- DENVER -- Men who are HIV-positive and undergoing aggressive therapy
can still transmit the AIDS-causing virus and need to practice safe sex,
according to research released Friday. Transmission can occur even if no
HIV can be detected in the bloodstream, the research, presented at the
annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, showed. The
study conducted by the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia reinforces
recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on
the importance of safe sex. The research suggests that semen may be a site
of dormant HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV provirus, which is a precursor
of HIV, was detected in the seminal cells of four of seven patients treated
with highly active antiretroviral chemotherapy (HAART) who had no detectable
free HIV in their blood stream or seminal fluid. In a separate study, also
presented at the conference, researchers found that the new highly active
antiretroviral therapies are effective in reducing the level of HIV in
the genital tracts of infected women. The results suggest the therapy may
have an impact on heterosexual transmission of HIV as well as on babies
during childbirth. ^REUTERS@
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