Posted on December 3, 2002 at 12:41 p.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has been awarded a five-year, $5.8 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for its role in a national study to identify and treat people recently infected with HIV. Although a continuing study, its focus has shifted from eradicating the virus to optimizing patients’ immune systems to, along with HIV medications, more effectively manage the disease.
Researchers are hopeful that new treatment strategies will improve patients’ long-term outcomes. “Studies show that patients treated aggressively in the early stages of infection may suffer less immune system deficits than those treated after long-term infection,” said Dr. Michael Kilby, medical director of UAB’s 1917 Clinic. “It may be that short-course treatment initiated early on provides long-lasting benefits.”
The key is diagnosing the disease in its infancy. “Most patients, even new patients who come to the clinic, were infected 10 years ago,” said Kilby. “They may be newly diagnosed but they’re not newly infected.”
Individuals displaying symptoms of viral illness or who are at high-risk for HIV infection are encouraged to be screened. “If the antibody test, which tests the body’s immune response to the virus, is negative or inconclusive, but the test for the virus itself is positive, the individual is recently infected,” said Kilby. “This can occur over a variable period lasting weeks to months following infection.”
An important aspect of the research project is its design to bring together clinicians and basic scientists to develop clinical protocols to answer fundamental questions about the immune system’s response to the virus. “Together we will determine protocols most likely to offer the greatest benefit, both clinically and scientifically,” said Kilby.
UAB is one of five sites participating in the study. Other sites are the University of California at San Diego, the University of California at San Francisco, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York, N.Y., and Harvard University.
UAB will seek to identify 30 to 50 recently infected individuals a year at three locations — the 1917 Clinic at UAB; a clinic in Nashville, through a partnership with Vanderbilt University; and a well-established UAB-based clinic in Lusaka, Zambia. Nationally, sites will strive to enroll hundreds of individuals annually. “Early identification isn’t easy,” said Kilby. “A clinic may only identify a few newly infected patients a year, so a network approach is essential.”
In addition to multiple sites, the study also involves multiple disciplines. “Here at UAB researchers represent many specialties including infectious disease, public health, microbiology, hematology, and immunology,” said Kilby.