Description

Ernest Drucker, Peter Lurie*, Alex Wodakt† and Philip Alcabes.

*AIDS 1998, 12 (suppl A):S217-5230*

"Minimizing the epidemic spread of an infectious disease requires that we carefully examine data on the effectiveness of all interventions believed to reduce transmission. For AIDS, the absence of an effective vaccine and the continued high cost and still undetermined long-term efficacy of antiviral medications dictate a focus on preventing HIV infection - our only available tool to slow the global pandemic [1]. While the effect of combination therapies (using the new protease drugs) on viral load suggests that competent and ongoing medical care for people with HIV/AIDS will reduce their infectivity, the high cost of this approach means it has no public health consequence outside the developed world."