Treating AIDS-Related Conditions

Other drugs and therapies are used to prevent or treat opportunistic infections and other AIDS-related conditions:

• Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. People who develop this lung infection are generally treated with TMP/SMX (a combination of antibiotic drugs) or pentamidine. Doctors also prescribe these medications as preventive therapy for adult patients whose CD4+ T cell counts fall below 200.
• Yeast infections in women. Physicians often prescribe a drug called fluconazole to treat yeast and other fungal infections. Fluconazole also can safely prevent vaginal and esophageal candidiasis without development of drug resistance.
• Severe skin ulcers caused by herpes simplex virus infection. Skin ulcers sometimes respond to an antiviral medication, acyclovir.
• Pelvic inflammatory disease. PID is treated with antibiotics. Women with mild cases may be treated on an outpatient basis. HIV-positive pregnant women suspected of having PID are usually hospitalized, treated with intravenous antibiotics approved for use during pregnancy, and monitored closely.
• HIV-related wasting.Megestrol acetate (Megace) is often prescribed for HIV-associated wasting, but it can cause significant irregular vaginal bleeding in women. Another drug, nandrolone, may not have these side effects and is currently undergoing drug trials.
• Kaposi's sarcoma and other cancers. Cancers are treated with radiation, chemotherapy, or injections of alpha interferon, a genetically engineered, naturally occurring protein.
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