July 2000 Cover
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Scientists studied 520 HIV pa- tients to determine whether pro- phylaxis against Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) can be discontinued in patients whose CD4 cells counts have increased significantly with
antiviral therapy. The multicenter, double-blind study compared treatment with azithromycin to a placebo in HIV-infected individuals whose CD4 cell levels rose from less than 50 to over 100 per cubic millimeter with
antiretroviral treatment. There were no cases of confirmed MAC found during an average of 12 months of follow-up.
The researchers concluded that it is safe to forego azithromycin treatment in patients with high enough CD4 cell counts after receiving antiviral therapy. In addition, they note that the low rates of
opportunistic illnesses in the study suggest that immunity can be restored with AIDS therapy.
Editor's Note: from New England Journal of Medicine
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