Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Both a ‘magic bullet’ and good aim are required to link public health interests and health care needs in HIV infection

Nature Medicine volume 6, pages 261–262 (2000)Cite this article

The incomplete distribution of HIV therapy, coupled with uneven HIV transmission rates throughout a population, seem to predict a failure of commodity health care to reduce HIV incidence. Paradoxically, heterogeneity in HIV transmission risk combined with the appropriately targeted antiretroviral therapeutic strategy may offer a substantial public health benefit if HIV surveillance and treatment can be coordinated.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. Anderson, R.M., Gupta, S. & May, R.M. The potential of community-wide chemotherapy or immunotherapy to control the spread of HIV-1. Nature 350, 356 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Blower, S., Gershengorn, H.B. & Grant, R.M. A tale of two futures: HIV and antiretroviral therapy in San Francisco. Science 287, 650–654 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Palella, F.J. et al. The HIV outpatient investigators. Declining morbidity and mortality among patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus infection. N. Engl. J. Med. 338, 853–860 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kravcik, S. et al. Effect of antiretroviral therapy and viral load on the perceived risk of HIV transmission and the need for safer sex practices. J. Acquir. Immune Defic. Syndr. Hum. Retrovirol. 19, 24–29 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Angel, J.B. et al. in 7th Conf. Retrovir. Opportunistic Infect. abstract LB2 (Foundation for Retrovirology and Human Health, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Quinn, T.C. et al. in 7th Conf. Retrovir. Opportunistic Infect. abstract 193 (Foundation for Retrovirology and Human Health, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kashuba, A.D.M. et al. Antiretroviral-drug concentrations in semen: Implications for sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 43, 1817–1826 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Cameron, D.W. Can we reduce HIV transmission by providing healthcare and HIV therapy to commercial sex workers? J. Int. Ass. Physicians AIDS Care 4, 24–26 (1998).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Garnett, G.P. & Anderson, R.M. Antiviral therapy and the transmission dynamics of HIV-1. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 37, Suppl. B, 135–150 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Garnett, G.P., Ferguson, N.M., Ghani, A.C. & Anderson, R.M. Assessing the epidemiologic impact of combination therapy. 7th Eur. Conf. Clin.l Aspects Treat. HIV Inf. (The European AIDS Clinical Society, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellcome Trust Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease Department of Zoology University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX13FY, UK

    G.P. Garnett, L.M. Bartley, D.W. Cameron & R.M. Anderson

Authors
  1. G.P. Garnett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L.M. Bartley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D.W. Cameron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R.M. Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Garnett, G., Bartley, L., Cameron, D. et al. Both a ‘magic bullet’ and good aim are required to link public health interests and health care needs in HIV infection. Nat Med 6, 261–262 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/73104

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/73104

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing