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HIV and Its Treatment
HIV Treatment Regimen FailureWhat is regimen failure? Regimen failure occurs when the anti-HIV medications you are taking do not adequately control the infection. Factors that may cause regimen failure include:
What are the three types of regimen failure? Virologic failure: Regimens should lower the amount of HIV in your blood to undetectable levels. Virologic failure has occurred if HIV can still be detected in the blood 48 weeks after starting treatment, or if it is detected again after treatment had previously lowered your viral load to undetectable. Immunologic failure: An effective regimen should increase the number of CD4 cells in your blood or at least prevent the number from going down. Immunologic failure has occurred if your CD4 count decreases below a baseline count or does not increase above the baseline count within your first year of therapy. Clinical failure: Clinical failure has occurred if you experience an HIV-related infection or a decline in physical health despite at least 3 months of anti-HIV treatment. Virologic failure is the most common kind of regimen failure. People with virologic failure who do not change to an effective drug regimen usually progress to immunologic failure within about 3 years. Immunologic failure may be followed by clinical failure.
What happens if my regimen fails? If your treatment regimen fails, your doctor will evaluate your treatment history, medication side effects, problems you may have had with taking the medications as directed, your physical condition, and results of drug resistance testing to determine why your regimen is failing. You and your doctor may then select a new drug regimen to better control your infection.
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