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Summary
In the early 1980s, when the HIV/AIDS epidemic began, patients rarely lived longer than a few years. But today, there are many effective medicines to fight the infection, and people with HIV have longer, healthier lives.
There are five major types of medicines:
- Reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors - interfere with a critical step during the HIV life cycle and keep the virus from making copies of itself
- Protease inhibitors - interfere with a protein that HIV uses to make infectious viral particles
- Fusion inhibitors - block the virus from entering the body's cells
- Integrase inhibitors - block an enzyme HIV needs to make copies of itself
- Multidrug combinations - combine two or more different types of drugs into one
These medicines help people with HIV, but they are not perfect. They do not cure HIV/AIDS. People with HIV infection still have the virus in their bodies. They can still spread HIV to others through unprotected sex and needle sharing, even when they are taking their medicines.
NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Latest News
- Can HIV Drugs Boost Syphilis Risk? (01/17/2017, HealthDay)
- Doctors Seeing More HIV Patients with Multidrug Resistance (12/01/2016, HealthDay)
- Drug Combo Shows Early Promise for Remission of HIV (11/10/2016, HealthDay)
Prevention and Risk Factors
- CDC Vital Signs: Daily Pill Can Prevent HIV (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Are You Taking Medication as Prescribed? (Food and Drug Administration)
- CDC Vital Signs: HIV Care Saves Lives Also in Spanish
- Drug Dosing Toolkit (Department of Veterans Affairs)
- Drug Resistance (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
- Following an HIV Regimen: Steps to Take Before and After Starting HIV Medicines (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
- HIV Medication Adherence (AIDSinfo)
- HIV Medicines and Side Effects (AIDSinfo)
- HIV Treatment Adherence (AIDS.gov)
- Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (AIDS.gov)
- Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) (AIDSinfo)
- Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) (AIDS.gov)
- PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) 101 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Diabetes (AIDSinfo)
- Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Hepatotoxicity (AIDSinfo)
- Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Hyperlipidemia (AIDSinfo)
- Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Lactic Acidosis (AIDSinfo)
- Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Lipodystrophy (AIDSinfo)
- Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Osteoporosis (AIDSinfo)
- Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Rash (AIDSinfo)
- What to Start: Selecting a First HIV Regimen (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
- When to Start Antiretroviral Therapy (AIDSinfo)
Specifics
- Antiretroviral Drugs Used in the Treatment of HIV Infection (Food and Drug Administration)
- Approved Generic Formulations of Antiretroviral Drugs Used in the Treatment of HIV Infection (Food and Drug Administration)
- What is an Investigational HIV Drug? (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
Images
- Drugs That Fight HIV-1 (AIDSinfo) - PDF
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Anti-HIV Agents (National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Anti-HIV Agents (National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active (National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: HIV Infections (National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (National Institutes of Health)
Journal ArticlesReferences and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Reference Desk
- AIDSinfo Glossary (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
Find an Expert
- AIDS.gov
- AIDSinfo (Department of Health and Human Services) Also in Spanish
- NIAID Division of AIDS (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Children
- Approved Antiretroviral Drugs Used for Pediatric Treatment of HIV Infection (Food and Drug Administration)
Patient Handouts
- FDA-Approved HIV Medicines (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish