Antiretroviral Treatment
Antiretroviral treatment is not a cure for HIV, but can assist in supporting your health in order to live a full and healthy life. ARVs assist in minimizing the viral load in your blood and increasing your CD 4 count.
The viral load refers to the "copies" of HIV in your blood. The CD 4 count is the number of bodies in your system fighting off disease.
The viral load refers to the "copies" of HIV in your blood. The CD 4 count is the number of bodies in your system fighting off disease.
All about PrEP and PEP
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CD 4 Counts represent "fighters" in your blood fighting the disease. We need to increase CD4 counts. The Viral Load is the number of copies of the virus in your blood. We need to decrease viral loads. This process is resembled in the picture on the left demonstrating the the see-saw effect. WHO 30 September 2015: Anyone who tests HIV positive should consider ARV treatment, irrespective of CD4 count or clinical stage. It is a policy of Test and Treat: ie test positive and start treatment. |
What is Resistance?Resistance (“super HIV”) is not a good thing We say you have Drug Resistant Virus when you have a strain of HIV that is not crippled by ARV drugs. Resistant virus stops responding to ARVs and thus continues to destroy and multiply even when you are taking treatment (i.e. you do not get better). Resistance is caused by:
1) taking ARVs incorrectly and inconsistently (missing doses, taking some pills and not all, starting ARV and stopping) 2) Using substances and drugs which act against your ARVs—always check with your HIV doctor 3) Getting infected with a resistant strain of the virus e.g. through unprotected sex with someone who passes the resistant strain to you. Correct use of ARVs means taking the pills at around the same time every day (once or twice a day depending on the regimen chosen). If, after starting ARVs, you stop treatment, HIV will multiply in your blood once more, destroy CD4 cells and may become resistant to treatment. |
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