Treatment

Medications can prevent, delay, or control the development of AIDS in many people infected with HIV.

Drugs That Fight HIV

These drugs are often given in combination. They are often referred to as AIDS cocktails. They include:

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors:

• AZT (Zidovudine or ZDV)
• ddC (Zalcitabine)
• ddI (dideoxyinosine)
• d4T ( Stavudine)
• 3TC ( Lamivudine)
• Emtricitabine (Emtriva)
• Abacavir (Ziagen)
  • In some patients, abacavir can cause a hypersensitivity reaction, which can be life-threatening. Researchers found that screening for a particular gene can help to prevent this reaction.

Nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors:

• Delavirdine (Rescriptor)
• Nevirapine (Viramune)
• Efavirenz (Sustiva)
• Etravirine (Intelence)

Protease inhibitors:

• Ritonavir (Norvir)
• Saquinavir (Invirase)
• Indinavir (Crixivan)
• Amprenavir (Agenerase)