A new study found that only a small percent of ex-inmates diagnosed with HIV filled a prescription for medicine to treat the condition within the recommended 10 days.

According to the study conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, ex-inmates who discontinue the antiretroviral therapy are at high risk of developing complications from the disease, which could result in greater infectiousness and higher levels of drug resistance.

For the study, the researchers looked at 2,115 HIV-infected inmates in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison system between January 2004 and December 2007 who were receiving HIV medications before release.

They found that only 5.4 percent filled a prescription within the first 10 days of their prison release. After a month from release, the percentage increased at 17 percent and at 30 percent within the first two months of the release.

The study concluded that nearly 90 percent of HIV-infected inmates had some interruption in their treatment.

The study is published in the February 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study calls for greater coordination between state and local agencies, health-care institutions, and community-based organizations to reduce the high rate of treatment interruption among inmates who are newly released from prison.

The researchers also noted that the U.S. prison system has become an important front in efforts to curb the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. They are offered HIV testing and the possibility to initiate treatment during the time spent in jail.

Despite notable success in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, 7,500 individuals contract HIV every day and at least 6,000 people die of AIDS every day.