Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral Therapy (CHER) Trial Involving HIV Infected Infants Modified by NIAID
The CHER study began as a trial to compare the effects of anti-HIV drug courses of different lengths in infants who became HIV infected at birth. A press release from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced that the trial, being performed at two locations in South Africa, has now been modified after the study found a significant decrease in survival among infants who were not immediately treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) after diagnosis of HIV infection. A portion of the study that originally called for ART deferral in some infants is being removed.
Results of this study will be presented at the 2007 International AIDS Conference in Sydney, Australia in July.
For more information regarding infants and HIV infection, view the NIAID fact sheet on HIV Infection in Infants and Children and the Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in Pediatric HIV Infection.
Three Phase III Studies Show Etravirine and Darunavir to be Effective in Treating Treatment-Experienced, HIV Infected Participants
A recent report from MedlinePlus detailing the results of three phase III studies-- DUET-1, DUET-2, and TITAN--shows that the experimental non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor etravirine (TMC125), in combination with the approved protease inhibitor darunavir, is effective against HIV.
The results of these studies were published in this week's HIV research-themed edition of Lancet and will also be presented at the fourth International AIDS Conference being held in Australia later this month.
AIDSinfo offers drug information on darunavir and etravirine and links to clinical trials for etravirine.
