In a new study, researchers from Britain, Japan and Zimbabwe found that a common antibiotic called compound sulfamethoxazole reduced adverse health events in children infected with HIV. The study describes the effectiveness of the antibiotic in young HIV patients and what they found.
In the past few decades, scientists have made so much progress in treating HIV infection that it is no longer considered fatal, at least among people living in developed countries. But in many parts of Africa, the situation is grim, with many infected people unable to afford the drugs needed to treat the infection. There is also the problem of high transmission rates. In response, medical workers in Africa have been looking for other ways to help people living with HIV, especially children. One way to do this is to use the cheap compound sulfamethoxazole, which is preventative. It is speculated that the antibiotic may also reduce adverse health events associated with HIV infection, such as pneumonia. In the new study, the researchers tried to determine whether the antibiotic actually helped people with HIV.
The researchers gave compound sulfamethoxazole to 300 Hiv-infected children living in Zimbabwe for 100 weeks. They then collected plasma samples from all children infected with HIV and stopped giving the antibiotic to half of them. They recollected plasma samples from all the children after 36 weeks and compared their findings.
The researchers reported lower levels of systemic inflammation in children who continued to receive compound sulfamethoxazole than in those who stopped taking it. They also found a decrease in streptococci levels and activity in the intestines. More specifically, they found that children who stopped taking the antibiotic were 28 percent more likely to have an adverse health event than those who continued using the drug.
Further studying the effects of the antibiotic on the body, the researchers found that in 20 adults infected with HIV, it had a direct effect on immune cells, inhibiting the production of inflammatory molecules. They concluded that, despite resistance to the antibiotic, giving the drug to Hiv-infected people could provide some relief from adverse health events.