HIV - Intro

Question 1

HIV TREATMENT

i) which treatment was being used in 1994?
ii) which treatment was introduced in 1996? what effect did this have on the incidence of opportunistic infections?
iii) what is highly active anti retroviral therapy? what two things need to be considered when taking them?

Answer 1

i) AZT

ii) triple therapy protease inhibitors
- dramatically reduced OIs

iii) HAART is combination triple therapy of 3 anti retrvirals which reduces viral load to undetectable levels
- need to take drug on time and food restrictions

Question 2

VIRAL LOAD/CD4 COUNT

i) what is viral load a measure of?
ii) what can viral load be a marker of?
iii) how does viral load change with use of HAARTs?
iv) what is the aim to reduce viral load to?
v) what is CD4 count a measure of? what is normal values? at what value is there significant risk of morbidity?

Answer 2

i) VL is a measure of viral replication
ii) VL can be a marker of treatment sucess (aim for <40)
iii) significant decrease in VL after HAARTs
iv) aim to reduce to <40

v) CD4 count is a measure of immune function
- normal values are >500
- <200 significant risk of morbidity

Question 3

UNTREATED HIV

i) name three infections seen when CD4 count first drops (>200)
ii) name two infections seen CD4 <200
iii) name two infections when CD4 <50

Answer 3

i) >200 = TB, kaposi sarcoma, shingles, oral thrush
ii) CD4 <200 - pneumocystis pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, lymphoma
iii) CD4 <50 - CMV, CNS lymphoma, MAC

Question 4

PREP

i) when may people take it? how often do they take it?
ii) how effective is it?
iii) what is the drug name?

Answer 4

i) people take it whent hey are at very high risk of HIV
- take it daily

ii) 100% effective when taken properly
iii) truvada