title: The justification for the early introduction of antiretroviral therapy in patients living with HIV.
abstract: In the last years the retroviral disease, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), turned from an incurable to a chronic disease. This fundamental change happened due to a huge progress in the understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of this infection. However, one question still remains open: what is the best time to introduce therapy. The CD4 count is the point of reference to start of the treatment in HIV infected patients. Tendency to introduce highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) as early as possible has been observed recently. According to the most recent guidelines of the World Health Organization HAART should be started when CD4 reaches < or = 500 cells/microl. The aim of this paper is justification for the early introduction of antiretroviral therapy in patients living with HIV.
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kozłowski
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grzeszczuk
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flisiak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents