Can durable viral suppression in patients with primary HIV infection using HAART lead to HIV eradication?
GROUND: Efficacy of antiviral treatment is dependent on the time of treatment initiation and the potency of the antiviral regimen. By treating patients early in the course of the acute HIV-1 infection with a potent quadruple antiviral regimen it might be possible to reduce the length of antiviral treatment and to preserve HIV-1 specific immune functions which might be operative in preventing resurgence of viremia after stopping treatment. METHODS: 100 patients at the early phase of acute HIV-1 infection (≤ 3 positive bands on Western blot) will be treated with a four drug regimen (AZT/3TC/abacavir/Amprenavir) in an international study (Europe, Australia, Canada) for a first period of 36 weeks. At 36 weeks those patients with viremia lower than 50 HIV-1 RNA copies/ml will be randomised to continue quadruple therapy or to switch to a triple therapy regimen including AZT/3TC/abacavir for at least 15 months. The second phase of the study will compare whether a scaled down induction mainten
