My brother and his wife where tested in 99 and where positive, from that date upto now they use a condom, does this help them at all, they are not yet on any drug. What do you thing Advice please

Using a condom is generally recommended for all with HIV infection. There are two general reasons for this statement- the first is to protect from other infections, such as hepatitis virus or herpes. Protection from secondary infections clearly is of benefit. The second aspect is to protect from super-infection with other strains of HIV. This is of particular relevance for those who are on drug therapy, or for those who either may have - or be exposed to virus that is drug resistant.

Your question is interesting in that your brother and sister-in-law are both treatment naive and would be expected to have drug-susceptible virus, hence the risk of drug resistance is low. Furthermore, I will assume that they are in a mutually monogamous relationship- the risk of other sexually transmitted diseases should also be low. I this circumstance, the mandate for condoms may be less strong. -BY

ps., I might refer you to the forum on sexuality too..