Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Swiss study states: no virus? = no infection?
Professor Bernard Hirschel, MD, of the University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland, declares that HIV-positive people with undetectable viral loads cannot transmit HIV. Stated at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston, MA, and based on an analysis of several studies over a long period of time, Hirschel’s bold statement has rocked the HIV community. There’s a lot of discussion on both sides of the debate. Hirschel, along with two other co-author’s, has disclosed the findings for several reasons including a series of court trials in Switzerland where HIV positive people have been accused of endangering others, who are HIV negative, through sexual relations. Hirschel argues that an HIV infected person on HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy), with an undetectable viral load is not technically infectious. Others say that the absence of a risk can never really be proven. Does Hirschel’s study send the wrong message? Does it give hope? How do you feel about this statement?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I have to say I was quite surprised by hearing about the Swiss Study in the news. Who does this doctor think he is? Over the years I have heard this and that about cures for AIDS and vaccines for AIDS only to find nothing has changed in the end. We are still dying. We still have AIDS. Why all the false hope? I think we are getting tired of the build-up and the let-down of these doctors and their tests.
Its about time a Doctor Stood up for what the Gay Community at large has known for years. Look at the rise of STD's in the gay community does anyone really think that if HIV cross infection wasnt likely in undetectable men that we woudlnt have more virulent strains and subsequent fatalities? Come on Doctors wake up and Start asking your patients what they are doing, instead of telling them what they have to do per your clinical beliefs. The Doctor Syndrome of do as I have learned not as I am learning seems to be the norm I am glad that someone has finally taken a stand on this, instead of morally directing sexual behaviors based on beliefs rather than hard clinical evidence.
Post a Comment