Antiretroviral Drugs
Current advancement in medicine has led to the development of various drugs that can be used to manage HIV. There is currently no known cure, rather patients diagnosed with HIV go through antiretroviral therapy (ART) indefinitely. Early identification and initiation of ART improves client outcomes and reduces transmission.
Classification of Antiretroviral Drugs
- There are 6 class of antiviral drugs including nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), protease inhibitor (PI), HIV fusion inhibitors, CCR5 antagonist, and Integrase strand transfer inhibitor(INSTI). These are summarized in the tables below (Tables 1-6).
- Most patients take two NRTI combined with PI or NNRI which works to reduce plasma HIV to undetectable levels, leading to normal CD4 T cell count.
- Patients also take drugs to manage side effects and prevent opportunistic infections.
- There are various combination of drugs used for therapy (see Table 7).
Complementary and Alternative Therapies
Nursing Interventions
1. Monitoring of CD4 T-cell counts and plasma RNA levels
Rationale: Success of ART is indicated by reduction in viral RNA load and increase in CD4 T-cell count. These tests can also indicate if the treatment requires modification.
2. Encourage adequate hydration and healthy diet
Rationale: Some ART medications cause GI side effects which can decrease oral intake hence adequate diet is necessary to prevent opportunistic infections.
3. Educate the patient on strict adherence to medication regimen
Rationale: This prevents drug resistance due to noncompliance and rebound of viral load. Drug resistance strains are harder to treat and can be transmitted into the community.
Rationale: Success of ART is indicated by reduction in viral RNA load and increase in CD4 T-cell count. These tests can also indicate if the treatment requires modification.
2. Encourage adequate hydration and healthy diet
Rationale: Some ART medications cause GI side effects which can decrease oral intake hence adequate diet is necessary to prevent opportunistic infections.
3. Educate the patient on strict adherence to medication regimen
Rationale: This prevents drug resistance due to noncompliance and rebound of viral load. Drug resistance strains are harder to treat and can be transmitted into the community.
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