Understanding the guidelines for treating HIV disease

In 1996 a panel of experts convened by the International AIDS Society-USA issued new guidelines for treating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, which have recently been updated. Quantitative plasma HIV-1 RNA concentration (viral load) and CD4+ lymphocyte levels are used to monitor disease progression, determine the need to initiate antiretroviral treatment, monitor effectiveness of treatment and evaluate the need to change medications. Multi-drug therapy with nucleoside analogs, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors can result in measurable improvement in clinical outcome in HIV-1 infected patients.