If a person is newly infected(within a year) what is the general opinion on when to start treatment? Attack the virus right away or wait? Also what is the meaning of a non-progressor? Is that someone who has no viral load without treatment? What % of people are non-progressors?
| Response from Dr. Young
Thanks for your post and questions.
Recent data suggests that starting treatment very early may only have benefit (and this is debateable) during acute seroconversion, prior to having a fully positive antibody test. This typically happens within the first 2-6 weeks after infection.
Non-progression is roughly defined as having very little or formally speaking, no CD4 cell decline after years of infection. This is typically predicted by having a very low viral load. There are some "non-progressors" who have detectable viral loads, while some with little or no detected virus can still have disease progression, its just that it takes longer. Non-progressors are rare, a very small percentage of the general HIV-infected population.
Hope this helps. BY