Cure for HIV/AIDS is not yet but there are ways to save the lives of infected patients via several kinds of medicines. The combination of antiretroviral therapy (ART) can stop the replication of the virus and almost eliminate them, which prolongs human life expectancy.
However, an HIV infected person has to take two or more ART pills daily which can get troublesome in several cases. It is why Scientists have developed the once-a-month HIV treatment alternative to taking two or more pills a day. The monthly antiretroviral injection takes us one step closer to find an easy way of curing HIV in the future.
Once-a-Month Injections for HIV Treatment
The results for two phase-3 clinical trials have proved that a monthly shot of antiretroviral drugs works the same as a daily pill. The research studies from the New England Journal of Medicine are now submitted for approval and if that happens it will a convenient form of treatment for around 1.1 million HIV infected people living in the United States.
People suffering from HIV and AIDS are reluctant to take daily medicines and also feels it awkward to do it in front of their family and loved ones. Everyone prefers a monthly form of treatment and it is an indication that the upcoming HIV treatment process won’t be much tiring and complex.
HIV Cure will become Easy in Future
The ART injection used in the studies is a combination of HIV drugs cabotegravir and rilpivirine where 556 participants were used in the experiment. There were two groups of HIV patients, one was given the ART pills and others were given injection shots.
Apart from a minor inconvenience, there were no side effects for those who took the shots and the results were almost the same. It is the first step towards treating HIV in an easier way, more and more people will show up if the process is shortened up. The next plan is to get approval and mass-produce such ART injections which can help in curing HIV further.
