97-149a (AIDS Cocktail)
Brown University News Bureau

The Brown University News Bureau

1997-1998 index

Embargoed: Not for publication or broadcast
Prior to 4 a.m. EDT, Saturday, June 27, 1998
Contact: Carol Cruzan Morton

12th World AIDS Conference

New guidelines stress early potent drug cocktails, individualized therapy

Early intervention with powerful new drug regimens remains the key strategy for longer, healthier lives in people infected with HIV, according to updated recommendations presented by a Brown researcher at the 12th World AIDS Conference and related events in Geneva, Switzerland.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Early, potent combination antiretroviral therapies continue to offer the best hope for preventing AIDS in people infected with HIV, according to updated recommendations from International AIDS Society-USA presented at a media briefing Saturday, June 27, in Geneva.

Two years ago, the panel of independent physicians and scientists published the first ma-jor peer-reviewed guidelines advocating combination drug therapy. Based on information and drugs available in mid-1998, the update notes that 11 agents, in various combinations, now provide more choices for initial therapy of individuals with better long-term outcomes. Simpler drug regimens may offer greater compliance and convenience, and more sensitive monitoring of HIV levels in the blood will allow physicians to detect and react to resistant virus strains and treatment failures.

Despite concern for the emerging side effects of long-term treatment, therapies should be continued to fight HIV effectively, the panel recommends in its report, published in the July 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The drug cocktail therapies are responsible for up to a 75 percent decline in HIV-related sickness and death where they are available in the United States, Europe and Japan, says the report's lead author, Charles Carpenter M.D., a professor at the Brown University School of Medicine based at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I.

An audio recording of a symposium on the report will be available Wednesday evening, July 1, at http://www.webcast.aids98.org.

Contacts

News Bureau: Carol Cruzan Morton, (401) 863-2476, carol_morton@brown.edu
Charles Carpenter M.D., (401) 793-4025, charles_carpenter@brown.edu
Jennifer Adelson Mitty M.D. or Josiah Rich M.D., Miriam Hospital, (401) 793-4770
American Medical Association Science News: (312) 464-5374
International AIDS Society-USA: Donna Jacobsen, (415) 561-6720
More details: http://www.eurekalert.org

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97-149a