Many of the patients have experienced side effects from the drugs. One person has had to change their drug combination and two people have had to reduce the doses of drugs they are taking as a result of difficulties or side effects probably caused by the drugs. One patient started with three drugs and was headed toward becoming undetectable. The patient then switched to two drugs and the level of virus began to climb again. However, Options is not a well-known study and those people who seek it out may be, in general, more concerned about their infection and more adherent than the general population.
Plans are in place to study the long-term effects of intervening with drugs early in infection.
In summary, early evidence suggests that combination treatment during the first months of infection can bring the virus to undetectable levels in all patients studied. Although being infected with an already drug-resistant virus could theoretically reduce treatment efficacy, the Options cohort has seen not seen this problem. The Options project continues to enroll new patients who are in the first months of HIV infection. The study provides sensitive viral load tests and free drugs for those who chose treatment.