Extended Survival In IV Drug Users With AIDS

A study comparing the progression of AIDS in 63 homosexual or bisexualmen against that in 125 intravenous drug users has noted that patients who acquired AIDS through abuse of IV drugs lived significantly longer than patients with sexually-acquired AIDS. The study was published in the July issue of AIDS.

Reuters reports that 10 years after infection, 54% of the homosexual men had developed an AIDS-related illness, while 51% had died of AIDS. In the group of iv drug users, the figures were 26% and 15%. However, the study authors says that there was no difference in overall mortality between the two groups, with an annual 4% non-HIV-related mortality in the drug user group.