ART for HIV | 疾病管制署傳染病

Alsoknownasthe“AIDScocktail,”antiretroviraltherapy(ART)isacombinationofantiretroviraldrugs.Thistreatmenthasbeenhighlyeffectiveindelayingthe ...

About ART

Shortly following the discovery of HIV in 1981, a variety of therapies using one drug were introduced to people living with HIV[1]. This included the drug azidothymidine (AZT).

Despite initial success, these “monotherapies” proved to be ineffective in slowing the progression of the virus.

This failure was due to HIV’s ability to quickly develop resistance to these single-drug treatments. In other words, HIV mutated (changed) into a form that no longer responded to the individual drugs.

In 1995, a combination drug treatment known as the “AIDS cocktail” was introduced. This type of therapy was originally known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). It’s also called combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) or simply antiretroviral therapy (ART)[2].

Regardless of its name, ART has led to dramatic improvements in people who have used it. People have experienced decreased viral loads[3] (the amount of HIV in their body) and...