Whats Behind the Headlines About Acyclovir?
Over the holidays, London newspapers headlined: “AIDS Deaths Cut in Half by New Drug.” It would be wonderful if this were true, but it’s not. The study referred to acyclovir, which of course is not a new drug. The news stories reported the premature termination of a study in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. Several hundred people with T-cell counts over 150 were randomized to receive either AZT plus a placebo or AZT plus high-dose acyclovir (3200 milligrams a day). The study was intended to see if high-dose acyclovir can prevent CMV retinitis. While the study had not shown any difference in the incidence of retinitis, it did show an apparent survival advantage for the combination over AZT alone. After one year, there had been 30 deaths out of 150 patients in the AZT-only group compared to only 15 deaths out of 150 taking AZT plus acyclovir. Therefore, analogously to the AZT vs. DDC study, it was considered ethically untenable to continue and everyone was offered the combinati
