HAART Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Randi Puffenberger Shey Veditz George Parish Amy Keister Matt Lake

What is HAART? Triple Therapy Two nucleoside analogs One protease inhibitor Multi drug regimens useful because many times one drug fails to block viral replication

Drawbacks of HAART Requires at least 8-24 pills a day, with specific dose requirements for each Can cost $10,000 -$12,000 per year Memory t-cells all but disappear causing immune system to ‘forget’ how to handle the virus Side effects include: rash, nausea, diarrhea, anemia, neuropathy, hepatitis, diabetes, and headache

Treatment Strategy Most appropriate for: People in acute stage of disease Rare that disease is caught at this stage People who already have symptoms or low CD4 t-cell count Symptom less patients with relatively low CD4 t-cell count

How HAART Treatment Works Prevents enzyme function by binding to active site of protease enzyme Prevents virus replication Use multiple drugs to counter mutations that cause drug resistance

Conclusion Patients using HAART do not develop resistance and with hope can continue on it indefinitely Clinical studies show HAART to be the most effective treatment method for maximum viral suppression