Friday November 21 4:36 AM EST
Fauci urges early AIDS treatment
UPI Science News
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) _ AIDS research chief Anthony Fauci sees new evidence that people need drug treatment within the first few weeks after catching the virus.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci welcomed a new study by Boston researchers. Released Thursday by the journal Science, it shows that patients can preserve key immune responses by starting to take drugs within a few weeks of picking up the virus.
The researchers, in Bruce Walker's lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, treated some of the patients during the phase called acute infection, a burst of fever, skin rash and malaise that can strike within a few weeks of catching the virus.
Fauci told United Press International the study provides ''further evidence for treating people during acute infection _ that's the message.'' He says, ''It's a good paper.''
As the paper comes out, Walker is campaigning for doctors to make an extra effort to spot early signs of the disease, such as fever, skin rash, sore throat and malaise. He notes that these symptoms resemble mono.
When doctors come across such a case, Walker urges them to ask about any recent high-risk experience. A standard antibody test may not detect signs of the infection this early, so doctors will have to turn to tests for the virus itself.
Walker laments, ''This is an illness that is underdiagnosed.''
He says he does not know yet how long the window of opportunity lasts for patients to preserve the immune response described in the paper. He guesses ''probably weeks after infection, perhaps a month.'' Six months, he says, is too long to wait. |
