Treatment of HIV/AIDS. Do the dilemmas only increase?

Abstract

Physicians and other health care professionals who treat patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS are confronted daily with complex challenges. Fortunately, several articles in this theme issue of JAMA on HIV/AIDS help to increase the coping index for clinicians and researchers. The International AIDS Society-USA (IAS-USA) report in this issue represents a biennial update of the criterion standard for HIV care.1 Experts evaluated the research, conferred, integrated new information, graded the evidence basis for their decisions (an advance over their previous reports), and provided an up-to-date document that can serve as an evidence-based foundation for guiding HIV adult care in developed countries. These new guidelines have not changed dramatically but do reflect the contribution of new drugs and make more definite judgments about the most- effective regimens while remaining relatively consistent on when to start or to switch therapy.