Modeling the impacts of an anti-HIV drug treatment program on the HIV epidemic (Immune deficiency)

Recent studies that include newly developed protease inhibitors in the anti-HIV treatment regimen have presented remarkable clinical effects. The results suggest that the HIV epidemic may be controlled by using a combination of therapies. The focus in this study is impact of treatment on the HIV epidemic in population.; A continuous compartmental HIV transmission model defined by differential equation was used to explore the dynamics of HIV under anti-HIV treatment. The subjects were homosexual males with high and low risk behaviors, who progressed through life stages during any of which they could experience transition between high risk and low risk behaviors. They had to have reached a specified detection level, have proven to have reduced a certain level of their infectiousness, and have delayed progression of HIV except at the early stage.; The results indicate a significant reduction in the HIV incidence rate under 4 percent detection rate. In addition to infectiousness and delayed progression, other factors such as sexual activity, contact pattern, core group size, and coverage, also influenced the effects of the treatment program. This model demonstrates that all factors which increased the speed of epidemic spread early reduced the potential of treatment to control transmission. These effects were independent of endemic level of infection before treatment.; A critical problem is how to access infectees to institute this treatment program. In Korea, there is a unique HIV control program based upon mandatory HIV testing methods targeted to several risk groups. Given this program, the combination of partner notification and testing can be effective way to find to institute treatment. Considering that the rate of rise of the HIV epidemic is low in Korea, the use of combination treatment should enable the epidemic to be completely controlled.