Introduction to combination therapy (April 2013)
1 April 2013. Related: News.
This guide includes information about the most important aspects of HIV treatment. It is written and reviewed by HIV-positive treatment people and uses everyday language to explain medical terms.
Main changes to this edition include:
The main changes to this edition including new sections on:
- Why treatment guidelines don’t all use the same CD4 count to start treatment – this link online and new page 18 in the print/PDF.
- Using treatment to reduce the risk of transmission. This includes starting treatment earlier – this link online and new page 19 in the print/PDF (and throughout the guide).
- Changes to the structure of NHS services and access to different drugs in the UK – this link online and new page 39 in the print/PDF.
- Generic HIV drugs: which meds are affected, changes in formulations and safety of generics – this link online and new page 40 in the print/PDF.
Updates include new infomation on:
- Treatment for people who control HIV for many years without treatment (in “Does everyone need treatment“.
- Treatment during primary infection (in “Early diagnosis and primary infection“).
- Pipeline drugs that are likely to become available before the next update of this guide ( in “Other meds that are sometimes used“).
Updates to the ARV chart inserted as a 4-page section into the centre pages of the print version:
- The 800 mg formulation of darunavir.
- New references to generic ARVs for nevirapine, 3TC, AZT, ddI and efavirenz.
- Integrase inhibitors that are likely to be approved within the next few months.
- And, some of the least used ARVs have been moved to the back page of the ARV insert.