (SN: 11/23/19, p. 16). For the therapy to work, people must stick to a daily regimen of two or more pills, which experts say can be a challenge for many. Now, results of two large clinical trials suggest that a monthly shot of antiretro-viral drugs works just as well as daily pills, researchers report online March 4 in two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine. If approved by U.S. regulators, the therapy could be a more convenient treatment for the estimated 1.1 million people with HIV in the United States.