Overview of HIV Treatment The guidelines for managing HIV infection have evolved over time based on in-depth understanding of the disease and availability of new treatment options. The important concept of HIV management is “hitting the virus in the infancy of the infection and fighting it hard enough to prevent the infection establishment in the body”. The goal of treatment is to boost the host immune system and CD4 count while reducing the viral load so that the body can defeat the virus. The treatment focuses on preventing replication of the virus inside the body. A close watch on CD4+ T cells is required to check the efficacy of the treatment as this cell count represents the improvement in the immunity. This improvement is possible only when the replication of the HIV virus is stopped. The success of the treatment requires continued suppression of the viral growth. Although it is not an easy task, as, over a period of time, the virus learns to defeat the drugs and becomes less sensitive to the therapy. Such mutation of the virus can lead to failure of therapy. Therefore, treatment of HIV infection and AIDS usually lasts lifelong. If you suspect that you have been exposed to the HIV virus or your partner is having the infection, immediately contact the medical doctor as there are early exposure treatment options.

In the absence of a vaccine against HIV infection, prophylaxis is achieved with the use of ART drugs. Prophylaxis treatment received within 72 hours of exposure reduces chances of getting HIV infection. Prophylaxis after exposure If a patient is exposed to an infective material via routes discussed above, the patient should immediately wash the area thoroughly. He or she should immediately contact their medical provider and go to a medical facility for post-exposure prophylaxis. If the status of the person’s blood or body fluid that you came into contact with is known that can help predict the risk of contracting HIV. If the blood or body fluid is known to be HIV-positive your risk is higher if the blood of the person tested negative the likely you have contracted the virus is very low (a slight risk is still possible if the person themselves was just exposed). Even if the person tests positive the risk may still be low, and the chance of developing HIV from a needlestick with HIV positive blood is around 0.5%. The risk of obtaining the virus from unprotected sex with a HIV positive person is about 4 in 10,000 exposures. Prophylaxis for pregnancy An HIV-positive woman should plan the pregnancy with close medical supervision and counseling.