|
About our Work:
Treatment and Prevention of Opportunistic Infections
(Last Updated: January 2005) |
|
|
As HIV increasingly compromises the immune systems of infected individuals,
they become susceptible to a wide variety of opportunistic infections (OIs),
many of which clinically define AIDS. In the absence of antiretroviral therapy
(ART), OIs cause the majority of all AIDS-related deaths.
Among HIV-infected adults, tuberculosis (TB) is the most common serious OI in
all resource-poor areas. Other common OIs include:
- pneumonia
- diarrhea
- encephalitis
- meningitis
Among HIV-infected children, pneumonia and acute bacterial infections are
particularly common.
Treatment of OIs has been largely unavailable in resource-poor areas,
particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, because there is a scarcity of trained
personnel and diagnostic facilities, and drugs to treat OIs are often
unavailable or unaffordable. Clinics in rural areas, villages, and small towns
are usually the most resource-constrained. However, symptom-related treatment
algorithms have been developed for use in settings that lack diagnostic
facilities.
Prevention of specific OIs was the primary focus of HIV care in
industrialized countries before the advent of ART. Although ART is now the most
effective means to prevent HIV-related illness and death, specific OI prevention
remains critically important in persons who are severely immunocompromised,
regardless of whether they are taking ART.
Making methods to prevent OIs more available to HIV-infected persons is a
priority for the Global AIDS Program (GAP). With support from the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a "preventive care package" has been established
through a rural health project in Uganda including co-trimoxizole, an
inexpensive antibiotic; safe water kits, insecticide-treated bed nets,
family-centered counseling and testing for HIV. The preventive care package is
also being introduced more broadly in Uganda, and GAP anticipates implementing
similar programs in several other countries in the near future.
How does CDC work to improve treatment and prevention of opportunistic
infections (OIs)?
Helps countries increase access to HIV counseling and testing and link
HIV-positive individuals to OI prevention services.
Helps countries develop national and regional guidelines for OI treatment and
prevention.
Trains personnel to properly diagnose, treat and prevent OIs.
Provides essential drugs.
Helps countries implement and evaluate OI preventive measures and programs.
Helps countries integrate all OI prevention and treatment efforts with other
HIV care programs.
« Go back
|
