Some HIV Patients in Remission Still Have Virus in Semen, Doctor Says

Infectious HIV may be present in the semen of men being treated with powerful new drug regimens that reduce the level of virus in their blood below the limits of detectability, according to researchers from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. “It suggests that, even if you don’t have detectable virus in your blood and are on highly active retrovirals, you should consider yourself potentially contagious sexually and practice safe sex,” said Dr. Roger J. Pomerantz of Jefferson.

The researchers report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine that they examined the semen of seven men being treated for HIV infection and found a potentially infectious form of the virus in four.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II