Why did DART look at structured treatment interruptions (STIs)?
Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs transform the outlook for people living with HIV. However taking ARVs is not always easy. Many people wonder whether they need to take ARVs for the rest of their life or if they could safely go on a drug holiday. The answer to these questions is not yet known, but the DART structured treatment interruptions (STIs) study has clarified some of the risks of interrupting ARVs. br /> The same groups of experts who managed the CDM and LCM study also monitored the STI study. However 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 treatment (5 deaths) and those who continued treatment at all times (4 deaths) but in total for every 100 participants on STIs for a year, 9 would become seriously ill or die; compared to only 3 participants on continuous ARV therapy. Although the
