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Glossary

Selected words and phrases

BI – budding inhibitor. Class of HIV drug.

HSV – Herpes Simplex Virus. HSV-1 is the virus mainly associated with cold sores on your lips or faces. HSV-2 is the virus mainly associated with genital herpes. The viruses are very similar.

HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus

A fungal (yeast) infection that affects the mouth and throat, gullet, sinuses, genital organs and – rarely – the brain. Also called ‘candida’.

half-life (T1/2) the time taken a drug to clear from the highest concentration to half this level. Drugs have different half-lives in different compartments (ie half-life in blood can be different from the half-life inside a cell). It take 5 x the half-live for a drug to be considered cleared.

What happens when you take a drug?