A New Regimen: Africa's AIDS Experts Turn to Antibiotics to Slow the Epidemic

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

A New Regimen: Africa's AIDS Experts Turn to Antibiotics to Slow the Epidemic

Wall Street Journal (12/27/97) P. A1
Bennett, Amanda

Abstract: In Africa, where the promising protease inhibitor combinations are far out of reach, health workers are putting new faith in a stalwart medicine--the antibiotic. Scientists have found that by using antibiotics to limit the proliferation of conventional sexually transmitted bacterial diseases, they can dramatically reduce the spread of HIV. Initial studies that reduced new HIV infections in specific regions around Lake Victoria by as much as 40 percent have inspired the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank to spend some $16 million in efforts to expand the antibiotic treatments throughout Tanzania and Uganda. While experts believe the program could ultimately save thousands of lives, there are significant hurdles, including doubts about whether similar success rates can be achieved on a broader scale, the prohibitive cost of even-conventional medicines in Africa, and concerns regarding widespread antibiotic distribution and resistant strains of diseases.

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