New Drug 96% Effective In Preventing Transmisson Of HIV

Researchers are on their way to preventing one of the world's most deadly epidemics, HIV, and giving couples affected by the virus a sense of hope. A new study watched 1,800 couples in nine countries, and showed that administering antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive men and women reduced the transmission of the virus by 96 percent.

The drug's results were so stunning and so effective, scientists decided to halt their research four years early. They are now looking ahead to the future—getting the medicine to people across the globe who need it. There have been indications that antiretroviral drugs might be the key to AIDS prevention for a while, but this research confirms it. Man Jailed For HIV Transmission

The drugs "can definitely decrease rates of transmission, and we can get this disease under control," said Dr. Kathleen Squires, chairwoman of the HIV Medicine Association and director of the division of infectious diseases at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. "This is scientific proof that this is true. This shows us that if we can identify the people who are infected and give them access to therapy, we can dramatically reduce the number of new infections in this country."

According to the LA Times, half the couples in the study were randomly selected, given a cocktail of the preventative drugs immediately and were monitored. The other half waited to take the drugs until their CD4 counts—a measure of the severity of the virus—fell below 350, an international guideline for administering this sort of treatment. In the end, there were 39 new infections; 28 clearly from the HIV-infected partner, seven from other identified sources and four from other unidentified sources. Of the 28 cases that arose from sex with a the infected partner, 27 were in the group that received treatment later on, after their counts dropped. Early treatment greatly reduced transmission. Alarmist Study of the Week: Texting Leads To Risky Sex

"This is amazing news," Michel Sidibe, who is executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, said. "Prevention can be a reality. The science is strong—so strong that we must use it."

This could be a discovery we've all been waiting for. What a breakthrough!