Are there any treatments for HIV & AIDS and opportunistic infections?
In addition to drugs and other treatments that can treat, control or prevent opportunistic infections, progress has been made in producing effective drugs that combat HIV directly. These drugs, often known as “‘combination therapies” or “the cocktail” slow down the effect of HIV on the immune system by interfering with the replication of HIV. This form of therapy usually consists of a number of drugs taken on a strict timetable. Some of these drugs are not easy to take and have side effects, when combination therapy is successful, it can improve the health of people with HIV. Taking these drugs sometimes causes remission of symptoms in addition to reduced viral load (a reduced amount of HIV in the blood), increased number of CD4 cells, and reduced likelihood of progressing to AIDS. Combination therapy does not work in everyone, but it works in most persons infected with HIV. The length of time that the drugs are effective against the virus varies, and drug resistance can set in, making
