Can AIDS be cured? Treatment with drugs against the virus

Regular monitoring of health status and laboratory testing of viral load and CD4+ T-lymphocyte count in the patient's blood are part of the treatment of HIV infection.

Since the first discovery of the HIV retrovirus, there has been a concerted effort in the scientific community to develop effective treatments. Currently available HIV therapies lead to significant reductions in morbidity and mortality and can produce potent viral suppression.

However, it is not able to cure the disease completely.

With effective and timely treatment, it is possible to extend the life of an infected individual to the approximate life expectancy of an HIV-negative population.

The mainstay of therapy is regular pharmacological treatment at individually determined doses and intervals, with the most common form of drug use being oral tablets.

The drugs are known professionally as ART (antiretroviral therapy): nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NIRTs) or integrase inhibitors (INSTIs) and protease inhibitors (PIs), such as Tenofovir, Emtricitabine and Elvitegravir.

The goal of HIV antiretroviral therapy is to reduce the concentration of HIV in the patient's body as much as possible and to increase the regeneration of the infected person's immune system.

In addition to the ART treatment itself, the patient is treated for the associated diseases and clinical symptoms that arise.