Late start to HIV treatment disadvantageous, experts warn

Beginning a course of antiretroviral treatment (ART), possibly after a patient has started showing symptoms associated with HIV, could lower its effectiveness against the virus.

This is according to a study into the mortality rate of people receiving ART, which examined a sample of patients over several years and compared mortality rates to that of the general population.

The researchers wrote: "Mortality of HIV-infected patients treated with combination ART in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be higher than in the general population, but for some patients the excess is moderate and mortality reaches that of the general population in the second year of ART.

"Much of the excess might be prevented by more timely initiation of ART."

Findings from the study, conducted by a number of universities, clinics and the World Health Organisation (WHO) across four Sub-Saharan African countries (Cote d'Ivoire, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe, were presenting at the 16th Conference of Retroviral and Opportunistic Infections.

The WHO estimates that around 2.1 million people were receiving ART in Sub-Saharan Africa in December 2007.