Emergency Treatment to Stop AIDS Virus

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Emergency Treatment to Stop AIDS Virus

New York Times (10/19/99) P. D7
France, David

AIDS doctors are increasingly using an experimental treatment in an effort to prevent HIV infection in persons who were recently exposed to the virus after participating in unsafe sex. Post-exposure prophylaxis uses the standard drugs taken by individuals with AIDS, including the antiretrovirals AZT and 3TC for between seven and 30 days. In some cases, non- nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, such as Sustiva or nevirapine, are included in the regimen. Those who favor the prophylactic method point to the success in preventing vertical transmission of the virus from pregnant women to their unborn infants; by using the prophylactic regiment, such transmission rates have been cut from 25 percent to less than 5 percent.

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