In this Tuesday (30) edition of the Medical Correspondent chart, on New Day, neurosurgeon Fernando Gomes commented on the new drug approved the day before by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) against the HIV virus, responsible for AIDS.
The drug combines the substances lamivudine and dolutegravir sodium in a single pill and can reduce the amount of the virus in the human body, keeping it at a level considered to be low.
For Gomes, the treatment will make life easier for people with HIV, who will be able to manage the use of pills, administered continuously, in a much simpler way. “Even the side effects and the difficult relationship with so many pills cease to exist. Both in the distribution and in the daily use itself, this works very positively, because the dosage ends up affecting the quality of life.”
“If I have to take a pill once a day, and I’m ok with the treatment and the maintenance of my health, everything is much easier”, he concluded.
The drug is indicated to be administered to people over 12 years old, weighing more than 40 kilos, without a history of antiretroviral treatment or to replace treatment in people with virological suppression.
With the drug, the substances inhibit the virus from multiplying inside the cells of the human body, ensuring the usual level of CD4 positive T cells, which defend the body. “They [as substâncias] they play an important biochemical role when the virus tries to do its job of destroying the cell and integrating the genetic material”, explained the neurosurgeon.
Fernando Gomes also assessed the difficulties in combating the HIV virus, even after nearly three decades of research. “The HIV virus has a characteristic that draws a lot of attention, because it attacks the immune system’s defense cells. These cells are responsible for the destruction of the virus itself.”
“It’s as if you affect the body’s safety and, therefore, you open up a large margin for both the clinical manifestation of the disease and for opportunistic infections and various types of cancer”, he concluded.
Reference: CNN Brasil
