Why did DART look at STIs?
ARVs transform the outlook for people living with HIV. However taking ARVs is not always easy. Many people wonder whether they need to take ARVs always and for ever, or whether they could possibly safely go on a drug holiday (STI). Others wonder whether they can interrupt their drugs for other reasons. The answer to these questions is not yet known, but the DART STI study has made some of the risks of interrupting ARVs clearer.The same groups of experts who look at LCM and CMO also monitored the STI study. But in this case they decided it wasn’t safe for participants to continue with STIs. All participants on STIs moved back to continuous ARVs after the STI study closed in March 2006. There were a similar number of deaths among those who interrupted (5 deaths) and those who continued treatment at all times (4 deaths) but in total for every 100 participants on 12 week STIs for a year, 9 would become seriously ill or die; compared to only 3 participants on continuous ARV therapy. Althoug
