健康英语新闻:Study shows early treatment with antiretroviral therapy prevents HIV transmission

At the time the study was evaluated by the DSMB on April 28, 2011, the available data show that among all couples enrolled in the study, 28 new cases of HIV infection occurred which were linked through genetic analysis to the infected partner enrolled in the study. Of those 28 cases, only one new infection occurred among couples in the immediate treatment group.

The results also demonstrated a clinical benefit of early ART, especially in the prevention of a type of tuberculosis infection outside the lungs (extrapulmonary tuberculosis).

"We want to thank the study participants for making such an important contribution in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We think that these results will be important to help improve both HIV treatment and prevention," Cohen said in a statement.

study participants are being informed of the results, and HIV- infected individuals in the delayed treatment arm are being offered ART. The study investigators will continue to monitor participants for at least one more year.

The research was conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network, which is largely funded by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"Previous data about the potential value of antiretrovirals in making HIV-infected individuals less infectious to their sexual partners came largely from observational and epidemiological studies," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci in a statement. " This new finding convincingly demonstrates that treating the infected individual -- and doing so sooner rather than later -- can have a major impact on reducing HIV transmission."