Dr. Boyle,

Not to let you down, but i got a bit concerned when i saw on Cnn that "Hiv deaths are on a rise again." Is this true, are more people dying of AIDS related complications today then 5 years ago. What was made clear that people, hiv infected, more and more cases are starting to run out of options due to resistance, intolerance, etc. The question is will this turn around again, are there new drugs soon to approved that will turn this around, what do you think?

Sebastian

It is disappointing that deaths among HIV-infected patients are rising, but as I am sure you understand this is due to a number of reasons, only one of which is that some patients have exhausted their current therapeutic options. Many of the deaths we're seeing now are related to lifestyle problems (e.g., continued drug use) or other infections (e.g., hepatitis C), and not HIV. Fortunately, for those who have run out of options for HIV treatment, there are many drugs in the pipeline, several of which are currently available in studies. In addition, we have a great deal of work to do to provide support for patients who have lifestyle problems that interfere with effective therapy and cause co-morbidities and to provide adequate treatment for hepatitis C and other co-infections.