There is definitely no cure for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the illness that causes AIDS. The combination antiretroviral therapy, or ART, though, can effectively break the duplication of the virus, almost removing it from the bloodstream, not to mention, extending life expectancy.
However, to achieve an effective therapy, people need to stick to, or strictly follow a daily regimen of talking about two or more pills, which, health experts admit, can be challenging for most people who have the illness.
Now, in an article Science News posted on its website, it was indicated that "the results of two phase III clinical tests recommend that a monthly shot of antiretroviral drugs works" just as effective as the pills taken every day.
The science news site got the information from the researchers that reported their finding early this week "in two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine."
According to the report, if the regulators approve, it could be considered as a convenient type of treatment for the approximately 1.1 million people who live with the virus in the United States.
Patient Perspective
According to Elizabeth Tolley, an FHI 360 epidemiologist, if one is to look from a patient perspective, the study's findings are quite positive. She added that Stigma can make individuals unwilling to keep HIV drugs anywhere in their house or take them every day in front of anybody else.
Therefore, she said, a monthly alternative could be a better choice for many. Incidentally, FHI 360, where Tolley is affiliated with, is a Durham, N.C.-based public health nonprofit organization.
The researchers describe this injectable ART as a "long-acting blend of HIV drugs cabotegravir and rilpivirine. " One of the clinical trials mentioned the gold standard for acquiring regulatory approval for new medicines, was headed by HIV researcher at Queen Mary University of London, Chloe Orkin.
She enrolled over 500 participants who hadn't tried ART and thus "first took the pill version" which consisted of a mixture of other HIV medicines for 20 weeks for the virus to become under control. The participants then, either switched to the once-a-month injectable or continued taking the pills.
The other trial which Susan Swindells, a University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha internist, enrolled more than 600 participants whose HIV had already been controlled by ART pills for six months.
The Result
Both trials showed that participants were assigned randomly to either continue using the pills or receive the monthly shot treatment. Forty-eight weeks after, no significant difference was detected in the viral load of participants for every treatment, recommending that monthly injections work just as effective as the pills. Most people with the virus did complain of some swelling or pain with the shot.
As a conclusion, according to Marc Siegel, an infectious disease physician from Washington D.C., There are positives and negatives to each option. He added, "A patient won't have to remember to take a pill every day."
Although, they would have to visit the doctor's clinic once every month. Monthly shots, the medical expert suggested, may quite be more feasible for those struggling with housing instability and don't have a space to store their pills.
