Death Rate From HIV Falls 75% With Early Treatment, Study Finds

Death Rate From HIV Falls 75% With Early Treatment, Study Finds: "Early treatment for HIV cuts patients’ risk of death by about 75 percent, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. ...

"The early-treatment group began taking a combination of zidovudine, lamivudine and efavirenz within two weeks after enrollment, the researchers said. Patients in the standard- treatment group were given the therapy when their CD4+ count fell to 200 or when AIDS developed."

Note: Full text of original article is at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/363/3/257

Comment: This study was done in Haiti, but is relevant to care in richer countries also. People who do not get tested will not know when they need to start treatment.