BEING HUMAN MEANS A SIMPLE LIFE WITH GOOD FAITH AND ACTION
What causes treatment to fail?
HIV treatment can fail if anti-HIV medications are unable to
control the virus or protect the health of the immune system.
Sometimes treatment fails because of things you can’t control,
such as unmanageable side eects from anti-HIV
medications, interactions between anti-HIV medications and
other medications you take, or the body’s poor absorption of
anti-HIV medications.
Treatment can also fail because of
drug resistance
.
Sometimes HIV changes form and becomes resistant to
(not aected by) the medications in a regimen.
It may be necessary to change medications to deal with these
problems.
Can skipping medications cause treatment
failure?
Poor
treatment adherence
is another reason HIV treatment
can fail. Skipping medications allows HIV to multiply,
increasing a person’s viral load. To reach and maintain an
undetectable viral load, it’s important to closely follow your
treatment regimen. Poor treatment adherence can also give
HIV a chance to change form, leading to drug resistance.
Sometimes working with your health care provider to
improve adherence can prevent treatment failure. For
Terms Used in This Fact Sheet:
CD4 count:
The number of CD4 cells in a sample of
blood. A CD4 count measures how well the immune
system is working.
Drug resistance:
When HIV mutat
es (changes form),
causing one or more anti-HIV medications to be
ineffective.
Regimen:
A combination of three or more anti-HIV
medications from at least two different drug classes.
Treatment adherence:
Closely following an HIV treatment
regimen—taking the correct dose of each anti-HIV
medication at the correct time and exactly as prescribed.
Undetectable viral load:
The amount of HIV in a person’s
blood is too low to be detected with a viral load test.
Viral load:
The amount of HIV in the blood. One of the
goals of antiretroviral therapy is to reduce viral load.
This
information is based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’
Guidelines
for the Use of
Reviewed
Antiretroviral
Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents
available
at
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