- Wintertime Is Prime Time for Head Lice: What Parents Need to Know
- U.S. Adult Obesity Rate Fell in 2023, as Use of GLP-1 Meds Rose
- Eat Less Meat, More Beans & Lentils for Protein, New USDA Guidelines Say
- Newer Drug Could Be Advance Against Tough-to-Treat Breast Cancers
- ‘Watch and Wait’ May Equal Active Treatment for Early DCIS Breast Cancers, Studies Find
- Blood Test Might Alert Doctors to Problem Drinking
- Breast, Ovary Removal Can Lengthen Lives of Women With Breast Cancer Genes
- Air Pollution Could Be Raising Your Odds for a Blood Clot
- In Mouse Studies, New Hope Against a Dangerous Complication of Pregnancy
- Caregiving Stress Can Raise Blood Pressure for Young Black Women
HIV-Positive Inmates Benefit From Drug Treatment, Study Says
Providing drug therapy to HIV-positive prison inmates helped a significant number of them achieve suppression of the virus before they were released, a new study finds.
HIV patients with so-called “viral suppression” are less likely to transmit the AIDS-causing virus to others, experts noted.
The study, published online March 31 in JAMA Internal Medicine, included 882 HIV-infected prisoners in Connecticut who were in jail for at least 90 days and were put on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Most of the prisoners were men, their average age was 43 and about half were black.
Nearly 30 percent of the inmates had viral suppression when they began their sentence, compared with 70 percent just before their release, the study found. Age, race, length of jail term, or type of antiretroviral regimen did not affect the likelihood of viral suppression, according to a journal news release.
“Treatment for HIV within prison is facilitated by a highly structured environment and, when combined with simple well-tolerated ART regimens, can result in viral suppression during incarceration,” said study author Dr. Jaimie Meyer, of Yale University School of Medicine, and colleagues.
But not every state has resources similar to those in Connecticut, another doctor pointed out.
“Unfortunately, the features of the excellent correctional care provided to HIV-infected persons in this Connecticut system are not available to all of the estimated 20,000 HIV-infected persons incarcerated in federal or state facilities,” Dr. Michael Puisis, a correctional consultant in Evanston, Ill., wrote in an accompanying commentary in the journal.
“While the Connecticut study is a positive accomplishment, HIV care in correctional centers still needs improvement in several areas,” he said. “We should take fullest advantage of the incarceration period, when people can receive supervised treatment, to improve their health and to develop discharge plans that will maintain these benefits on the outside.”
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has more about HIV/AIDS.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.