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structured interruption regimen(SIR)
Sep 10, 2006
dear carol,
i thought about a kind of SIR which may b realistic. if we consider a PATIENT HAVING 50 CD4 COUNT and after suppose 3 yr treatment with HAART CD4 CLIMBS UP TO 400 and then he gets resistant to that regimen we can stop it. now, if an average healthy person takes ab 10 yr to get down his CD4 from 1000 to 200 (reduce by 800) then the interrupted patient in our discussion can also have about 3 to 4 drug free years (TO GET DOWN CD4 FROM 400 TO 150 OR 200). After this drug free yrs when his count again gets down to 150 or 200 he can go for 2nd regimen. cant he?
well, i am not so aware of such interruption thoroughly. i wish to have ur wise opinion on this topic . i will wait for ur reply. take care.
titas
final yr MBBS
INDIA
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Response from Ms. Salisbury
Hi India,
Unfortunately a person with HIV has an altered immune system, so their T cells drop quickly when off HAART (HIV meds). A T cell count of 50 puts a person in an AIDS defining situation (<200 cells = AIDS). The new T cells a person recovers from being on HAART are not always as durable as the original (naive) T cells.
STIs have been studied in clinical trials. The largest one was the SMART trial by the CPCRA (federally funded). The SMART study showed the STIs were not the best way to go. The persons on the STIs had more opportunistics (infections) and bad outcomes than the persons left on their HIV meds.
Therefore my recommendation is not to advise any STIs in my patients.
Good question though, thanks for asking. Carol
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