London, Feb 15 (ANI): A common treatment for herpes can also slow progression of the AIDS virus among co-infected patients, say US researchers.
Most people infected with HIV are also coincidentally infected with type 2 herpes simplex virus, or HSV2.
Reporting in The Lancet, scientists said that aciclovir does have a braking effect that is modest but could become a useful option for doctors, reports The BBC.
In the study of 3,300 patients in Africa, University of Washington boffins found that aciclovir reduced the risk of HIV progression by 16 percent.
Study leader, Dr Jairam Lingappa, said: "While the HIV disease ameliorating effect we have observed is modest, it could add one more tool to help people with HIV infection stay healthy for longer."
Gus Cairns, editor of HIV Treatment Update, said: "It's nice to see a positive result in this field.
"There are biological reasons to believe that treating people's herpes could make them less likely to acquire HIV, or less likely to transmit it if they already have it, but results of trials testing the idea have been disappointing.
"Now at least we find that aciclovir, a very cheap, non-toxic and widely-available drug, can prolong the time some patients may be able to stay off the more expensive, and sometimes toxic, HIV drugs." (ANI)
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