AIDS Cocktail Lowers Pneumonia Risk

MADRID-New information from European scientists suggests AIDS victims taking a new cocktail of AIDS drugs are not at as great of risk for pneumonia as previously thought.

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia has been a serious health threat to AIDS patients because of their already weakened immune system. However, doctors are now recommending that patients taking drug cocktails stop taking pneumonia preventatives.

The drug cocktail keeps infection-fighting cells, called CD4 lymphocytes, active. If a patient's CD4 level is above 200 per cubic millimeter of blood, the AIDS-related pneumonia is not a threat.

Information from Reuters