AEGiS-GMHC: TREATMENT BRIEFS: HIV and Sunlight

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

TREATMENT BRIEFS: HIV and Sunlight

TREATMENT ISSUES, Volume 6, Number 9 - October 1992; The Gay Men's Health Crisis Newsletter of Experimental Therapies
David Gold

A recent article in Science (August 1992, vol. 257, pg 1211-12) reported a study demonstrating that ultraviolet (UV) light can activate HIV in animals. The most common source of UV exposure comes from sunlight. Sun lamps, tanning salons and PUVA la therapy for psoriasis and other skin diseases) can provide even higher doses of UV radiation. The suggestion that UV light may activate HIV was first made in 1988 by researchers at SmithKline and confirmed by findings in the lab of NIAID's own Anthony Fauci in 1989, as well as other labs around the world. The article in Science also reported that the FDA has begun to review the issue. Researchers believe that if they can determine the specific mechanism by which UV activates HIV, they may be able to design a therapy to prevent it. In light of these studies and other data concerning the sun and skin cancer, readers may choose to practice "safer sunning" by using protective lotions.

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