title: [Early intervention in HIV infection].
abstract: Comparison of long term follow-up studies showed that irrespectively of the route of acquisition of HIV infection, the time of progression to AIDS was similar and after 10 years, about 50 per cent of HIV infected individuals had developed AIDS. On the other side, it has been shown that zidovudine improves survival in advanced HIV disease, and that successful results initiated clinical studies with early intervention to determine whether zidovudine could delay the onset of AIDS and prolong the symptom-free clinical stage. The paper reviews results from two main studies, ACTG 019 and ACTG 016, showing that zidovudine treatment reduced disease progression when started in early stages of HIV infection, before development of AIDS. These results influenced the FDA to approve zidovudine for use in HIV infected individuals, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, whose CD4 cell counts are below 500/mm3.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gotić
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rolović
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Elezović
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marisavljević
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berger
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018450:Disease Progression; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D015215:Zidovudine