Science: 2011 Breakthrough of the Year
December 28, 2011
Dr. Myron Cohen, Director, Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina.
The journal Science has named an AIDS study as its 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. The clinical trial found that antiretroviral drugs can be used to dramatically lower the risk of transmitting HIV.
The clinical trial is known as HPTN 052. It proved that giving the drugs to HIV infected people sooner made them 96 percent less likely to transmit the virus to their uninfected partners.
The research team was led by Dr. Myron Cohen. He said while the results were announced in May, preliminary work actually began 20 years ago.
“We had a strong suspicion based on all the biological studies we had done that when we treat people and lower the concentration of HIV in the blood and secretions, we were rendering them less contagious. But we didn’t understand the magnitude of the benefit,” he said.
Cohen is director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“Suppose we had found that as we treat people they’re rendered 50 percent contagious. That’s a lot different than saying we’ve rendered people completely non-contagious. And so, the result, while it takes a long time, has attracted so much attention because it inspires the aspiration to aggressively prevent transmission. It blows a gigantic wind behind the idea that treatment will serve as prevention,” he said.
最新
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27