BREATHER Plus: start of recruitment in Uganda
Screening for the BREATHER Plus trial started at the end of June and the first participants were recruited on 29 June in Uganda. Sites in Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa are preparing for opening recruitment. The BREATHER Plus study is evaluating whether simpler treatments maintain control of HIV but are easier for adolescents to manage.
The BREATHER Plus trial will compare two different ways of taking HIV medicines that include dolutegravir. In the Short Cycle Therapy group, participants will take their HIV medicines during the week but stop taking them at weekends. In the Continuous Treatment group, participants will take their HIV medicines every day without interruptions. The study aims to see if a similar proportion of young people in the Short Cycle Therapy group have low viral load as in the Continuous Treatment group and whether they report benefits from having two days off treatment each week.