Death Rates for HIV Patients Decrease Dramatically

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More than 16,000 individuals in multiple countries were followed for a median of 6.3 years. During the follow-up period, 2,571 individuals with HIV infection died compared with 235 who would be expected to die in an equivalent general population.

The excess mortality rate decreased from 40.8 per 1,000 person-years before the introduction of HAART to 6.1 per 1,000 person-years in the 2004 to 2006 period.

There was essentially no excess mortality in the first five years after seroconversion among individuals who had been infected sexually. However, over the first 10 years, those aged 15 to 24 years old and those 45 years or over at seroconversion did have higher death rates.

The authors calculated an 88 percent reduction in excess mortality in 2000-2001 compared with the period prior to 1996. This was very close to the 87 percent reduction seen in 1997-2001. In 2004-2006, the excess mortality was 94 percent lower than pre-1996 levels.

The study did not take into account adherence to medication or side effects, which can be severe.

"The study doesn't take into account adverse events and medication adherence. And, over a longer time frame, we don't know if there might be an effect from medications accumulating in the body," Horberg said.

"Despite all these side effects [including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fat redistribution], HAART therapy still improves the quality of life and life expectancy, which is nearing close to that of uninfected population," Kolluru said. "Prevention is still the best treatment for AIDS, and that has no side effects."

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have more on HIV/AIDS.