Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy - Essay Example

with undetectable HIV RNA levels, elective Caesarean section was associated with a 90% reduction in MTCT risk (odds ratio, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.030.33), compared with vaginal delivery or emergency Caesarean section. Conclusions.The results suggest that offering an elective Caesarean section delivery to all HIV-infected women, even in areas where HAART is available, is appropriate clinical management, especially for persons with detectable viral loads. Our results also suggest that previously identified risk factors remain important.

(Source : European Collaborative Study).Several currently available drugs are under further development, the most important goals being the reduction of pill burden, easier dosing and less side effects. Three such preparations to have recently entered the market are Invirase 500, Truvada and Kivexa. New improvements are being developed; licensing applications for some of these are already in progress. Gilead and BMS are working on a combination pill of FTC, tenofovir and efavirenz. However, it will be some time before this so far one-off co-operation bears fruit.

With increasing numbers of HIV-infected pregnant women receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART),1 concerns have been raised over the possible teratogenic effects related to exposure in early pregnancy. It has been reported that a .4% prevalence of congenital abnormalities in uninfected infants exposed to antiretroviral therapy (ART; mainly monotherapy and/or dual therapy), which is similar to that seen in those not exposed. It has not been proven that whether risk of congenital abnormalities is increased by first-trimester exposure or by use of HAART, but there is an additional risk of antenatal use of HAART during.

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