Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 - Friday, November 7, 1997; 2:01 a.m. EST
The Swiss team who carried out the study, led by Dr. Matthias Egger of Bern University, attributed the improvement to the efficiency of new "antiretroviral combination therapies" involving a cocktail of drugs.
According to Egger, the Swiss study is unique because of the breadth of patients covered.
"These are the first results that show that combination therapies are highly efficient in a representative and unselected group of HIV-infected people," said Dr. Manuel Battegay of Basel University Clinic, co-leader of the study.
Many experts recommend treating people with new anti-viral drugs as soon as they are diagnosed with an AIDS infection.
Over 5,000 men and women took part in the study from September 1988 to February 1997 at seven Swiss HIV units. The report analyzed patients' progression and death rates.
The findings for 1995-96, the first year that the new therapies were used, show a "marked reduction in progression rates," says the team's report. In addition, the risk of both a first AIDS-related illness and of death were reduced by more than half.
Compared with patients studied between 1988 and 1990, the risk of developing full-blown AIDS was down 73 percent and the risk of death fell by 62 percent. The figures contrast with progressive but limited declines in previous years.
The report said the reductions were similar for men and women and for different age and transmission groups.
Patients studied had been infected in a variety of different ways and were allowed to join the study regardless of what stage of HIV/AIDS infection they had reached.
The report is hopeful but cautious about further reduction in AIDS death rates thanks to the new drugs.
Many doctors worry that the combination drugs will lose their potency as the virus develops resistance to them.
Copyright 1997/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1997 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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