HIV treatment guidelines.

Abstract

In response to the rapidly changing treatment options for HIV, the Federal government issued draft guidelines for using HIV drugs in adults and adolescents. The main points of the new guidelines are described. No study has yet definitively determined the best time to start anti-HIV treatment, although the drugs have been shown to help people with AIDS live longer. People with AIDS or symptomatic HIV should begin treatment immediately, monitoring progress through viral load and T4 cell testing. Viral load and T4 cell counts, used to measure progress in reducing the amount of HIV in the body to the lowest possible levels for the longest time, are described. For maximum antiviral action, combination therapy is recommended, using two nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors with a protease inhibitor or a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Guidelines are given for determining when a treatment should be changed or discontinued. Anti-HIV treatments in pregnant women should be based on the health of the mother.