Cytomegalovirus quadruple the risk of death for HIV
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The presence of cytomegalovirus quadruples the risk of death among people living with HIV, a British study shows.
Before the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), cytomegalovirus (CMV) was a major cause of opportunistic infection in patients infected with HIV. This virus was associated with accelerated progression to AIDS and death stage.
Jane Deayton Department of Virology, University College London and his colleagues wanted to know if the CMV remained a significant risk factor for disease progression in the era of HAART.
They recruited 374 patients against HIV whose CD4 count had never been less than 100 cells / microliter, which they followed for thirty-seven months. During this period, the patients participated in testing of cytomegalovirus by PCR because of 1-44 tests according to participants.
2969 on PCR tests, 375 (12.6%) were positive for CMV DNA. In total, 259 (69.3%) patients remained consistently CMV during the study, 15 were found to CMV + each test and 100 were alternately CMV + and CMV.
Multivariate analysis showed that the CMV status + doubles the risk of developing a new AIDS-defining illness and multiplies by 4.14 the risk of death.
"The detection of CMV in the blood is still an indication of poor prognosis in HIV + patients, even with HAART," the authors conclude.
They advocate to conduct randomized controlled clinical trials of drugs active against CMV to determine whether the virus is a marker or a determinant of the progression of HIV infection.
The presence of cytomegalovirus quadruples the risk of death among people living with HIV, a British study shows.
Before the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), cytomegalovirus (CMV) was a major cause of opportunistic infection in patients infected with HIV. This virus was associated with accelerated progression to AIDS and death stage.
Jane Deayton Department of Virology, University College London and his colleagues wanted to know if the CMV remained a significant risk factor for disease progression in the era of HAART.
They recruited 374 patients against HIV whose CD4 count had never been less than 100 cells / microliter, which they followed for thirty-seven months. During this period, the patients participated in testing of cytomegalovirus by PCR because of 1-44 tests according to participants.
2969 on PCR tests, 375 (12.6%) were positive for CMV DNA. In total, 259 (69.3%) patients remained consistently CMV during the study, 15 were found to CMV + each test and 100 were alternately CMV + and CMV.
Multivariate analysis showed that the CMV status + doubles the risk of developing a new AIDS-defining illness and multiplies by 4.14 the risk of death.
"The detection of CMV in the blood is still an indication of poor prognosis in HIV + patients, even with HAART," the authors conclude.
They advocate to conduct randomized controlled clinical trials of drugs active against CMV to determine whether the virus is a marker or a determinant of the progression of HIV infection.
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