During this Conference, researchers and HIV experts presented information on new developments in treatment. Treatment Flash offers a few highlights from the Conference. Staying Healthy with a Detectable Viral Load There has been a lot of information about viral load and HIV disease progression. Until recently, many researchers believed that in order to halt or slow down HIV disease and the loss of T-cells, the viral load had to be reduced to an undetectable level.
Viral load is the amount of virus in the blood and can be measured by a blood test.
Three-drug regimens that often include a protease inhibitor have helped to reduce viral load in many HIV positive people, but not in all. For people whose viral loads remain detectable, a recent San Francisco General Hospital study offers promising information. This study shows that if viral load bounces back during treatment, the immune system can stay healthier for a longer period of time because of the benefits of treatment. In addition, other studies have shown that people who take treatment tend to not develop opportunistic infections like PCP or MAC even when they have detectable viral loads and lower T-cell counts. The protease inhibitors are now standard drugs used in 3-drug combinations.